Darren Mowrer

Period 3

February 17, 2000

1. Militarism: Militarism is the glorification of the military. This happened in the late 1800s when the armed forces and readiness for war dominated national policy. The idea of war was glorified and gave military leaders more importance as they were consulted by leaders on many issues.
2. Ultimatum: An ultimatum is a final set of demands with consequences for not accepting. After the assassination of Francis Ferdinand, Austria sent Serbia a set of demands that they must keep or risk war. Serbia agreed to most of the terms and Austria declared war.
3. Mobilize: To mobilize is when a country prepares its military forces for war. This would involve recruiting and training of soldiers. After the United States entered the war it took several months before they could mobilize their forces and actually fight.
4. Neutrality: Neutrality is a policy of supporting neither side in a war. Belgium was neutral in the war so when Germany marched through Belguim it caused Britain to declare war on Germany. The US stayed neutral until towards the end of the war.
5. Total war: Total war is when a country is required to commit their whole society toward a war. It is also the channeling of ant entire nation’s resources into the war efforts, including those still at home who make the weapons, share their food, etc.
6. Propaganda: Propaganda is the spreading of ideas to promote the damage of an opposing cause or their own cause. Both sides in the war tried to tell the events the best light to gain support for their cause.
7. Atrocity: An atrocity is a horrible act against innocent people during the war. The British and French spread such tales of the atrocities that they "said had taken place".
8. Armistice: It is similar to an agreement and the new German government sought for such an agreement to end the fighting with the allies.
9. Reparations: The allies blamed the conflict on the defeated Germans and said that they must make some reparations. Reparations are what the Germans had to pay to the allies for their loss in the war. They had to help repair other countries as well as their own.
10. Mandate: The allies created a system mandates that were administrated by western powers over the colonies of the Central Powers. A mandate is similar to a territory.
11. Edith Cavell: Cavell was a British nurse who ran a Red Cross hospital in Belgium even after the German invasion. The Germans discovered she was helping Allied prisoners escape, and she was shot as a spy.
12. Georges Clemenceau: Clemenceau was the French representative at the Paris Peace Conference. He was called "the Tiger" and wanted to weaken Germany so it could never threaten France again. He and Wilson did not get along in the negotiations.
13. Alfred Nobel: Nobel was very interested in promoting peace. The Swedish inventory regretted that he had invented dynamite when he saw its military uses. In his will, he left money to rewared the individual each year who did the best job in promoting peace.
14. Gavrilo Princip: Princip was a member of the Black Hand, a terrorist group of Serbs who wanted the Serbian people out from under Austrian rule. He assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand on June 28, 1914. He was not executed due to his age of 19 and died of tuberculosis in prison.
15. Woodrow Wilson: Wilson was the president of the US during WWI. He was elected to a second term as the one who would keep the US out of the war. He was very idealistic and wanted to bring lasting peace. He tried to keep the US out of the war until the unrestricted submarine warfare forced him to ask Congress to declare war.
16. Wilson’s Fourteen Points: The Fourteen Points were issued in January 1918 and listed the terms for resolving this and future wars. Wilson called for and end to secret treaties, freedom of the seas, free trade, and large-scale reduction of arms. He favored self-determination for the peoples of Eastern Europe so they could choose their own form of government. The point he was the most insistent on was the formation of an international organization of nations to solve problems. This was the agenda that he took with him to the peace talks, and he was very inflexible about most of them.
17. Francis Ferdinand: Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was heir to the throne. He traveled to Sarajevo with his wife in 1914 and was assassinated in his car by a member of the Black Hand. This event led to a declaration of war on Serbia by Austria and eventually to World War I.
18. Kaiser William II: He was the ruler of Germany at the time of WWI. He boasted before the war that he would make his navy as powerful as Britain’s. This militarism increased the tension in Europe. He created the Triple Alliance of support before the war. He believed in divine monarchy and was interested in discussions of democracy.
19. Bertha Von Suttner: "Peace Bertha" wrote a prediction in her diary that a "great European disaster is well on its way" and "so much stockpiled gunpowder will explode." She died eight days before the assassination of Francis Ferdinand set in motion the events leading to WWI.
20. Triple Alliance: This group of powers-Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy-signed treaties to support each other against other powers. Germany had an earlier treaty with Russia that was allowed to lapse.
