U.S. History: Unit 5-World War 1 (At Home and Away)

U-Boats

Germany announced a couter blockade on Britain. Any ship found around Britain would be sunk by Germany's submarines-"war zone." Germany's submarine warfare angered President Wilson and turned the American people against the Central Powers.

Germany Vs. Great Britain

Germany attacks France by going through Belgium which violated a treaty that kept Belgium neutral. At the time Belgium was neutral because Great Britain protected Belgium in case if they were pulled into the war. Great Britain, therefore, declared war on Germany on Aug. 4.

Rationing

Limiting availibility of products to make sure enough were available for military use.

Black Hand/Gavrilo Princip

This organization was a Serbian nationalist group. The man that was the main leader of this group assassinated the heir to the throne, Archduke Ferdinand, in June 1914. This man's goal was to kill the Archduke, and, when he did, he killed him and his wife. When he tried to use the cynine to kill himself, which unfortunately failed, he was captured by the police. At the time, he was 19 years old, just avoiding the hangman's noose for the crimes he committed.

American Troops in Europe

2 million troops were drafted to Europe; they volunteered for service. Pushed the Germans back along the Western Front.

Armistace

An agreement to stop fighting/stop a war and seize fire.

Sedition Act

Any public expression of opposition to the war was said to be illegal.

Food Administration Board

Authority over food production, distribution, and farm supplies.

British Blockade

Britain made a barrier around Germany's ports, preventing any supplies from reaching Germany. They also planted mines in the North Sea and English Channel to restrict what went in and out of Britain/surrounding coutries.

Victory Gardens

Citizens did their part by planting their own gardens to support the troops with food.

Fuel Administration Board

Conserved fuel by sponsoring daylight savings time.

Great Migration

During the war, African Americans moved north in search of jobs.

Alliances

European nations entered into treaties to protect themselves. There were two main alliances during the time. There was the Triple Alliance, which was the alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, and there was the Triple Entente, the alliance between Russia, France, and Great Britain.

Trench Warfare

For soldiers to protect themselves from the gunfire and artillery, they made these. There were 475 miles of these across Northern France. The living conditions were horrible. The soldiers would also have to charge over the top, crossing into "No Man's Land", to reach their enemy.

Treaty of Versailles

Germany was forced to admit blame for the war; they lose the land to the Allies. They were forced to pay war reparations (penalties for damages) to Great Britain and France; the land taken away from Germany formed new countries: Austria, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Palestine, Transjordan, Syria, Iraq, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. Their military was also limited to them. The U.S. refused to sign the treaty because of many reasons: Congress was angry about being excluded from the peace process, the U.S. wanted to remain isolationist, and Congress disliked the League of Nations. Therefore, the U.S. did not join League of Nations, but the U.S. will sign a separated peace agreement with Germany.

Propaganda

Information that's designed to influence the public's opinion. It was also used to gain support for the war.

League of Nations

International organization suggested by President Wilson to promote cooperation and world peace. The goal of the organization was to prevent future wars from occurring.

Liberty Bonds

Loans that citizens paid to the government to support the war effort.

Lusitania

On May 7, 1915, German u-boats sank a British cruise liner. 1200 people died, including 128 Americans and 125 children. This pushed the U.S. closer to a declaration of war.

War Industries Board

Organized to increase production and control limited resources.

Espionage Act

Penalties and jail time for anyone who gave help to the enemy.

Red Scare

People believed that a communist revolution could happen in the U.S.

American Neutrality

President Wilson declared U.S. this (put U.S. back into foreign policy position of isolationism). Many Americans could trace their heritage to the warring nations. Majority of Americans sympathized with the Allies. Later on in the war, Wilson did not react against the Allies because the U.S. would lose money. The U.S. supplied food, weapons, and money to the Allies.

Russia Vs. Austria-Hungary

Russia promised to back Serbia in case of war because Russia had an alliance with Serbia. Therefore, Russia mobilizes its troops on the Austria-Hungarian border.

Palmer Raids

Series of raids conducted against radical organizations in order to expose revolutionary conspiracies.

Zimmerman Note/Telegram

The British intercepted a message between the German Foreign Secretary to the German Ambassador in Mexico in January 1917. It stated that Germany would continue unrestricted submarine warfare, suggested a German/Mexico alliance, and Germany promised to help Mexico reclaim U.S. land. It was published in American newspapers-Americans called for war!

