World War I

Triple Alliance

Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy

Russian-German Reinsurance Treaty

- Germany & Russia promise not to fight each other

- Kaiser Wilhelm II did not want to renew this treaty

"splendid isolation"

- diplomatic policy of avoiding alliances and entanglements

- Britain after 1891

Anglo-Japanese Alliance

- alliance that bound Britain and Japan to assist one another in safeguarding their respective interests in China and Korea

- treaty for benevolent neutrality

Entente Cordial

a series of agreements signed between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the French Third Republic which saw a significant improvement in Anglo-French relations

Anglo-German arms race

Britain & France settle all colonial disputes

Triple Entente

France, Russia, and Great Britain

Bertha von Suttner, "Lay Down Your Arms"

- first woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize

- wrote "Lay Down Your Arms" 1899

Dreadnoughts

- most powerful ship to fire large shells quick

- very expensive

Kruger Telegram

a message sent by Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II to Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, President of the South African Republic (or the Transvaal)

Algeciras Conference

purpose of this conference was to find a solution to the First Moroccan Crisis of 1905 between France and Germany

"Encirclement"

Germany claimed this idea prevented German expansion, denying it the right to acquire "living room"

Second Moroccan Crisis, 1911

a brief international crisis sparked by the deployment of a substantial force of French troops in the interior of Morocco

"sick man of Europe"

- constant state of crisis in the Balkans over who would control the region

- Russian dream - retake the Balkans & ultimately Constantinople

- Austro-Hungarian Empire wanted it as well

Pan-Slavism

- idea of unifying all slavs in Europe under one government (Russia)

- Russia's military victory over the Ottoman Empire by 1878 put it into a position to dominate the Balkans

- Britain refused to accept the Russian control of the Balkans & sent the navy to help the Turks

- Bismarck offered to mediate the crisis with the Congress of Berlin, 1878

Young Turks

led by Ataturk

First Balkan Crisis (Bosnian Crisis)

- Young Turks, led by Ataturk, seem weak to the Europeans

- 1911-12 Italy took the Turkish province of Libya

- 1908 Austria annexed Bosnia

- Russia failed to gain access, leaving Serbia frustrated

- War was averted because Russia was not ready for war & France did not want to fight over the Balkans

First Balkan War, 1912

- Serbia, Greece, & Bulgaria allied to successfully drive the Turks out of the Balkans

- Serbia sought port access to the Adriatic Sea, but was rebuffed when Austria created the state of Albania

Second Balkan War, 1913

- Bulgaria - angered that Serbia & Greece had acquired territory in Macedonia attacked them both

- Serbia defeated Bulgaria & temporarily gained control of Albania

- Austria with German support prevented Serbia from holding Albania

- Serbia still had no access to the Adriatic & Albania was independent

- Russia humiliated since it could not help Serbia acquire Albania

"Third Balkan War"

Austria declares war on Serbia- Germany writes "blank check" to Austria, tells them to be agressive

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

- Austro-Hungarian ruler that was assassinated

- he was married to Sophie who was not a member of the royal family therefore his kids could not be heirs

Princip, "Black Hand"

assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Kaiser Wilhelm II

pledged Austria a "blank check" to punish Serbia

"blank check"

promise of support from Germany to Austria-Hungary after Ferdinand's assassination; Austria-Hungary sought reprisals against Serbia

Central Powers (Triple Alliance)

Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, & Bulgaria

Allies (Triple Entente)

Britain, France, Russia (later Japan, Italy, & US)

Western Front

- a line of trenches and fortifications in World War I that stretched without a break from Switzerland to the North Sea

- scene of most of the fighting between Germany, on the one hand, and France and Britain, on the other

Schlieffen Plan

- German 42-day military plan to invade France through Belgium, defeat France quickly by sweeping around Paris, and then redeploy to the east to defeat Russia before she fully mobilized

- when Russia began to mobilize on July 28 after Austria declared war on Serbia, the 42-day timetable had begun

- Germany believed she had to attack lest she be saddle with a two-front war against Russia and France

Battle of the Marne, 1914

- After Germans came within sight of Paris, French & British forces pushed the German forces back

- French army was led by Joseph Joffre

- represented the end of mobility on the Western Front

- Schlieffen Plan failed because of Belgium resistance, failure of luring French Army into Alsace & Lorriance, Russians mobilizing quickly, and the decisive counterattack at the Marne

trench warfare

- resulted in a stalemate & lasted 4 years

- stretched from the North Sea to the Swiss border

- few gains were made

- 1916 massive casualties could not break through

Battle of Verdun, 1916

- German offensive

- each side had 500,000 casualties

Battle of the Somme, 1916

- bloodiest battle of war

- 60,000 British soldiers killed in one day

- over 1,000,000 killed in 5 months

Erich Remarque, "All Quiet on the Western Front", 1929

- novel written illustrating the horrors of World War I and the experiences of veterans and soldiers

