History 10 Unit Test #2

"Going over the top"

This was a phrase that was used in WWI. It means the soldiers on one side of "No Man's Land" would climb out of their trenches and go above ground in order to attack the other side. The infantry (soldiers) had to climb over the parapet of their trenches and cross "No Man's Land." Because World War I offensives (attacks) usually resulted in many deaths, "going over the top" was an unpopular activity for soldiers.

Propaganda

During WWI propaganda was used globally. Unlike previous wars, this was the first total war in which whole nations and not just professional armies were fighting to the death. This and the modern wars that happened later, required propaganda (1) to cause hatred against the enemy, (2) to convince the citizens that the war was necessary, (3) to get the active support and cooperation of neutral countries, (4) and to strengthen the support of allies. Britain and Germany, in particular, used propaganda to boost morale and to encourage the people to continue supporting the war.

Central Powers

Germany, Austria Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria

Allied Powers

Great Britain, France, US, Russia

Zimmerman

In January of 1917, British cryptographers deciphered (broke the code of) a telegram from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the German Minister to Mexico, von Eckhardt. In that telegram, Germany was offering Mexico some American territory if they (the Mexicans) helped Germany in the war by fighting against the US. This message helped convince America to enter the war on the side of the Allies.

Lusitania

In May 1915, a U-boat sank the British passenger ship Lusitania which was carrying 173 tons of ammunition from New York to London. More than a thousand passengers, including 128 Americans died. Public outrage and the sinking of 2 more passenger ships brought US-German relations to a breaking point.

Isonzo Front

Italy joined the war on the side of the Allies after being promised land and money after the war. The Italian soldiers were poorly trained and ill-equipped and they had to fight in terrible conditions. They advanced slowly up the high mountain range that bordered Austria until they reached the Isonzo River. They had to fight 11 battles but gained only 10 kilometers of land, until another stalemate was reached.

Fourteen points

On January 18, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson gave a speech to Congress that outlined Fourteen Points for peace and the end to World War I. Wilson wanted lasting peace and for World War I to be the "war to end all wars." The main purpose of the Fourteen Points was to outline a strategy for ending the war. He set out specific goals that he wanted to achieve through the war. If the United States was going to fight in Europe and soldiers were going to lose their lives, he wanted to establish exactly what they were fighting for.

Tank

Tanks were developed because of the stalemate on the Western Front and the large number of deaths in the first few months of the war. The first tank built in Britain in 1915 was an armor-plated tractor that moves 6 kilometers an hour. The first time it was used in 1916, the Germans panicked and fled.

Western Front

The Allied and Central Powers both built an elaborate network of defensive trenches that stretched 400 miles, from the English Channel to Switzerland. This area of fighting became known as the Western Front. Trench warfare on the Western Front caused great destruction, but fighting eventually reached a stalemate.

DORA

The Defence of the Realm Act which allowed the government to do almost anything it wanted: take away a person's land, censor the newspapers, arrest "troublemakers," or buy goods at rock-bottom prices. People hated some of the restrictions that DORA put on them.

Naval Blockade

Within weeks of going to war in 1914, the British began a naval blockade of Germany to cut off its overseas trade. Britain declared the entire North Sea a war zone where British warships could stop merchant ships and seize any cargoes bound for Germany. In February 1915, Germany responded by establishing a blockade of Britain by using submarines that would torpedo and sink any Allied or merchant ships approaching Britain.

Ferdinand Foch

a French general who became the commander of Allied forces during the closing months of World War I. His job was to make sure that the British, French and American armies acted as a single force. He is generally considered to have been most responsible for the Allied victory. He dictated the terms of the armistice that Germany asked from the Allies.

Salonika Front

a battlefront established by the Allies in Salonika, Greece to help the Serbs against attacks from Germany, Austria, and Hungary. The Allies sent troops to Salonika, but they did very little fighting there because Greece was not at war with the Central Powers, so it was a waste of time. To escape the attacks, the Serbs tried to cross the passes of the frozen mountains of Albania, but twenty thousand of them died of exposure, disease, and exhaustion.

Stalemate

a draw or deadlock; a situation in which progress by either side in a dispute is blocked by the other side. Because of the stalemate (caused by the trenches) the war became very long and slow. The armies had to be creative with war tactics since neither side would leave their trenches. The two main causes of stalemate in the Western Front was the failure of Germany's Schlieffen Plan (defeat Paris in 6 weeks, and then attack Russia in the East) and the new war tactics required by trench warfare.

