Mr. Haskell
World History E-Core
9 February 2005
WWI Study Guide
Militarism - Glorification of the ideals of a professional military class. It was prevalent among European nations before the First World War.
Ultimatum - A final statement of terms made by one party to another. They were issued as a last ditch effort to prevent the war.
Mobilize - To make mobile or capable of movement. European nations �mobilized� for war by preparing their military readiness.
Neutrality - The state or policy of being neutral, especially nonparticipation in war. Nations that chose not to participate in WWI were known as neutral nations.
Total war � Destroying the enemy�s ability to fight. A war that extends to the deaths of civilians and non-military targets. The Germans were the first to extend the Great War into total war.
Propaganda - The systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause. It was used during the First World War to persuade peoples to believe in their cause.
Atrocity - Appalling or atrocious condition, quality, or behavior; monstrousness. Many atrocities occurred during the First World War, as it was the first war of its kind, and European was unprepared for the scale on which it occurred.
Armistice � A temporary cessation of fighting by mutual consent; a truce. An armistice was reached between all sides of World War I in the final months of 1918.
Reparations � The act or process of repairing or the condition of being repaired. The Central Powers were forced to pay reparations after losing the war.
Mandate � An authoritative command or instruction. After WWI, many luxury lands of the Central Powers were split into mandates of the Allies.
Edith Cavell � A British nurse who worked in Belgium in World War I. She was arrested for helping allied soldiers to freedom and executed by the German military.
Georges Clemenceau � A French politician, the prime minister twice, and was called the Tiger. Clemenceau's staunch republicanism brought him into early conflict with Napoleon III's government. Although trained as a doctor he traveled to the U.S. where he remained for several years as a teacher and journalist, returning to France in 1869.
Alfred Nobel � A Swedish industrialist and invented dynamite. He was the beginning of the Nobel Prize.
Gavrillo Princip � Princip was trained in terrorism by the Serbian secret society known as the Black Hand. He shot Francis Ferdinand and Sophie.
Sarajevo � Capital of Bosnia where the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife in 1914. It triggered the First World War.
Woodrow Wilson � 28th president of the United States who led the country into World War I. He established the League of Nations at the Paris Peace Conference, but was unable to convince Congress to allow U.S. inclusion.
(Wilson's Fourteen Points Points) � A plan for peace written by the American President Woodrow Wilson. It emphasized free trade between nations and equal rights between colonists and European citizens.
Francis Ferdinand � Austrian Archduke who was assassinated by Serbian nationalists in 1914. This event led to World War I.
Kaiser William II � German leader who led the Germans into World War I. After his abdication, the war ended and Germany became a republic.
Bertha Von Sutner - Austrian pacifist who wrote the novel Lay Down Your Arms. She was the first woman recipient of the Nobel Prize.
Triple Alliance � An alliance formed between France, England, and Russia. It was formed prior to the war in 1908 and the three countries later became the Allies in WWI.
Ottoman Empire � Known as the �sick man of Europe.� They allied themselves with the Central Powers, and ended up being the greatest losers of the war.
trench warfare � Warfare between two opposing sides entrenched, with each side using mortars and explosives to destroy the opposing side�s trench. They were prolonged and ineffective battles that held soldiers in terrible conditions and isolation.
machine gun (role it played in WWI) � Machine guns, a new technology in World War I, was beginning to be used effectively. It was a devastating weapon that could halt incoming enemies with devastating firepower.
airplane (role it played in WWI) � The airplane added new dynamics to warfare. It could be used for espionage, bombing, and dogfights with other airplanes.
role of women in WWI � While the men during WWI were off fighting the war, women at home had to take to the factory to keep the weapons manufacturing continuing. Many women made sacrifices at home and take poor, hardworking, industrial factory jobs.
Nationalism (ie. tension between France and Germany) � The leading countries of Europe had intense nationalist feelings. Each country felt it was superior to the other, leading to the events of WWI.
Paris Peace Conference � A conference to end World War I. It created a temporary peace and wanted to establish a permanent peace in Europe.
American neutrality � America tried to stay neutral throughout WWI, as it was considered by most Americans as a �European War.� After the sinking of the Lusitania, American sentiments changed and the U.S. entered the conflict towards the end.
Black Hand - A secret society organized for acts of terrorism and blackmail to create a greater, independent Serbia. They assassinated Francis Ferdinand and spiraled Europe into World War I.
Treaty of Versailles � An international conference held at Versailles to establish an international peace. It, among other things, established the League of Nations.
self determination � The ability of a nation to rule autonomously under its own government and systems. Germany tried to force other nations to act under their rule.
Shleiffen Plan � Created by German military chief of staff Alfred von Schlieffen as an offensive plan against France. It ultimately failed.
U boat � Revolutionary German submarines. They terrorized sea routes and coast lines, and for a while were considered �invincible� by Allie naval forces.
Lusitania � American ship that was sunk by a German naval vessel. American civilians were killed and it led to the Americans entering the war.
armistice - A temporary cessation of fighting by mutual consent. An armistice was reached between Germany and Russia following the Communist Revolution.
Mandate - An authoritative command or instruction. After WWI, many luxury lands of the Central Powers were split into mandates of the Allies.
war reparations- The Germans went through a depression, and they had to pay millions of dollars. The people were desperate for anyone that told them that he would rebuild the nation.
western front � The French and British fought the Central Powers on the Western Front. The first war trenches were dug along the Western Front, adding a new dynamic to warfare.
eastern front � The Russians fought the Central Powers on the Eastern Front. There was heavy fighting among the Slavic nations and the Germans and Ottomans.
Verdun � Site of one of the most prolonged and bloodiest battles of the war. The French repelled a massive German offensive and casualties have been estimated at more than 700,000.
Battle of Marne � Marne is a river to the northeast of France. It was the sight of some of the heaviest fighting in World War I, and held off the German offensive into France.