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defensive alliance
A military alliance where each partner is pledged to defend every other member should any bbe attacked by another nation.
Triple Alliance
A Bismarck forged military defensive alliance between Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary. It lasted until the start of World War I in 1914.
Triple Entente
A military defensive alliance formed by France, Russia, and Britain to counter-balance the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.
Alsace - Lorraine
An historic region laying between France and Germany. The population is ethnically German, but had been under French control for centuries. It was fought over for decades.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
A region in the Balkan Peninsula that is populated by South Slavs (Bosnians, Serbs, and Croats). Austria-Hungary controlled the region, but Serbia was determined to gain control of the area.
nationalism
An emotional political philosophy that glorifies the nation as the most fundamental human bond that unites the people of a specific background to the land where they live.
Archduke Francis-Ferdinand
The heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, his June 1914 assassination by Serbian nationalists triggered the outbreak of World War I.
"blank check"
A slang phrase that means to give someone the power to do anything they want. It comes from a banking term for presenting someone with a signed check that they can make out for any amount.
ultimatum
A final demand or list of demands with the threat of further action if it is rejected.
mobilize
The action of a government or country to call up military forces to prepare for active service. It is one step short of war.
von Schlieffen Plan
A German battle plan designed to win a war against both France and Russia. It called for a quick attack and victory over France while Russia was still mobilizing. It failed in World War I.
two-front war
A conflict fought in two distinctively separate regions forcing a combatant to divide their forces.
Allies
One side of combatants in World War I. The major participants were Britain, France, and Russia. Later, dozens of nations joined the Allies.
Central Powers
One side of combatants in World War I. They included Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria.
poison gas
A devastating weapon used by both sides in World War I in hopes of breaking the stalemate on the Western Front. Mustard Gas and Chlorine Gas were the most common.
U-Boat
The German term for a submarine. The U-Boat was first used on a large scale in World War I.
HMS Lusitania
A British luxury ocean liner that was sunk by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland in May 1915. Over 1,100 civilians died in the tragedy, including over 120 Americans.
reconnaissance
The action of trying to observe the movements and actions of an enemy.
dogfight
The nickname for combat between two or more airplanes.
genocide
The act of trying to kill a specific group or race of people.
Armenian Genocide (1915 - 1917)
Considered the first mass murder of the 20th century, over 1,500,000 Armenian Christians were killed by the actions of the Ottoman Empire.
total war
Term for a conflict that impacts every part of a combatant's economy, resources, and population.
"Canary Girls"
A British nickname for the young women who worked in the munitions industry producing the bombs needed at the front. Their skin was turned yellow by exposure to dangerous levels of sulfur.
Easter Rebellion
A large uprising by Irish nationalists seeking the end of British rule. It took place during Easter Week in 1916. The British crushed the uprising and executed the leaders of the revolt, but promised to begin negotiations to create a free Ireland after the end of the war.
unrestricted submarine war
German government policy of using its U-Boats to sink ANY vessel, Allied or neutral, conducting trade with Britain. The policy helped push the US into the war against Germany.
Zimmermann Telegram
A German government message sent to Mexico encouraging that nation to attack the US. The British intercepted the telegram and turned it over to the US.
President Woodrow Wilson
Leader of the US during World War I. He kept the nation out of the war until 1917.
14 Points
A 14-point plan created by President Wilson as a pathway to bring the war to an end. Among the points were arms limitations, borders drawn along ethnic lines, an end to secret treaties, the formation of a League of Nations, and the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France.
League of Nations
An international organization created to be a way for nations to peacefully resolve disputes and avoid future conflicts.
armistice
A temporary truce between warring combatants while a treaty is negotiated.
Treaty of Versailles
The primary agreement that brought World War I to an end. The treaty forced defeated Germany to accept sole responsibility for starting the war, stripped Germany of 13% of its territory, limited the size of its military, and placed massive reparations on the country.
Big Four
Nickname for the four major Allied nations (Britain, France, Italy, and the US) and their leaders (PM Lloyd-George, Premier Clemenceau, PM Orlando, and President Wilson).
reparations
Term for money paid by the defeated to the victors following a war.
Russian Revolution of 1917
One of the most important political events in history, it began with the overthrow of the old tsarist Romanov monarchy and to the eventual establishment of the first communist government. There were actually two separate uprisings, one in March and a second in November.
Provisional Government
The new government established after the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II in March 1917. It was led by Prince Lvov and Alexander Kerensky. It lost the support of the public because it continued to fight in World War I.
Duma
The parliament of Russia.
Bolshevik
An early name of the communist movement in Russia. They led a long underground fight to bring down the tsarist monarchy and eventually established the world's first communist state, the Soviet Union.
Vladimir Lenin
The leader of the Bolshevik revolutionaries and the first ruler of the new Soviet Union.
Petrograd
The wartime name of the Russian city of St. Petersburg.
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
A harsh 1918 peace treaty negotiated by the new Soviet government and the Central Powers. The Soviets were forced to surrender huge amounts of territory to Germany and Austria-Hungary. It was undone by Germany's defeat.
Russian Civil War
A brutal, destructive civil war fought between communists and anti-communists in Russia. It left much of the country in ruins. The communists won.
Reds
A nickname for supporters of the communists.
Whites
A nickname for opponents of the communists.
Red Army
The military force that fought for the communists in the Russian Civil War and later the army of the Soviet Union.
Leon Trotsky
An early Bolshevik and close aide to Lenin, he organized the Red Army. He later lost a power struggle with Stalin and was forced into exile. Stalin had him assassinated in 1940.
New Economic Policy (NEP)
Lenin introduced a radical economic reform designed to help the nation recover from the destruction of World War I and the Russian Civil War that marked a complete break with traditional communist economics.
kulaks
The kulaks were Russian peasants who were wealthy enough to own their own land and to hire farmworkers. They prospered under the NEP and were destroyed by Stalin.
Josef Stalin
An early Bolshevik colleague of Lenin and Trotsky, Stalin emerged as a key rival of Trotsky. Stalin won the struggle and ultimately ruled the Soviet Union from 1926 - 1953.
totalitarian
A governmental system in which the state exercises total control over every aspect of their citizens' lives. The Soviet Union under Stalin was one of the most totalitarian in history.
gulags
A system of brutal Soviet concentration camps where political dissidents were sentenced to long terms of confinement. Millions perished in these camps.
"politically incorrect"
Today this term refers to something that is considered to be inappropriate, but it originated as an official crime in the Soviet Union of disagreeing with communist policies.
Old Bolsheviks
Term for the original early Bolsheviks who had fought against the tsarist government before and during the Revolution. They were close confidents of Lenin. Stalin targeted them for elimination because he viewed them as political rivals.
Show Trials
Term for the Soviet courts that were used to publically discredit well-known Bolsheviks who Stalin viewed as threats. The accused would frequently confess to being "enemies of the people."
counter-revolutionary
Any individual or action that is engaged in actions designed to undo or undermine a revolution.
5-Year Plans
The term used by Soviet economic planners to describe their ambitious plans to grow every segment of the economy, especially manufacturing and agriculture. They were mostly failures.
collectivization of agriculture
The disastrous communist policy of seizing privately owned farms and forming massive, state-owned farms. Agricultural production fell dramatically following collectivization.
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