World War I began in 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist. Complex alliances drew European powers into the war, splitting them into the Allied and Central Powers. Trench warfare and new technologies such as machine guns, tanks, planes and chemical weapons led to mass casualties with no decisive victory. The US entered the war in 1917 on the Allied side, hoping to make the world safe for democracy. An armistice in 1918 ended the fighting. The ensuing Treaty of Versailles imposed harsh terms on Germany, sowing seeds for future conflict.

1. World War I

2. Militarism
 Policy of aggressively building up a
nation’s armed forces in preparation
for war

3. Alliances
 Secret treaties
or informal
understandings
between nations
that promised
they would side
together in the
event of war

5. Gavrilo Princip
 Bosnian-Serb terrorist and nationalist
who assassinated Franz Ferdinand

6. Archduke Franz Ferdinand
 Heir to the Austria-
Hungarian throne.
His assassination
was the spark that
ignited the war.

7. Brinksmanship
 A strategy where a country seeks an
advantage by creating the impression
that they are willing and able to push
a situation to the point of war in
order to get their demands

8. Mobilization
 The readying of troops for war

9. Ultimatum
 A statement, especially in diplomatic
negotiations, that expresses or
implies the threat of serious penalties
if the terms are not accepted

10. Road to war

11. Kaiser Wilhelm II
 German leader during
World War I. He declared
war on Russia and invaded
France.

12. Allied Forces
 The group of nations that opposed
the Central Powers; originally
consisting of Great Britain, France
and Russia and later joined by the
U.S., Italy and others

13. Central Powers
 The group of nations--led by
Germany, Austria-Hungary and the
Ottoman Empire--that opposed the
Allied Forces

14. Military Alliances before the war

15. Schlieffen Plan
 German plan of attack to avoid a 2-
front war: first quickly take out
France, then focus troops on Russia

17. “Rape of Belgium”
 German war crimes
committed during the
march through neutral
Belgium on the way to
Paris

18. Race for the Sea
 Early in the war when both sides tried
to outflank each other; resulted in a
front line of trenches over 200 miles
long

20. Trench warfare
 A form of warfare where opponents
occupy static (non-moving) fighting
lines, especially fortified trenches in
the ground.

25. No Man’s Land
 Area between the two opposing lines
of trenches

26. Barbed wire
 Formed a barrier to attacking soldiers
attempting to cross no man's land

27. Mustard gas
 First used by Germans in 1917; one
of several poison gases used during
the war

29. Machine Guns

30. Tanks

31. Aircraft

32. Manfred von Richthofen
 a.k.a. The "Red Baron," a
German fighter pilot who shot
down 80 enemy planes and
commanded the Flying Circus

33. Stalemate
 A situation in which neither side can
gain the advantage

34. Shell shock
 Battle fatigue; a range of behaviors
brought on by exposure to combat
and acute psychological stress
The
“Thousand-
yard stare” --

35. Total war
 The organization
of entire
societies for war
in a social,
economic, and
even spiritual
sense.

36. War of attrition
 A war that is won by slowly wearing
down the enemy through prolonged
casualties and loss of resources

38. Woodrow Wilson
 U.S. President during World War I

39. Isolationism
 Foreign policy of neutrality and non-
involvement
 Wilson made a declaration of
neutrality just days into the war

40. Blockade
 An effort to cut off food, supplies, war
material or communications from a
particular area by force
 England used their powerful navy to cut off
Germany
 Some estimate 750,000 Germans died of
starvation

42. U.S. Exports
•After war
began, U.S.
traded even
more Allies
•U.S. economy
boomed from
supplying Allies
with war
materials and
extending credit

44. U-boat
 German submarine (Unterseeboot)
 Germany began targeting merchant ships

45. Lusitania
 British passenger ship sunk off coast
of Ireland by German submarine; 128
Americans dead, led to U.S. outrage