Trench Foot

a medical condition caused by prolonged exposure of the feet to damp, unsanitary, and cold conditions

Gallipoli

a peninsula in the Eastern part of present-day Turkey. The Allied Powers attempted to capture Gallipoli in Turkey from the Ottomans. The goal was to capture Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire's capital, and gain access to the Black Sea that would provide a sea route to Russia for supplies that it desperately needed. The Allies were defeated by a strong Turkish offensive

Ludendorff Offensive

a series of German attacks along the Western Front aimed at defeating Allied forces before the arrival of millions of American soldiers. It started with heavy artillery bombardment and poison gas attack before the stormtroopers rushed. The stalemate was broken as the British fled from the trenches and the Germans marched toward Paris. But Ludendorff did not pace his attack; he sent too many men too far and too fast. Foch's counter-attack drove the Germans back.

U-boat

abbreviation of Unterseeboot, ("undersea boat"), a German submarine. Germany was the first country to use submarines in war as substitutes for surface commerce raiders. At the beginning of World War I, German U-boats, achieved successes against British warships. Germany's decision to use unrestricted U-boat warfare against merchant ships in February 1917 was largely the reason that the United States joined the war.

Armistice

an agreement made by opposing sides in a war to stop fighting for a certain time

Zeppelin

an airship named after the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin

No-man's land

an unoccupied area between opposing armies. In the Western Front, this area lay between the trenches of the Allies and the Central Powers. It was muddy, full of craters because of artillery shells. Barbed wires strung across the land would entangle soldiers that went over-the-top. Land mines would also kill soldiers who stepped on them. Machine guns also mowed down attackers that dared to cross no-man's-land.

Artillery

big guns that could shoot an explosive shell 25 miles and spread sharp shrapnel over a distance of 13 kilometers. Artillery contributed to the massive destruction of WWI.

Conscription

compulsory enlistment of people in a national service, most often a military service.

Poison Gas

first used in WWI in 1915 by Germany in the Battle of Ypres. Chlorine gas suffocated the lungs. Phosgene gas was invented later. Mustard gas was the worst - the victim's skin blistered, the eyes bulged out, and the lining of the lungs was removed. Soldiers breathed through cotton pads soaked in chemicals or their own urine, until gas masks were invented and supplied to every soldier. The use of poison gas was discontinued when gas masks became widely used.

Rationing

limiting the amount of something that people are allowed to have when there is not enough for everyone to have as much as they want. Because of the war, production and distribution of products were disrupted, so there were shortages of food, fuel, and raw materials. German and British governments rationed food and other goods.

Battle of Verdun

n 1916, it was the longest single battle of World War One. The casualties from Verdun and the impact the battle had on the French Army was a primary reason for the British starting the Battle of the Somme in July 1916 in an effort to take German pressure off of the French at Verdun. The Battle of Verdun started on February 21st 1916 and ended on December 16th in 1916. It made General Philippe Pétain a hero in France.

Neutrality

not favoring or supporting either side in a dispute

Battle of Somme

one of the largest battles of the First World War. Fought between July 1 and November 1, 1916 near the Somme River in France, it was also one of the bloodiest military battles in history. On the first day alone, the British suffered more than 57,000 casualties (deaths and injuries) and by the end of the battle the Allies and Central Powers would lose more than 1.5 million men.

High Seas Fleet

the battle fleet of the German Imperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to challenge the (British) Royal Navy's predominance.

Eastern Front

the battle zones of Eastern Europe where trench warfare was less widespread but the fighting was just as bloody

Battle of Jutland

the largest naval battle of WWI, and the only time that the British and German fleets of 'dreadnought' battleships fought each other. The British lost 14 ships and over 6,000 men, but were ready for action again the next day. The Germans, who had lost 11 ships and over 2,500 men, avoided complete destruction but never again seriously challenged British control of the North Sea. Although it failed to achieve the decisive victory each side hoped for, the Battle of Jutland confirmed British naval dominance and secured its control of shipping lanes, allowing Britain to implement the blockade that would contribute to Germany's eventual defeat in 1918.

Grand Fleet

the main fleet of the British Royal Navy during the First World War.

Reparations

the making of amends for a wrong one has done, by paying money to or otherwise helping those who have been wronged.

Philippe Petain

was given the job of saving Verdun. His motto was "They shall not pass." He organized the defense of Verdun by bringing hundreds of thousands of soldiers and supplies along the "Sacred Way."