National 5 History: The Era of the Great War 1900-1928

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering Part E: The Era of the Great War 1900-1928 for Scottish National 5 History revision.

Kitchener's Volunteers

The $500,000$ British recruits who voluntarily enlisted in the military by the end of 1914 following a huge government recruitment campaign.

Pals Battalions

Units formed by groups of friends enlisting together from the same local area or workplace to serve in a new regiment.

16th Royal Scots

A battalion formed in Edinburgh under Sir George McCrae, consisting of 11 Heart of Midlothian football players, $600$ Hearts supporters, and eventually $1,350$ officers.

Schlieffen Plan

The German military strategy launched in August 1914 through Belgium aiming to capture Paris within six weeks before transporting troops to the Eastern Front to face Russia.

Race to the Sea

A series of maneuvers following the retreat to the River Aisne that ended in stalemate and resulted in the establishment of trench warfare on the Western Front.

Trench Foot

A painful medical condition suffered by soldiers involving the severe swelling of the feet caused by prolonged standing in cold, muddy water.

Trench Fever

An illness experienced by soldiers on the Western Front caused by bites from infesting body lice.

Blighties

Self-inflicted wounds created by soldiers attempting to escape front-line combat and be sent home.

Stand To

The daily routine at dawn and dusk where soldiers manned the front-line trench parapets in readiness for a possible enemy attack.

Phosgene (Green Cross)

A type of chemical gas weapon used during the Great War that attacked and paralysed the victim's nervous system.

Creeping Barrage

An artillery tactic in which an advancing line of artillery fire moves forward just ahead of advancing infantry to provide them with continuous cover across No Man's Land.

Metal Splash

Shards of burning, splintering metal produced inside early tanks upon anti-tank shell impact that severely burned the crew's hands and faces.

Black Day of the British Army

1st July 1916, the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, during which the British Army suffered $60,000$ men killed and wounded.

51st Highland Division

A Scottish military division notable for successfully capturing the German stronghold of Beaumont Hamel during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

All Arms Battle Plan

A British tactical approach developed in 1918 where infantry, artillery, tanks, and aircraft were coordinated to attack together simultaneously.

Defence of the Realm Act (DORA)

Legislation passed on 8th August 1914 designed to tighten internal security and maximise war production through press censorship, alien registration, nighttime curfews, and pub licensing restrictions.

Military Services Act (1916)

A British law that introduced conscription, requiring all able-bodied men aged $18$ to $41$ to join the armed forces.

Conscientious Objectors

Men who refused to serve in the armed forces due to religious or political convictions, often disparagingly called 'conchies' and handed white feathers as symbols of cowardice.

Dyce

A work camp in Scotland where Conscientious Objectors who refused military conscription were sent for hard labour.

Munitionettes

The nearly 1 million women who worked in wartime ammunition factories making artillery shells under hazardous conditions, facing risks such as toxic TNT poisoning.

Women's Land Army

A wartime agricultural organisation in which $250,000$ women worked as farm labourers to replace enlisted male workers.

Reserved Occupations

Vital civilian jobs exempt from military conscription to keep infrastructure running, including dock workers, farmers, railway workers, and utility workers in water, gas, and electricity.

Beardmore Shipyard

A Scottish shipyard saved from closure during 1914–1918 due to the high military demand for shipbuilding.

Dundee Jute Industry

A Scottish textile industry that flourished during the war producing $6\text{ million}$ sacks a month, but suffered post-war decline when Indian import bans were lifted and factories lacked investment.

Suffragettes

A militant pressure group that campaigned for 'Votes for Women' before the war using direct action under the motto 'Deeds not Words'.

Suffragists

A well-organised group that campaigned through peaceful and constitutional means for improved rights for women, including the right to vote.

Representation of the People's Act (1918)

Post-war British legislation that extended the democratic franchise to more men and granted the vote to women over the age of $30$.

Glasgow Women's Housing Association

An organisation formed by Helen Crawfurd, Mary Barbour, Agnes Dollan, and Jessie Stephans to resist tenement rent rises and block evictions during the 1915 Glasgow rent strikes.

Rent Restriction Act (1915)

Government legislation passed in response to the Glasgow rent strikes that froze tenant rents at 1914 levels unless landlords had made physical property improvements.

Housing Act of 1919

Legislation under David Lloyd George's 'Homes Fit for Heroes' initiative providing subsidies to local councils to build council housing, which promised $500,000$ homes in 3 years but only built $250,000$.