46. American Reaction
 Wilson issues warning to
Germany
 He affirms Britain’s right to
blockade Germany but
demands Germany stop
attacks on ships
 Secretary of State, William
Jennings Bryan, resigned in
protest of U.S. non-neutrality

48. Germany Resumes Attacks
 Germany declares they will attack
without warning after all
 Submarine attacks seen as unfair
tactic by Americans

50. Zimmerman Telegram
 Telegram intercepted by
British intelligence
 German ambassador asks
Mexico to enter the war
on the German side
 In return Germany
promises to help them
recover territory they lost
in the Mexican War

51. Autocrat
 A ruler with unlimited power
 Russian Revolution ends their autocracy
 Makes it easier for U.S. to justify war “to make the
world safe for democracy”
 Russia out of war, leaving France and Britain
vulnerable
 Wilson declares war on April 6, 1917

52. American Expeditionary Force
 American forces sent to Europe

53. Harlem Hellfighters
 369th (Colored)
Infantry
Regiment
integrated into
the French
Army
 Received
France's highest
combat medal

54. Selective Service Act of 1917
 Act that
authorized the
draft
 Draft began
almost
immediately

55. "Four Minute Men"
 75,000 volunteers
recruited by the
Committee on Public
Information
 Gave 4-minute
speeches in support of
the war effort
 Helped turn public
opinion

56. Espionage Act of 1917
 Made it illegal to oppose the draft

57. Sedition
 Speech or actions meant to incite
rebellion against a government

58. Sedition Act of 1918
 Made it illegal to
obstruct the sale
of Liberty Bonds
or to discuss
anything
"disloyal" to the
U.S. government

59. Charles Schenck
 Anti-war activist who was arrested for
distributing pamphlets urging men to
avoid the draft.

60. Schenck v. United States
 Established restrictions of freedom of
speech in cases of "clear and present
danger"
Oliver
Wendell
Holmes

61. Liberty bonds
 Bonds sold to promote the war effort;
heavily-promoted by the government

62. Women on the Homefront
 Shortage of
male labor
led to
women
being hired
to do work
traditionally
done by
men

63. Workers were
especially needed
to produce war
supplies

65. Great Migration
 Massive
numbers of
African-
Americans
also migrated
North for jobs
previously
closed to
them

67. Armistice
 Cease-fire
 November 11, 1918

68. Fourteen Points
 President Woodrow
Wilson drafted 14-
point plan for peace
in 1918
 Presented at
Versailles peace
conference after the
war, but failed to win
approval of all 14
points into final
treaty

69. Main Points
 No secret alliances
 Freedom of the seas
 Removal of trade barriers
(tariffs, etc.)
 Reduce military to just
what’s necessary to protect
your own country
 Let go of some colonies
 Create a League of Nations

70. Treaty of Versailles
 Treaty that
ended the
war
 June 28,
1919

71. Big Four
 Countries at
the table:
*U.S.
*Italy
*France
*Great Britain
 Germany and
Russia
excluded

72. Reparations
 Payments from an
enemy for economic
costs of war

73. Terms of the Treaty
 Germany humiliated:
--Charged with war crimes
--Forced to accept guilt for the war
--Must drastically reduce military
--Allow France to occupy the
Rhineland for 15 years
--Give up territory
--Pay reparations
 France wanted revenge and security
against any future German threat

74. League of Nations
 International body
proposed by
Woodrow Wilson to
ensure peace and
stability after the
war through
cooperation and
accountability

75. Ratification
 Congressional
approval of a
bill
 Wilson tours
country
making
speeches

76. Failure to Ratify
 Congress fails to
ratify
 League is weak
without U.S.
 Wilson collapses
from stroke

77. Irreconcilables
 Would not accept U.S. membership in
the League of Nations, no matter
what

78. Reservationists
 Would accept the League of Nations
with reservations
Henry Cabot Lodge

79. Dulce Et Decorum Est
 Poem written by
British poet and
solider Wilfred
Owen, famous for
its horrific imagery
of war