WWI

Wilhelm II

Kaiser of Germany who dismissed Bismarck.

Otto Von Bismarck

German statesman who unified Germany.

Arms Race

Competition between Germany and Britain for military power.

Triple Alliance

Military alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.

Triple Entente

Alliance of France, Britain, and Russia.

Imperialism

Competition for colonies and resources among powers.

Nationalism

Identification with one's nation and its interests.

Balkans

Southeast European region with Slavic majority.

Franz Ferdinand

Heir to Austro-Hungarian throne assassinated in 1914.

Gavrilo Princip

Serbian nationalist who killed Ferdinand.

Austria-Hungary

Empire that declared war on Serbia in 1914.

Serbia

Country claiming rights over Slavic lands.

Military Alliances

Agreements for mutual defense among nations.

Slavic Region

Area in Balkans with significant Slavic population.

Independence Movements

Small Balkan countries gained independence in 1900s.

War Declaration Chain

Series of declarations leading to WWI outbreak.

M.A.I.N. Causes of WWI

Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism.

Central Powers

Austria-Hungary, Germany, Ottoman Empire (Bulgaria later).

Allies

France, Russia, Great Britain (later joined by Italy, Japan, USA).

Schlieffen Plan

Germany's strategy to quickly defeat France in the west, then fight Russia in the east.

Stalemate

A situation in trench warfare where neither side could gain significant ground. 'No man's land'.

Poison Gas

A deadly weapon used in trenches during WW1, later banned in 1925 by the Geneva Conventions.

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

Germany's policy was to sink any ship in British waters without warning, leading to the US entering the war.

Fighting in the Colonies

European powers extended the war to their colonies in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

T.E. Lawrence

He led the British to defeat the Ottomans in the Middle East.

Total War

Countries devoted all their resources to the war effort.

Paris Peace Conference

Event in Paris involving Wilson, Clemenceau, George, and Orlando.

Armistice

What the new German government signed on November 11, 1918.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Treaty that ended Russian involvement in WWI.

Leon Trotsky

Led the Red Army during the Russian Civil War.

Joseph Stalin

Seized power in 1929 after Lenin's death.

Totalitarianism

A government that takes total and centralized control of every aspect of private and public life.

Great Purge

The elimination of anyone who threatened Stalin's power, including members of his own party.

Five Year Plans

Focused on setting high production goals for electricity, steel, agriculture, coal, and oil.

Mao Zedong

Organized the Chinese Communist Party and sought to unite peasants and rural farmers.

Long March

A 6,000-mile retreat by Communists in 1933 to escape Nationalist forces.

May Fourth Movement

Chinese students and workers protested over China's weak position after WWI.

Jiang Jieshi

Took over as leader of the Nationalists after Sun Yixian's death.

Communism

Seen by many as a better way to strengthen China post-WWI.

Manchuria

Region invaded by Japan in 1931.

Spanish Civil War

Conflict where Franco's Nationalists fought Republicans, leading to Franco's dictatorship.

Fascism

A far-right political ideology characterized by extreme nationalism and dictatorial power.

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Who stepped down on November 11, 1918.

$338 billion

The total cost of the war.

1917

When the US joined the war.

2010

Year in which the final reparations were settled.

Armenian Genocide

2 million Armenians were deported and 600,000 were killed or died from starvation.

Ataturk

The founder of the Republic of Turkey, who modernized Turkey after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.