IB History 12: World War 1
Ottoman Empire
'Sickman of Europe'; Source of the 'Eastern Question'
Franco-Prussian War
1870-71 War between France and an association of German states that resulted in French defeat and the loss of Alsace-Lorraine. Following the war, Germany unified.
Battle of the Frontiers
1914. Start of WWI. Series of battle fought along eatern border of France and southern Belgium. French Plan 17 vs. German Schlieffen Plan. The French wanted to recapture Alsace-Lorrain which was lost in the Franco-Prussian war. Germany's plan was to distrack France by holding them off in Lorrain and attacking France through Belgium.
Russian Revolution
1917; catalyst provided by WWI; February 1917, Tsar Nicholar II forced to abdicate throne, ending the Romanov dynasty (ruling family for 3 centuries); Demonstrated the inadequacy of the Provisional Government, which was divided and ineffectual, and unable to meet the demands of the revolutionaries
Bosnian Crisis 1908
6 October 1908, Austria-Hungary announced the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, territories formally within the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire leading to Serbian anger
Lusitania
A British passenger ship that was sunk by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1915. 128 Americans died. The sinking turned American opinion against the Germans.
Verdun
A battle in WWI. Is considered some of the bloodiest fighting in WWI and the German offense was stopped; offensive battle on the western front initiated by Germany in which they hoped to crush France and taken them out of the war, however France was in a very good defensive position and French held it for 10 months. Nearly a million killed. French drew reserve troops from the Somme to help defend. No territory was gained; Battle in WWI that ended in massive casualties and had little direct result
Somme
A five-month offensive between July and November 1916 in the Somme river area in France. It began with a massive week-long British artillery barrage that proved futile, since the Germans just sheltered in their dug-outs until the shelling stopped, then machine-gunned waves of British troops who were crossing no-man's land. On the first day alone the British lost 60,000 men. The battle ended in a stalemate, after torrential rain turned the trenches into a quagmire. There were more than 650,000 casualties on both sides, and although British had relieved the French at Verdun, they had only advanced about five miles.
Western Front
A line of trenches and fortifications in World War I that stretched without a break from Switzerland to the North Sea. Scene of most of the fighting between Germany, on the one hand, and France and Britain, on the other.
Zimmerman Note
A note intercepted by the US, originally sent from Germany to Mexico saying that if Mexico can keep the US out of the Great War then Germany would help Mexico regain its territories taken from the US like New Mexico, Texas and Arizona.
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
A policy that the Germans announced on January 1917 which stated that their submarines would sink any ship
Gallipoli
A poorly planned and badly executed Allied campaign to capture the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli during 1915 in World War I. Intended to open up a sea lane to the Russians through the Black Sea, the attempt failed with more than 50 percent casualties on both sides.
Marne
A river in France where the French and British armies pushed back German forces from advancing on Paris, beginning a long and bloody stalemate between the two groups.
War of Attrition
A war based on wearing the other side down by constant attacks and heavy losses.
Armistice
Agreement to stop fighting. 11/11/18 for WWI
Technological Advancements of WWI
Airplane, tank, Gas, Machine Gun
Sydney Fey
American historian of the 1920s that challenged the views of the causation of WWI by suggesting the MAIN themes (Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism and Nationalism) were the causes of the war and not any one nation.
Blockade
An action taken to isolate an enemy and cut off its supplies
Revisionist
An historian that challenges the status quo of an historical opinion, based on new evidence or interpretations
Tannenberg
August 1914, major battle at beginning of WW1, in which Germany beat entire Russian Second Army and about 100k soldiers taken prisoner.
Franz Ferdinand
Austrian Archduke assassinated on June 28, 1914 leading to the July Crisis
Masurian Lakes
Battle that inflicted another devastating blow to Russian forces two weeks after Tannenburg
Eastern Front
In WWI, the region along the German-Russian Border where Russians and Serbs battled Germans, Austrians, and Turks.
Niall Ferguson
Claims England is most to blame for the outbreak of war because of its misinterpretations of German ambitions.
Censorship
Control of what people read or write or see or hear; efforts to prohibit free expression of ideas.
Mutiny
Deliberate refusal to obey orders given by those in command
Trench Warfare
Fighting with trenches, mines, and barbed wire. Horrible living conditions, great slaughter, no gains, stalemate, used in WWI-primarily noted on the Western front
Plan XVII
French pre-war military plan to attack Germany through a frontal assault into Alsace and Lorraine
u-boat
German Submarines
Schlieffen Plan
German pre-war military plan to avoid a two-front war by invading France through Belgium followed by an attack on Russia.
Blank Check
German promise of support to Austria-Hungary should they be attacked by Russia following an Austrian attack on Serbia
Encirclement
Germany fears of being surrounded by hostile nations
Fritz Fischer
Germany totally to blame, sought an aggressive war of expansion and territory grabbing to solve their own economic and cultural problems and to also deal with the fact it was surrounded by hostile countries, "will to war"
Treaty of Versailles (Cause of the war)
Germany was forced to sign the War Guilt Clause accepting responsibility for starting the war.
Pre-WWI Great Powers of Europe
Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary
Propaganda
Ideas spread to influence public opinion for or against a cause.
Spring Offensive
March 1918; series of five German offensives in the final year of World War I, ultimately failed to break through
Race to the sea
Name given to the continuous series of flanking movement by Germans and British in October and November 1914; resulted in a continuous line of trenches from the Marne to the English Channel.
Triple Alliance
Pre-WWI alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy
Gavrilo Princip
Serb-nationalist assassin of Franz Ferdinand
Balkan Peninsula
Southeast European landmass with a great variety of ethnic diversity
Triple Entente
WWI alliance between France, Russia and Great Britain
Nationalism
a feeling that people have of being loyal to and proud of their country often with the belief that it is better and more important than other countries OR a desire by a large group of people (such as people who share the same culture, history, language, etc.) to form a separate and independent nation of their own
Alliances
a union or association formed for mutual benefit, especially between countries or organizations-often in terms of military defense/aggression
No Man's Land
area between trenches
Conscription
compulsory enlistment for state service, typically into the armed forces.
Mobilization
is the act of assembling and making both troops and supplies ready for war.
Liege
the opening engagement of the German invasion of Belgium and the first battle of World War I. The attack on the city began on 5 August 1914 and lasted until 16 August when the last fort surrendered. The length of the siege of Liège may have delayed the German invasion of France by 4-5 days.
Militarism
the opinions or actions of people who believe that a country should use military methods, forces, etc., to gain power and to achieve its goals
Balkan Wars 1912-1913
two conflicts that took place in the Balkan Peninsula in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913. Four Balkan states defeated the Ottoman Empire in the first war; one of the four, Bulgaria, was defeated in the second war. The Ottoman Empire lost nearly all of its holdings in Europe. Austria-Hungary, although not a combatant, was weakened as a much enlarged Serbia pushed for union of the South Slavic peoples.
Battle of the Jutland
was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only full-scale clash of battleships in the war. Germany failed to break the British Blockade
War Socialism
when government takes over economy to stop strikes, ration goods, control prices, etc.
