Unit #7 - World War I

• militarism - Countries in Europe (especially Germany and Britain) built up their armies and their supply of weapons (arms), often improving war technology in the late 1800s and early 1900s
• alliances - Countries in Europe divided themselves into two military groups (the Triple Alliance and Triple Entente) in order to prepare for war. This system increased tension between nations
• imperialism - the belief in making an empire politically, economically, religiously, socially, intellectually, and in a particular area
• nationalism - collective pride and devotion of a nation/country often with dislike of other countries
• spark - the ignition of the gun powder keg in the Balkan Peninsula in which the Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated by a Serbian in Sarajevo causing a series of events that would lead to World War I.
• World War I - the conflict between Great Britain, France, Russia (Triple Entente), U.S. (after 1917) verses Germany, Ottoman Empire, and Austrian-Hungarian Empire (Triple Alliance)
• Technological Advances - progress in the use of modern technology such as machine guns, tanks, poison gas, airplanes, battleships, submarines, balloons, blimps, changed the face of war from older tactics to newer ones
• Treaty of Versailles - the agreement in 1919 that officially ends the war. Harshly punishes Germany. Signed at the Palace of Versailles in France where the country of Germany was founded in 1871. It would be a cause of WWII with the rise of Adolf Hitler.
• Central Powers - alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire during WWI
• Allied Powers - alliance between Great Britain, France, Russia (until 1917), United States (from 1917) during WWI
• Triple Entente - agreement between Russia, France, and Great Britain before WWI
• Triple Alliance - agreement between Germany, Austria-Hungary, Great Britain before WWI
• reparations - payment for damages after a war
• modern warfare - a change in which war is conducted from a very personal (hand to hand) combat to a more impersonal (longer distance) combat with advanced weapons and strategies with many more casualties
• assassination - killing of an official of a government or a famous person. In WWI, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo, Bosnia by a Serbian Nationalist
• Zimmerman Telegram - This was sent by Germans to encourage a Mexican attack against the United States. Intercepted by the US in 1917 and caused the U.S. to enter WWI
• armistice - an agreement made by opposing sides in a war to stop fighting for a certain time; a truce.
• Domino Effect - the theory that a political event in one country will cause similar events in neighboring countries and then more events in other countries
• War Guilt Clause - Article 231 of the Versailles Treaty in which Germany had to accept blame for causing WW1. Hitler will use this clause to say the Germany was"Stabbed in the back" by their government and the countries on the winning side.
• casualties - wounded, missing, or dead people