21. Ottoman Empire: The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in 1914. The Turks closed off Allied ships from the Dardanelles, a strategic link to the Black Sea and Russia. The Allies sent a massive force to the strait. In the battle of Gallipoli the Turkish troops trapped the Allies on the beaches for over 10 months. The Ottomans were hard hit in the Middle East when Arab nationalists attacked.
22. Trench warfare: The armies on the Western Front built a system of trenches from the Swiss frontier to the English Channel. It was an underground network of bunkers, communications trenches, and gun emplacements. The soldiers stayed in the bunkers as some protection until they went "over the top" into battle.
23. Machine gun: A machine gun is a mounted gun that fires a rapid, continuous stream of bullets. It made it possible for a few gunners to mow down waves of soldiers. It created stalemated because it was difficult to cross no man’s land. It made the cavalry obsolete and reduce the importance of infantry charges.
24. Airplane: The airplanes of WWI were one or two-seat propeller planes equipped with machine guns. They were used mainly for observation, but later flying "aces" engaged in individual combat.
25. Role of women in WWI: Women contributed to the war on the home front by taking jobs men used to hold, working in military factories, and keeping the national economy going. Military nurses served on the front lines with the soldiers and others were a part of spy networks.
26. Nationalism: Nationalism is the feeling of pride and devotion for one’s country. This caused problems in the multi-ethnic countries because the different groups wanted to have their own country.
27. Paris Peace Conference: The conference was held with "Big Three"-Wilson, US; George, Britain; and Clemenceau, France-who met to decided how the war should end. They negotiated the terms of the treaty that decided what reparations the loser should pay, what territory belonged to who, and how set-up new countries.
28. American neutrality: Woodrow Wilson tried to keep the US out of the war and was elected on that issue. Most sentiment among the people was for the allies because of ties to Britain, but some German Americans favored the Central Powers.
29. Black Hand: This was a terrorist group of Serbs also called Unity or Death. Gavrilo Princip was a member of this group and plotted and assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand.
30. Treaty of Versailles: This treaty was signed at the palace of Versailles near Paris. The Germans were ordered to sign the treaty drawn up by the Allies. It stated that Germany take total blame for the war, pay huge reparations, be limited in the size of the military, and return several territories.
31. Self-determination: This is the idea that a people have the right to decide what type of government they want to have and gives them freedom from control of other governments. Several new countries were given these rights after WWI but the territory and colonies were still controlled by outside countries.
32. Sarajevo: Sarajevo was the capital of Bosnia and the location where Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife Countess Sophie were assassinated by Princip, a member of the Black Hand. Ferdinand was the heir to the Austrian throne and was resented by the Serbs who wanted to be free of their rule.
33. Schlieffen Plan: General Alfred von Schlieffen developed a strategy to avoid a two-front war. He thought that Russia would be slow to mobilize so Germany should attack strongly to defeat France quickly. Then it would fight Russia and not need to have its forces split.
34. Uboat: This was an underwater ship that can launch torpedoes or guided underwater bombs. Germany used these successfully to destroy Allied shipping, which helped bring the US into the war.
35. Luisitania: The sinking of this British liner by the Germans helped set the stage for US entering the war. 1200 people were killed and 128 were Americans. This made Americans very angry because passenger ships were supposed to have safe passage, but the Germans claimed it was carrying ammunition. Wilson threatened to cut off relations with Germany, and they agreed to restrict its submarine campaign and give warnings. "Remember the Luisitania" was used during the war to build loyalty.
36. Western Front: The Western Front was the war fought on the continent between Germany, France, and Britain. Trenched stretched from the Swiss frontier to the English Channel. This was a long, hard war with little progress but lots of casualties.
37. Eastern Front: The Eastern Front was the war with Russia, which also produced lots of casualties and no clear victories. Russia was poorly equipped to fight a modern war and suffered heavy losses.
38. Battle of Marne: The Battle of Marne in September, 1914, ended Germany’s hopes of defeating France quickly and then fighting Russia, as outlined in the Schlieffen Plan.
39. No man’s land: This was the area between the trenches. It was empty land that had been destroyed by warfare. Barbed wire was strung to separate the areas and soldiers got some protection in the trenches until they had to fight.