- it was extremely popular, but also caused a lot of political controversy when it was first published

- banned in Germany in the 1930's.

new weapons

poison gas, radio, zeppelins, tanks, U-boasts, airplanes, machine guns

Eastern Front

General von Hindenburg & General von Ludendorf organized a win over Russia

Generals Hindenburg and Ludendorf

organized a win over Russia

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 1917

- December 1917

- Lenin after the Bolshevik Revolution, took Russia out of the war but was forced to give Germans 1/4 of Russian territory

Gallipoli campaign, 1915

an unsuccessful attempt by the Allied Powers to control the sea route from Europe to Russia

Arab Revolt

revolt that British and Arab forces were led by T. E. Lawrence which deposed the Sultan of Turkey, and left a new government suing for peace

T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)

gave Arabs military assistance

Armenian Genocide

- resulted from Ottoman claims that Armenians were cooperating with the Allies

- perhaps a million Armenians died in what became the first of several genocides in the 20th century

British naval blockade

- Goal: strangle the Central Powers

- cut off overseas trade routes

- loss of German colonial empire

- Germany responds by sinking Allied vessels (Lusitania)

- 1917 unrestricted submarine warfare

Lusitania

British ship sunk by German response to naval blockade

unrestricted submarine warfare

initiated by the Germans, German U-boats would sink all ships on sight, no matter what the cargo

Archangel expedition, 1918

- prevent a Bolshevik victory during the Russian Civil War by invading Russia from Murmansk

- Allies sent troops in Siberia to prevent Japanese control of the region

- contributed to prolonging the Russian Civil War

"Total war"

- involved mass civilian populations in the war effort

- massive conscription of able-bodied men

- civilian targets

- news was censored

- economic producation

- centralized control by wartime regimes

- blurred social classes

Georges Clemenceau

- French Premier who was determined to regain Alsace and Lorraine from Germany

- he wanted to weaken the German army as well as to use German financial resources to rebuild the French economy

Italia Irredenta ("unredeemed Italy")

a nationalist belief following unification which encouraged "Italianization"

Zimmerman Telegram

- German proposed an alliance with Mexico against the US

- Mexico would receive much of the SW Us if the Central Powers won

- major fail,, Mexico did not want to

Balfour Note, 1917

- Arabs & Jews in Palestine were promised autonomy if they joined the Allies

- Britain declared sympathy for idea of a Jewish homeland in Palestine

- new policy seemed to contradict British support from Arab Nationalism

Woodrow Wilson

gave speech of fourteen points

Fourteen Points

- plan to end the war along liberal, democratic lines given by Woodrow Wilson

- 14th point: international organization to supply collective security

"self-determination"

- war aims in Woodrow's speech outlined this idea

- process by which a country determines its own statehood and forms its own allegiances and government

Meuse-Argonne offensive, 1918

- Germans transfer division from the east

-a pivotal part of the final Allied offensive in World War I, was the largest American-led military operation in the war, and its success significantly contributed to the Allied victory and the subsequent armistice. 

- US entered the war in time to assist Britain & France in stopping the German offensive

- Central powers sought peace based on the 14 points

Paris Peace Conference, 1919

- David Lloyd-George, Great Britain

- Georges Clemenceau, France

- Vittorio Orlando, Italy

- Woodrow Wilson, United States

Big Four

- David Lloyd-George, Great Britain

- Georges Clemenceau, France

- Vittorio Orlando, Italy

- Woodrow Wilson, United States

Versailles Treaty

- treaty that brought WWI to an end

- ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers

Mandates

- created for former colonies & territories of the Central Powers

- much of the Middle East is now controlled by Britain & France

Article 231

- placed sole blame for war on Germany - severely punished

- pay huge reparations to Britain & France

- German army & navy severely reduced

- Rhineland demilitarized & saar coal mines taken over by France

- Germany lost all colonies

League of Nations

- Germany & Russia were not included in this

- US Senate failed to ratify the Treaty resulting in US isolationism for 2 decades

- League was a mere shadow of what it had originally intended to be

Easter Rebellion, 1916

1922 Ireland gained independence, but Northern Ireland remained apart of Great Britain

John Maynard Keynes, "The Economic Consequences of the Peace", 1919

- criticized the economic parts of the treaty and representatives, and proved it immoral

- it increased the ideals of traditional isolationism which eventually led to the Untied States leaving the League of Nations