WWI Study Guide

Militarism

The belief that a country should maintain a strong military and be prepared to use it to defend or promote national interests.

Pan-Slavism

A nationalist movement aimed at uniting all Slavic people under one political organization or leadership.

Franz Ferdinand

Archduke of Austria-Hungary whose assassination in Sarajevo in 1914 triggered World War I.

No Man's Land

The dangerous, muddy land between opposing trenches, often filled with barbed wire and the bodies of fallen soldiers.

Causes of WWI

Memorize the acronym MAIN: Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism.

Treaty of Versailles (1919)

The peace treaty that ended WWI and punished Germany with war guilt, reparations, territorial losses, and military limitations.

Ultimatum

A final demand or set of terms, such as the one issued by Austria-Hungary to Serbia after Ferdinand's assassination.

Armistice

An agreement to stop fighting, with WWI's armistice signed on November 11, 1918.

Trench Warfare

A form of warfare characterized by long trenches where soldiers fought with poor living conditions.

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

Germany’s policy of sinking any ship in enemy waters, contributing to the U.S. entering the war.

Mobilize

To prepare a country’s military forces for war, which made war more inevitable.

Reparations

Payments made by a defeated country for the damage caused during a war, particularly Germany after WWI.

Propaganda

Information spread to promote a cause or damage an opposing one, used heavily during WWI.

Fourteen Points

President Wilson’s plan for peace that included open diplomacy, freedom of the seas, self-determination, and the creation of a League of Nations.

Mandates

Former territories of the Central Powers placed under control of the Allied powers by the League of Nations after WWI.

Alliances

Agreements between nations to support each other in case of conflict, notably the Triple Alliance and Triple Entente prior to WWI.

League of Nations

An international organization created post-WWI to promote peace; the U.S. never joined and it ultimately failed to prevent aggression leading to WWII.

Triple Alliance

An alliance formed between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy

Triple Entante

An alliance formed between Great Britain, Russia, and France.