Militarism

The European nations glorified war and increased their military spending to protect their colonies and gain territory. Created large sophisticated armies and navies ready to fight.

Austria-Hungary Vs. Serbia

The first countries to declare war upon each other were Austria-Hungary and Serbia. Because of the pre-war alliance, Austria-Hungary had German support. Therefore, the Austrians gave Serbia an ultimatum. They wanted Serbia to stop their secret services, like the Black Hand, and they wanted to be able to have access to their country to investigate on what happened to the Archduke. Most importantly, Austria-Hungary wanted revenge on Serbia for assassinating the Archduke. Although, Serbia rejects the ultimatum. Then Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

Self Determination

The right for people to have their own country and choose their own government.

Mechanized Warfare

There were many types of weapons used during the war. It included machine guns and artillery (artillery had great power and carried its cargo much farther). During the industrial age, there were many more advanced weapons created which included 75 different types of poision gas, tanks, airplanes, and submarines. Some examples are "Big Bertha" from Germany, the Renault tank from France, the Zeppeline, flame throwers, and grenade launchers.

Nationalism

There were two types of this: political and ethnic. The political type was patriotism which were people who were devoted to interests of their own nations. The other type was ethnic which meant ethnic minorities under foreign rule wanted independence.

Women in WW1

They were not allowed to serve in combat positions; most served as nurses, performed clerical duties, radio operators, and torpedo assemblers. 11,000 served in the Navy.

African Americans in WW1

They were segregated-all units were commanded by a white officer. Served food, dug ditches, and unloaded supplies. Most did not serve in combat positions.

Central Powers

This alliance was between Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Otttoman Empire (Turkey), and Bulgaria. The leaders of each country were Wilhelm the 2nd for Germany, Franz Josef for Austria-Hungary, and Enver Pasha of the Ottoman Empire.

Allied Powers

This alliance was between Great Britain, France, Russia, and Italy (Italy joined later because they wanted to join the side that would win). The leaders of each country were King George the 5th for Britain, President Poincare for France, Nicholas the 2nd for Russia, and Victor Emmanuel the 2nd for Italy.

Triple Alliance

This alliance was the alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.

Triple Entente

This alliance was the alliance between Russia, France, and Great Britain.

Selective Service Act

This established a draft: required for military service. The minimum draft age was 21 years old.

Leaders of the Big Four/Paris Peace Treaty

This took place on January 1919. The main countries that took part in it were the U.S., who was represented by Woodrow Wilson, France, who was represented by Georges Clemenceau, Great Britain, who was represented David Lloyd George, and Italy, who was represented by Vittorio Orlando. The U.S.'s intentions were for Wilson to present his Fourteen Points which France and Britain rejected, and Italy wanted its land that was promised to then which they never received. Now Britain and France wanted revenge upon Germany for what they had done.

Fourteen Points

This was Wilson's ideas for the world after the war: open treaties (no secret alliances), freedom of the seas, free trade, reduce arms (no weapons), fair settlement of affairs, creating the League of Nations (peace organization to prevent future wars) to settle disputes and prevent war, and, to sum up the meaning of about the other half of it, was self-determination which is the right of nations to rule themselves. He also wanted to redraw the boundries of Europe.

Sitzkrieg

This was during a time in the war when everyone thought it would be a quick war but resulted in a stalemate for 3 years also known as this. Therefore, neither side gained any ground for a long time. Most of the war's battles took place on the French/German border-Western Front in "No Man's Land."

Sussex Pledge

This was proclaimed by Germany stating that they promised to not sink merchant ships without warning.

Committee on Public Information

Used propaganda to united people behind the war effort. Increased suspicion against Germans.

Russia Vs. Germany

When Russia mobilized its troops, Germany saw this as an act of war, and they also wanted to back Austria-Hungary due to their alliance with them. Therefore, Germany issued two ultimatums of its own. They wanted Russia to demobilize their troops, and they wanted France to declare neutrality. Russia refused and France chose to honor its alliance with Russia. Then Germany declared war on Russia and France.

Imperialism

When one country wanted to keep expanding in the world and claiming territory which also made the country gain more power. In this case, the European countries competed over colonies. There disputes over control of the colonies.

National War Labor Board

Worked to prevent strikes during the war; settled labor disputes.