WW1 + Slavery - Key Terms

Middle Passage

The journey enslaved Africans were forced to make across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.

Plantations

Large farms that grew crops like sugar, cotton, or tobacco using enslaved or cheap labor.

Abolition Movement

The movement to end slavery.

William Wilberforce

A British politician who helped lead the campaign to end the slave trade.

Olaudah Equiano

A former enslaved African who wrote about slavery and helped campaign for abolition.

Thomas Clarkson

An abolitionist who collected evidence to show how cruel slavery was.

Militarism

When a country builds up its military and prepares for war.

Dreadnought

A powerful British battleship that increased the arms race before World War I.

Triple Alliance

Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy

Triple Entente

Britain, France, and Russia

Imperialism

When a country takes control of other lands to gain power and resources.

Scramble for Africa

The period when European countries competed to take control of African land.

Nationalism

Strong pride in your country and belief it should be independent.

Balkans

A region in southeast Europe where many different ethnic groups lived.

Black Hand Gang

A Serbian terrorist group that wanted independence from Austria-Hungary.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

The Austrian leader whose assassination started World War I.

Kaiser Wilhelm

The ruler of Germany during the lead-up to World War I.