-
Allies
Consisted of France, Britain, and Russia. -
Central Powers
Germany and Austria-Hungary, together with the Ottoman Empire—an empire of
mostly Middle Eastern lands controlled by the Turks -
1914 Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
As the royal entourage drove through the city, Serbian nationalist
Gavrilo Princip stepped from the crowd and shot the
Archduke and his wife Sophie -
Schlieffen Plan
This plan called
for a holding action against Russia, combined with a quick
drive through Belgium to Paris; after France had fallen, the
two German armies would defeat Russia. -
Sinking of British liner Arabic
A U-boat
sank another British liner, the Arabic, drowning two Americans. Again the United
States protested, and this time Germany agreed not to sink any more passenger
ships -
Sinking of British liner Luistania
When a U-boat sank the
British liner Lusitania (lLQsG-tAPnC-E) off the southern coast of Ireland. Of the
1,198 persons lost, 128 were Americans. The Germans defended their action on
the grounds that the liner carried ammunition. Despite Germany’s explanation,
Americans became outraged with Germany because of the loss of life. American
public opinion turned against Germany and the Central Powers. -
Sinking of French passenger liner Sussex
Germany broke its promise and torpedoed an unarmed
French passenger steamer, the Sussex. The Sussex sank, and about 80 passengers,
including Americans, were killed or injured. Again United States warned
that it would break off diplomatic relations unless Germany changed its tactics.
Again Germany agreed, but there was a condition: if the United States could not
persuade Britain to lift its blockade against food and fertilizers, Germany would
consider renewing unrestricted submarine warfare. -
Trench Warfare
In which armies fought for mere yards of ground, continued for over
three years -
Battle of Somme
The British suffered
60,000 casualties the first day alone. Final casualties totaled about 1.2 million,
yet only about seven miles of ground changed hands -
Germany blockades the North Sea
The results were two fold. First, American ships carrying goods for
Germany refused to challenge the blockade and seldom reached their destination.
Second, Germany found it increasingly difficult to import foodstuffs
and fertilizers for crops. By 1917, famine stalked the country. An estimated
750,000 Germans starved to death as a result of the British blockade. -
Wilson's "Peace without victory speech"
In which neither side
would impose harsh terms on the other. Wilson hoped that all nations would join
in a “league for peace” that would work to extend democracy, maintain freedom of
the seas, and reduce armaments. -
Bolshevik Revolution
The Bolsheviks, led by
Lenin and Trotsky, overthrew the
provisional government. They set
up a Communist state and sought
peace with the Central Powers. -
Selective Service Act of 1917
The act required men to register with the government
in order to be randomly selected for military service. By the end
of 1918, 24 million men had registered under the act. -
369th Infantry Regiment
The all-black 369th Infantry Regiment saw more continuous duty on the front
lines than any other American regiment. Two soldiers of the 369th, Henry
Johnson and Needham Roberts, were the first Americans to receive France’s
highest military honor, the Croix de Guerre—the “cross of war.” -
Convoy System
In which a heavy guard of destroyers
escorted merchant ships back and forth across the Atlantic in groups. -
The Second Battle of the Marne
The Americans arrived just in time to help stop the German advance at
Cantigny in France. Several weeks later, U.S. troops played a major role in throwing
back German attacks at Château-Thierry and Belleau Wood. In July and
August, they helped win the Second Battle of the Marne. The tide had turned
against the Central Powers. In September, U.S. soldiers began to mount offensives
against the Germans at Saint-Mihiel and in the Meuse-Argonne area. -
Conscientous Objector
A person who opposes warfare
on moral grounds, pointing out that the Bible says, “Thou shalt not kill.” -
Anti-German sentiment in America
Most bitter attacks were directed against the 2 million Americans who had been born in Germany, but other foreignborn and Americans of German descent suffered as well.
Many Americans with German names lost their jobs. Orchestras refused to
play the music of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. Towns
German names changed them. Schools stopped teaching the German, librarians removed books by German authors from the shelves. People resorted to violence against German Americans, flogging or smearing -
Espionage and Sedition Acts
A person could be fined up to $10,000 and sentenced to 20
years in jail for interfering with the war effort or for saying anything disloyal, profane,
or abusive about the government or the war effort. -
Eugene V. Debs arrest
The Espionage and Sedition Acts targeted socialists and labor leaders.
