World War I and the Russian Revolution Review Flashcards

A comprehensive set of 40 vocabulary flashcards covering the causes, technology, and outcomes of World War I, alongside the key events and figures of the Russian Revolution.

Militarism

A cause of World War I where countries built up large armies and navies and competed for military power.

Alliances

Formal military agreements between nations that pulled many countries into the conflict of World War I.

Nationalism

Strong pride in one's nation that created rivalries and tensions between European countries.

Imperialism

The competition between European nations for colonies and resources around the world.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

The leader of Austria-Hungary whose assassination served as the trigger for World War I.

Triple Entente

The military alliance also known as the Allied Powers, which included Great Britain, France, Russia, and later the United States.

Central Powers

The military alliance including Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire.

Total War

A state where all people living in a country are involved in a war effort, including women taking over jobs and citizens rationing items at home.

War bond

A loan given by citizens at home to the government to be used specifically for war purposes.

Poison gas

A weapon that can cause blinding, requiring soldiers to use gas masks for protection.

Machine gun

A modern weapon that fires a rapid continuous stream of bullets.

Aviation

One or two-seat planes equipped with bombs or machine guns introduced during the war.

Tanks

Armored vehicles designed to travel across any type of land, specifically No Man's Land in trench warfare.

Submarine

An underwater ship used in World War I that can launch torpedoes.

Lusitania

A ship carrying $106$ Americans and war materials that was sunk by Germany, helping lead the United States into the war.

Zimmerman Telegram

A German message to Mexico asking them to start a war with the United States to distract it from providing aid to Great Britain and France.

Fourteen Points

A speech by Woodrow Wilson outlining a vision for stable, long-lasting peace in Europe and the rest of the world.

Treaty of Versailles

The peace agreement that forced Germany to take full responsibility for the war, lose territory, and pay reparations.

Reparations

Payments for war damages that Germany was required to pay under the Treaty of Versailles.

League of Nations

An organization of $40$ countries proposed by the United States to settle problems before they led to war, which was weakened when the United States did not join.

Alsace and Lorraine

Territories that were returned to France by Germany following the end of World War I.

Rhineland

An area from which Germany was required to remove its troops as part of the Treaty of Versailles terms.

Russo-Japanese War

A conflict that Russia lost, demonstrating it was not strong enough to compete with a newly industrialized country.

Bloody Sunday

An event on $\text{January } 22, 1905$, where the czar's troops shot down peaceful marchers carrying a petition for reform.

March Revolution

The $1917$ revolt sparked by military defeats and food, fuel, and housing shortages that caused Czar Nicholas II to abdicate.

Czar Nicholas II

The leader of Russia who wanted western industrialization without changing the ruling system and was eventually forced to abdicate.

Bolshevik Revolution

The takeover led by Vladimir Lenin and his supporters who wanted to follow and adapt the ideas of Karl Marx.

Vladimir Lenin

The leader who gained support with the promise of Peace, Land, and Bread and oversaw the creation of a communist government.

Peace, Land, and Bread

The promises made by the Bolsheviks to end Russia's involvement in the war, reform land, and end food shortages.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

The agreement signed by Russia to withdraw from World War I by giving a large amount of territory to Germany.

New Economic Policy

Lenin's economic system where the government controlled banks and large industry but allowed some privately owned businesses.

Reds

The forces loyal to Lenin during the Russian Civil War.

Whites

The anti-communist forces during the Russian Civil War that received troop assistance from Great Britain, France, and the United States.

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

The communist state created in $1922$ where the people and government controlled all resources and means of production.

Joseph Stalin

The totalitarian ruler who rose to power in $1924$ and ruled the Soviet Union through terror, brutality, and the Great Purge.

Totalitarian ruler

A one-party dictator who attempts to regulate every aspect of the lives of its citizens.

Great Purge

A campaign where Stalin accused thousands of people of crimes against the government, leading to their exile, imprisonment, or death.

Five Year Plans

Stalin's goals to drastically increase industrial production in oil, coal, steel, and mining while improving farm output.

Collectivization

A system where large farms are owned and operated by peasants as a group under total government control over prices and production.

Holodomore

A genocide and human rights violation involving mass casualties that occurred under the Soviet regime.