WW1

Lusitania

British passenger ocean liner sunk by a German submarine in 1915, killing over 1,000 people and shifting American public opinion toward war.

League of Nations

International diplomatic organization created after World War I to preserve world peace and resolve conflicts through collective security.

Schlieffen Plan

German military strategy designed to execute a swift victory against France through Belgium before turning to face Russia.

Triple Alliance

Pre-WWI alliance formed between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.

Zimmerman Note

Secret diplomatic telegram from Germany to Mexico proposing a military alliance against the United States.

Treaty of Versailles

The 1919 peace settlement that formally concluded WWI, assigned war guilt, and imposed heavy reparations and territorial losses on Germany.

Triple Entente

Pre-WWI coalition linking Great Britain, France, and Russia.

Great Migration

The mass movement of hundreds of thousands of African Americans from the rural South to Northern cities for industrial war-effort jobs.

Woodrow Wilson

28th U.S. President who led the country during WWI and formulated the Fourteen Points peace plan.

Major Central Powers

Wartime coalition composed of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria.

War Bonds

Debt securities sold by the government to private citizens to finance wartime military expenditures.

Armistice of November 11, 1918

The ceasefire agreement between the Allies and Germany that ended military hostilities on the Western Front.

Major Allied Powers

Wartime coalition primarily including Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and the United States.

Fourteen Points

Woodrow Wilson's post-war peace blueprint addressing self-determination, free trade, and the formation of the League of Nations.

Primary methods nations used to finance WWI

Imposing higher taxes, borrowing national funds, and issuing war bonds to the public.

Significance of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Triggered the diplomatic crisis that set off alliance obligations and led directly to the outbreak of World War I.

Primary reasons for U.S. entry into WWI

Germany's renewal of unrestricted submarine warfare and the interception of the Zimmerman Note.

Primary reason Great Britain entered WWI

Germany's invasion of neutral Belgium, whose sovereignty Britain was pledged to uphold.

Conditions of Western Front trench warfare

Characterized by deep mud, severe rat and pest infestations, disease, and constant danger from artillery and gas attacks.

Key major power that did not join the League of Nations

The United States.

Primary purposes of wartime propaganda

To recruit soldiers, raise war funds through bond sales, maintain civilian morale, and demonize the enemy.

Key punitive measures imposed on Germany after WWI

Forced acceptance of the War Guilt Clause, payment of financial reparations, loss of colonial and domestic territory, and severe military reductions.

Impact of WWI on women's societal roles

Expanded employment into heavy manufacturing and clerical roles, which fueled momentum for post-war voting rights.

Impact of the Russian Revolution on WWI

Led to Russia's withdrawal from the war, allowing Germany to redirect troops to the Western Front.

Overall human and economic costs of WWI

Roughly twenty million military and civilian deaths, millions wounded, devastated infrastructure, and extensive national debt across Europe.

June 28, 1914

Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo.

Summer 1914

The formal outbreak of World War I as major European powers declare war following the July Crisis.

May 7, 1915

The RMS Lusitania is torpedoed and sunk off the southern coast of Ireland by a German U-boat.

April 6, 1917

The United States officially enters World War I by declaring war on Germany.

November 11, 1918

The armistice takes effect at 11:00 AM, bringing an end to active combat in World War I.