The Great War Flashcards

Flashcards about World War I and the Treaty of Versailles.

Stalemate

Term for when the fighting is at a standstill of a deadlock between two sides.

Paris

Location of meetings to determine conditions of peace after World War I.

League of Nations

Proposed international association whose purpose would be to keep peace among nations.

Self-Determination

The right of a people to govern themselves.

Mandate

Term for postwar territories (colonies) expected to be governed by a member nation of the League of Nations.

Influenza

Millions of civilians (and some soldiers) were killed as a result of this epidemic in 1918.

Lusitania

British ship that was torpedoed and sunk in the Irish Sea by a German U-boat in 1915.

Woodrow Wilson

U.S. President who kept America out of war until 1917.

David Lloyd-George

British Prime Minister whose party was elected based on campaigns that the Germans were going to have to “pay" for the war.

Zimmerman Note

Germany's attempt at starting conflicts with Mexico through a note.

Ottoman and Russian Empires

Two empires that broke up as a result of World War I.

United States

Country that did not join the League of Nations as a result of their rejection of the Treaty of Versailles.

Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles affected postwar Germany by leaving a legacy of bitterness and hatred in the hearts of the German people.

Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empire

Two countries that fought for the Central Powers (excluding Germany).

Propaganda

The purpose of propaganda during the war was to influence public opinion.

Unrestricted submarine warfare

Germany's policy to sink any ship in British waters without warning.

Armistice

Action on November 11, 1918, that brought World War I to an end: an Armistice was signed.

Legacy (results) of World War I

The legacy of World War I included involving new technologies, approximately 8 million soldiers killed, and devastating economic impact. It was incorrect to say that when the war was over, people carried on with their lives as if the war never occurred.

Fourteen Points

A plan for the postwar world set forth by Wilson is known as 'Fourteen Points'.

War Guilt Clause

Clause of the Treaty of Versailles that was devised to justify German reparations and other losses.

Formation of new nations

The concept of self-determination and provisions of the peace treaties signed with the Central Powers led to the formation of new nations out of the Central Powers.

Georges Clemenceau

French leader who wanted to make Germany pay for the war and was concerned about France's national security.

The Balkan Region

The 'powder keg' of Europe because of all the different ethnic groups who did not want empires to continue to rule over their land and peoples.

Spark of World War I

The spark that ignited the First World War was a politically motivated murder of Austria's Archduke by a Serbian terrorist in Sarajevo in 1914.

Schlieffen Plan

Germany's Schlieffen Plan was to attack France first and then go after Russia.

General attitude of Europeans when war was declared in August 1914

Naive romantic enthusiasm for the adventure of war.

Spain

Nation was neutral during the entirety of the First World War.

Total War

What the war became once the participating countries began devoting all of their resources to the war effort.