WORLD HISTORY VOCABULARY
UNIT 5 – WORLD WAR I
THE PARTICIPANTS
• Triple Alliance
Alliance between Germany, Italy, Austria
Hungry
• Triple Entente
An alliance between Great Britain, France and
Russia in the years before WWI.
• Alexandra
Last Tsarist of Russia, had a son who was a
hemophiliac, and was put under the influence of Rasputin, where
he exploited her. Ended up causing the collapse of the Tsars
• Grigori Rasputin
a Siberian preacher who became friends of the
Tsars, but hated by the public, twisted and cheated and exploited
Alexandra.
• Archduke Francis Ferdinand
heir to the throne of Austria
Hungary; assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a bosnian serb.; sparked
WWI
• General Alfred von Schlieffen
had helped draw up the plan
for the German military; known as the Schlieffen Plan, it called for a
two- front war with France and Russia since the two had formed a
Rasputin – The Mad Monk
THE PLAYERS (people) OF WWI:
• Gavrilo Princip
Member of a terrorist organization called
The Black Hand. Helped to end the optimistic Progressive
era in America. Murdered Archduke Franz Ferdinand and
his wife. Wanted to set Bosnia free from Austria-Hungary
• Emperor William II
German emperor who gave
Austria-Hungary a "blank check," promising Germany's full
support if war broke out between Russia and AustriaHungary
• Czar Nicholas II Russian Czar during WWI; unpopular
with Russian people; overthrown in March 1917; executed
by Bolsheviks after November during Russian Revolution
• Lawrence of Arabia
British officer who helped lead
Arab revolt in 1917 that allowed British army to sweep in
and break up Ottoman Empire
• Erich Von Ludendorff
Guided German military
operations, decided to make one final military breakgamble- grand offensive in the west to break the military
stalemate. His gamble failed.
Czar Nicholas II – would be executed
MORE PLAYERS (people) of WWI:
• Admiral Holtzendorf German admiral who
assured Emperor William II that the Americans
would not intervene in the war and, if they did,
they would not land on the continent. He and the
others were wrong when the U.S. joined the war
in April, 1917.
• Woodrow Wilson
28th president of the
United States, known for World War I leadership,
created Federal Reserve, Federal Trade
Commission, Clayton Antitrust Act, progressive
income tax, lower tariffs, women's suffrage
(reluctantly), Treaty of Versailles, sought 14
points post-war plan, League of Nations (but
failed to win U.S. ratification), won Nobel Peace
Prize
WOODROW WILSON – USA PRESIDENT
EVEN MORE PLAYERS (people) OF WWI:
• Alexander Kerensky
Headed the Provisional Government in
1917. Refused to redistribute confiscated landholdings to the
peasants. Thought fighting the war was a national duty.
• V.I.Lenin
Led the communist revolution, was the leader
of the Bolsheviks, ruled Russia, Believed in Marxist Socialism: 1)
Believed capitalism must be destroyed. 2) A social revolution was
possible in backward Russia. 3) The need for highly trained workers
partly controlled by revolutionaries like himself.
• Leon Trotsky
Russian revolutionary and Communist theorist
who helped Lenin and built up the army
• David Lloyd George
He was the British representative at
the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. He pushed for a revenge-based
treaty at Versailles, hampering the 14 points.
• Georges Clemenceau
French statesman who played a key
role in negotiating the Treaty of Versailles (1841-1929)
• Friedrich Ebert
after William II left, he rules the Social
Democracy and announces a democratic republic in Germany
VLADIMIR LENIN – father of
Communist Russia
THE BATTLES OF WWI:
• Marne Battle near Paris that ended Germany's
hope of swift victory
• 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
VERDUN – WWI’s DEADLIEST BATTLE:
MORE BATTLES:
• Tannenburg In 1914 during World War I a
German army under the command of Field
Marshal Paul von Hindenburg won an
important victory over two Russian armies in
the Second Battle of Tannenberg who had
invaded East Prussia.
• 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.
THE ALLIES’ MISTAKE AT GALLIPOLI:
THE THEATRES (PLACES) OF BATTLE:
• Serbia Small European nation in which an
Austro-Hungarian heir was killed, leading to
the outbreak of WWI
• Bosnia an Austrian province
• Masurian Lakes
At the beginning of the
war, the Russian army moved into eastern
Germany but was decisively defeated at the
Battle of Tannenberg on August 30 and the
Battle of Masurian Lakes on September 15. As
a result of these defeats, the Russians were no
longer a threat to German territory.
BATTLE OF TANNENBURG -- AUG. 1914
MORE THEATRES (places) OF WWI:
• Petrograd
capital city of Russia during
World War I; formerly (and today) known as
St. Petersburg.
• Siberia a region of central and eastern
Russia, stretching from the Ural mountains to
the pacific ocean, known for its mineral
resources and for being a place of political
exile.
• Urals
the czar, his wife, and five
children were moved to a mining town in this
after the czar abdicated
PETROGRAD IN RUSSIA
& STILL MORE PLACES OF WWI:
• Kiel
German town where sailors
mutinied on November 3, 1918
• Alsace French province that used to belong
to Germany, where people speak both French
& German
• Lorraine
region of France taken by the
Germans in 1871; returned to France after
World War I
• Poland
a republic in central Europe
POLAND DURING WWI:
MORE TERMINOLOGY OF WWI:
• total war
A war that involves the complete
mobilization of resources and people, affecting the
lives of all citizens in the warring countries, even those
remote from the battlefields.
• Planned Economies
an economic system
directed by government agencies
• Soviets
a Russian council composed of
representatives from the workers and soldiers.
• Bolsheviks
Led by Vladimir Lenin it was the
Russian communist party that took over the Russian
government during WWI
• War Communism
in World War I Russia,
government control of banks and most industries, the
seizing of grain from peasants, and the centralization of
state administration under Communist control
OTHER DETAILS
• Conscription
compulsory military service
• Propaganda
ideas spread to influence public
opinion for or against a cause
• Trench Warfare Fighting with trenches, mines, and
barbed wire. Horrible living conditions, great slaughter, no
gains, stalemate, used in WWI.
• War of Attrition Trench warfare between Germany and
France. Called War of Attrition(wearing down) because the
goal was to break down the enemy. There was no winner
after 3 years of fighting.
• Mandates
The Treaty of Versailles established
British or French control over territories formerly held by
Germany and the Ottoman Empire; especially important in
regard to Arab areas after the war.
• Mobilization
act of assembling and putting into
readiness for war or other emergency: "mobilization of the
troops“