First World War (1914 - 1918) Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, concepts, battles, and technologies from the First World War revision notes.

Trench Foot

An illness developed by soldiers in trenches whose feet were submerged in dirty water.

Trench Fever

An illness developed by soldiers in trenches caused by lice bites.

Shell Shock

An illness resulting from constant artillery bombardment, later treated in $20$ specialist British hospitals.

No Man's Land

The barren ground that developed between opposing trenches on the Western Front.

Battle of Heligoland Bight

An August 1914 naval ambush by the Royal Navy in thick fog close to the German coast, which sank $1$ destroyer and $3$ cruisers for no British losses.

Raid on Scarborough

A December 1914 German fleet bombardment of Whitby, Scarborough, and Great Yarmouth that killed $122$ civilians.

Chlorine Gas

A green vapour first used by Germany in April 1915 during the Second Battle of Ypres that burned the lungs.

Phosgene Gas

A colourless gas developed during World War I that was the deadliest poison gas of the war.

Mustard Gas

A poison gas developed during World War I that blinded eyes and blistered skin.

Dardanelles

A heavily defended $60\,\text{km}$ long strait that Churchill planned to sail a British fleet through to bombard Constantinople.

Attrition

A strategy aimed at killing as many enemy soldiers as possible, as planned by General Haig at the Battle of the Somme.

Whippet Tanks

Faster tank models used alongside other tanks at the Battle of Amiens in 1918 to break through German trenches.

Q Ships

Secretly armed merchant ships used by the British to sink $14$ German U-Boats.

Lusitania

A British passenger liner sunk by a German U-Boat in Feb. 1915, killing $128$ Americans.

Hydrophones

A technology used by the Allies to identify U-Boat locations underwater.

General Ludendorff

The German General who launched the Spring Offensive in March 1918 to try to win the war before US troops arrived.

Stormtroopers

Elite German soldiers armed with light machine guns and flamethrowers who broke through Allied trenches during the 1918 Spring Offensive.

The Black Day of the German Army

August 8th 1918, the first day of the Battle of Amiens where Allied forces broke through German trenches and advanced $13\,\text{km}$.

Hindenburg Line

A strong German trench network used for defence that was breached during the Hundred Days Offensive.

British Naval Blockade

The Royal Navy's blockade of German ports from 1914 to 1918 that cut off food and raw materials, contributing to famine, disease, and Germany's surrender.