XIX. The Catastrophe of World War One

Mass Media

Forms of communication, such as newspapers, that reach millions of people and shape public opinion.

Political Parties

Became mass parties in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mobilizing voters and public opinion.

Universal Manhood Suffrage

Giving all adult men the right to vote, whether they owned property or not. It was the trend in Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Cult of Domesticity

The ideal woman was seen as a tender, self-sacrificing caregiver who provided for her children and a peaceful refuge for her husband, social customs that restricted women to caring for the house. Based on Rousseau's "separate spheres." More an ideal than a universal reality, and more popular with the Middle Class than any other class.

The New Woman

A woman of the turn of the 20th century often from the middle class who dressed practically, moved about freely, lived apart from her family, and supported herself. "Modern" women.

Woman's Suffrage

The right of women to vote. Finland was the first country in Europe to grant women the right to vote, in 1906.

Emmeline Pankhurst

British suffragette and founder of the Woman's Social and Political Union. Leader of the militant movement to challenge social norms and the lack of the vote for women.

Suffragettes

Women who militantly campaigned for women's right to vote in the late 1800's and early 1900's in Britain. Never a majority of women suffragists.

Militancy

The act of confrontationally and aggressively supporting a political or social cause, often using technically illegal methods such as vandalism.

Hunger Strikes

A form of protest/strike in which one refuses to eat until needs/wants are met. Used by the Suffragettes in Britain.

The "Cat and Mouse Acts" (1913)

British laws that allowed for early release of prisoners on hunger strikes, who were re-arrested once their health was restored.

Militarism

A policy of glorifying military power and keeping a standing army always prepared for war. Common throughout Europe in the runup to World War One, and a major cause of the War. Tied to the intense nationalism of the time.

Arms race

A competition between nations to have the most powerful armaments. Typical of Europe before World War One.

Wilhelm II (William II) of Germany

The aggressive and imperialistic Kaiser (Emperor) of Germany before and during World War One. His actions often raised tensions before the war.

The Battleship Race

The arms race between Britain and Germany to build battleships (Dreadnoughts) before World War One. It increased tensions and animosity between the two countries.

The Moroccan Crises (1905 and 1911)

Germany, led by Wilhelm II, challenged French claims to Morocco by "supporting" Moroccan independence.

German actions threatened French power and drove France and Britain into alliance.

The Entente Cordiale

The 1904 "gentleman's agreement" between France and Britain establishing a close understanding. It was aimed at an increasingly belligerent Germany under Wilhelm II.

The Balkan Wars

Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria took Macedonia from the Ottomans in 1912. Serbia then fought Bulgaria in the second Balkan War in 1913 Austria intervened to stop the war. These wars were mostly territorial, they signaled Balkan instability, and were a precursor to World War I.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia, in 1914, which was used by Austria to justify attacking Serbia.

The Black Hand

A Serbian nationalist/terrorist group responsible for the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand which sparked World War I.

Gavrilo Princip

The Bosnian-Serb assassin of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria, a member of Young Bosnia, and sent to Sarajevo by the Black Hand.

The Austrian Ultimatum 1914

The Austrian response to the assassination. It demanded the capitulation of Serbia to Austria. It was intended to be rejected, which would signal the Austrian attack on Serbia.

The German Blank Check

Germany promised to be on Austria's side in the conflict with Serbia, particularly if Russia entered the war on the side of Serbia.

Mobilization

The process of assembling troops and supplies and making them ready for war. In World War One, it happened quickly at the beginning of the war using railroads, making it hard to deal with the July Crisis. Later, the term would refer to mobilizing the whole of a country to maintain the war effort.

The role of alliances

Alliances quickly expanded the war from a local Balkan War into a European-wide war.

The Schlieffen Plan

Attack plan by Germans, proposed by Schliffen, lightning quick attack against France. Proposed to go through Belgium then attack France, which extended the war to Western Europe.

The Triple Entente (Allies)

A military alliance between Great Britain, France, and Russia at the beginning of World War I. Note Britain and France also included their large overseas empires.

The Central Powers

In World War I the alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and other nations allied with them in opposing the Allies.

The Rape of Belgium

German troops, afraid of Belgian guerrilla fighters, burned homes and executed civilians throughout eastern and central Belgium, The victims included women and children.

Over 1,000 civilians were killed. Used and exaggerated by Allied propaganda.

Attrition

The wearing down of an enemy over time. It led to very high casualties and a long war in World War One.

Trench Warfare

A form of warfare in which opposing armies fight each other from trenches dug in the battlefield. Meant to reduce casualties (which it did) but which also led to static, attritional warfare. Typical of the Western Front in France and Belgium.

Verdun

One of the longest and bloodiest battles of WWI. It was in France, between the French and Germans. To help, the British attacked on the Somme River, also losing huge numbers of soldiers.

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

Germany's Policy of sinking ships with their U-boats, enemy or neutral, without warning in certain warfare zones. It infuriated the US in particular.

The Lusitania

A British passenger ship that was sunk by a German U-Boat in May, 1915 as part of the Unrestricted Submarine Warfare campaign. Nearly 1200 people died, including over 100 Americans. The sinking greatly turned American opinion against the Germans, helping the move towards entering the war.

The Allied Blockade of Germany

The British and French blocked trade with Germany, which eventually led to serious shortages in Germany, especially food.

The Home Front

The name given to the part of war at home, involving economic mobilization and maintaining public support for the war.

Pacifism

The belief that any violence, including war, is unjustifiable under any circumstances. It was an important part of anti-war feeling in Europe during and after the war.

Propaganda

Ideas spread to influence public opinion for or against a cause.

The role of women in the war

This varied from country to country, but all countries increasingly relied on women as nurses, drivers, farmers, and factory workers as men were drafted into the military. It helped to advance the idea of women's rights, particularly the right to vote.

The Armenian Genocide

Assault carried out by mainly Turkish military forces against Armenian population in 1915; over a million Armenians perished and thousands fled to Russia, the Middle East, and the US. It was an example of the precarious position of ethnic minorities in a highly nationalistic war.