Eugene V. Debs was handed a ten-year prison sentence for speaking out
against the war and the draft. -
Emma Goldman
The anarchist Emma Goldman received a
two-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine for organizing the No
Conscription League. When she left jail, the authorities deported her to
Russia -
Big Bill Haywood and the first WW
“Big Bill” Haywood and other leaders of the Industrial Workers of
the World (IWW) were accused of sabotaging the war effort because they
urged workers to strike for better conditions and higher pay. Haywood
was sentenced to a long prison term. (He later skipped bail and fled to
Russia.) Under such federal pressure, the IWW faded away -
Victor Burger
The House of Representatives refused to seat Victor
Berger, a socialist congressman from Wisconsin, because of his antiwar views.
Columbia University fired a distinguished psychologist because he opposed the
war. -
Zimmermann note
A telegram from
the German foreign minister to the
German ambassador in Mexico that was
intercepted by British agents. The
telegram proposed an alliance between
Mexico and Germany and promised
that if war with the United States broke
out, Germany would support Mexico in
recovering “lost territory in Texas, New
Mexico, and Arizona.” -
American Expeditionary Force and General John J. Pershing
The American Expeditionary Force (AEF), led by
General John J. Pershing, included men from widely
separated parts of the country. American infantrymen were
nicknamed doughboys, possibly because of the white belts
they wore, which they cleaned with pipe clay, or “dough.” -
Shell Shock, trench foot, and trench mouth
“shell shock,” a term coined during World
War I to describe a complete emotional collapse from which many never recovered.
Physical problems included a disease called trench foot, caused by standing
in cold wet trenches for long periods of time without changing into dry socks
or boots.
A painful infection of the gums and throat,
called trench mouth, was also common among the soldiers -
Cease-Fire and Armistice
In the eleventh month
of 1918, Germany agreed to a cease-fire and signed the armistice, or truce,
that ended the war. -
War Industries Board
The main regulatory body was the War
Industries Board (WIB). It was established in 1917 and reorganized in 1918
under the leadership of Bernard M. Baruch (bE-rLkP), a prosperous businessman.
The board encouraged companies to use mass-production techniques to
increase efficiency. It also urged them to eliminate waste by standardizing products—for
instance, by making only 5 colors of typewriter ribbons instead of 150.
The WIB set production quotas and allocated raw materials. -
National War Labor Board
To deal with disputes between management and labor, President Wilson established
the National War Labor Board in 1918. Workers who refused to obey board
decisions could lose their draft
exemptions. “Work or fight,” the
board told them. However, the
board also worked to improve factory
conditions. It pushed for an
eight-hour workday, promoted
safety inspections, and enforced
the child labor ban -
Raising Money for the War
The United States spent about $35.5 billion on the war effort.
The government raised about one-third of this amount through taxes, including
a progressive income tax (which taxed high incomes at a higher rate than low
incomes), a war-profits tax, and higher excise taxes on tobacco, liquor, and luxury
goods. It raised the rest through public borrowing by selling “Liberty Loan” and
“Victory Loan” bonds. -
Committee on Public Information and the "four minute men"
To popularize the war, the government
set up the nation’s first propaganda agency, the Committee on Public
Information (CPI). Propaganda is a kind of biased communication designed to
influence people’s thoughts and actions. The head of the CPI was a former muckraking
journalist named George Creel. -
Food Administration
To help produce and conserve food,
Wilson set up the Food Administration
under Herbert Hoover.
Instead of rationing food, he
called on people to follow the
“gospel of the clean plate.” He
declared one day a week “meatless,”
another “sweetless,” two
days “wheatless,” and two other
days “porkless.” Restaurants
removed sugar bowls from the
table and served bread only after
the first course -
Wilson's Fourteen Points
Issues Wilson believed had to be
said to prevent war: no secret treaties among nations. Freedom of seas be maintained for all.Tariffs and other economic barriers should be lowered or abolished in to foster
free trade.Arms should be reduced “to the lowest point consistent
with domestic safety, lessening the possibility
of military responses”
Colonial policies should consider Interests of colonial peoples as well as interests of
imperialist powers.
next eight points dealt with boundary changes. -
Austria-Hungary surrenders to the Allies
On November 3, 1918, AustriaHungary
surrendered to the Allies. That same day, German sailors
mutinied against government authority. The mutiny spread quickly.
Everywhere in Germany, groups of soldiers and workers organized revolutionary
councils. -
Establishment of the German Republic
Socialist leaders in the capital,
Berlin, established a German republic. The kaiser gave up the throne. -
Agreements made in the Treaty of Versailles
Established
nine new nations—including Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia—and shifted
the boundaries of other nations. It carved five areas out of the Ottoman Empire
and gave them to France and Great Britain as mandates, or temporary colonies.
Those two Allies were to administer their respective mandates until the areas were
ready for self-rule and then independence. -
Reparations and the War Guild Clause
reparations - war damages, amounting to $33 billion to the Allies.
war guilt clause - forcing Germany to admit sole responsibility for starting World War I.
