Unit 11 Terms
1. Balkan Crises- In 1908, Austria decided to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina, which outraged Serbia
because then the Serbs couldn’t create a large Slavic empire. The Russians who protected the Slavs
supported Serbia. The Russians; however, backed down from war. In 1912, the Ottomans were defeated in
the First Balkan War by the Balkan League (Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, and Montenegro). The Second
Balkan War started in 1913 because the League couldn’t decide how to divide the Ottoman Macedonia and
Albania. The Ottomans, Greece, Serbia, and Romania defeated Bulgaria. Serbia got half of Macedonia but
still wanted Albania as a port to the Adriatic. The Austrians prevented Serbia’s wish though. This also
upset the Russians. The French, Russians, and Brits allied and war was in the near future.
2. Berlin Congress of 1878- This was an assembly of Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, Britain, France,
Italy, and the Ottoman Empire. They revised the Treaty of San Stefano, which ended the Russo-Turkish
War. Russia, winning the war, imposed severe terms on the Ottoman Turks. Austria-Hungary and Britain
were frightened by the growth of Russian power, and concerned for their own interests in the Middle East,
insisted that the treaty be changed. Otto von Bismarck presided over the congress. The Treaty of Berlin was
created, with conditions less favorable for Russia. The new treaty said that the status of the Ottoman
Empire was decided by powers jointly. Serbia and Montenegro were made independent. Bulgaria was
divided into three parts, and two of these were put in Turkish control. Romania got independence from the
Turks. Bosnia and Herzegovina was mandated to Austria-Hungary. Power of Austria-Hungary and Britain
was increased, Russian influence was reduced in the Middle East, and the Turks lost most of their European
territory.
3. Three Emperors League- Bismarck wanted to make Germany a peacemaker, so he created the Three
Emperors’ League with Russia and Austria. The league isolated France.
4. Reinsurance Treaty- This secret agreement was made on June 18, 1887 between Russia and Otto von
Bismarck of Germany after the Three Emperors’ League collapsed. The treaty stated that each party
would be neutral if the other went to war.
5. Dual Alliance- The Dual Alliance of 1879 was a treaty of October 7, 1879 by which Germany and
Austria-Hungary undertook to support one another if either was attacked by Russia, and to offer each other
benevolent neutrality in the event of attack by another power.
6. Triple Alliance-The Triple Alliance was the treaty by which Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy
pledged (May 20, 1882) to support each other militarily in the event of an attack against any of them by
two or more great powers. Germany and Italy additionally undertook to support one another in the event of
attack by France. In a supplementary declaration, however, Italy specified that her undertakings could not
be regarded as being directed against the United Kingdom. Shortly after renewing the Alliance in June
1902, Italy secretly extended a similar guarantee to France, effectively nullifying her part in the alliance.
7. Anglo-French rapprochement- Realizing that their "slendid isolation" was coming to a close with
criticism of their activity in the Boer War, Britain sought an alliance with a continental power. Neither
Russia nor France seemed a likely choice for Britain, but the common heritage of the Germans and British
was not enough to make Germany a viable option either. Many Germans didn't like the British and vice
versa, there was underlying industrial and commercial rivalry, and the Germans were building a navy
comparable to Britain's, so, in 1904, long time enemies Britain and France concluded the Entente Cordial,
settling all of their outstanding colonial disputes.
8. Bismarck’s alliance policy- The emergence of a newly unified Germany upset the conservative idea of
a "balance of power" among European states. Bismarck knew this and set about creating alliance to ensure
German safety. For example, fearing the French desire for revenge over the loss of Alsace-Lorraine,
Bismarck created the "Three Emperors' League" consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and
Russia. Though this system failed, he remained allies with A-H, became new allies with Italy (Triple
Alliance) and created the Reinsurance Treaty between Russia and Germany.
9. Triple entente - the alliance between France and Great Britain, after Britain's decisions to join their
traditional enemy and set aside their colonial disputes in the Entente Cordiale; it soon turned into one of the
major alliance during world war I, which consisted mainly of Britain, France, and Russia
10. Battle of Marne - the Germans were advancing into Belgium, when the British arrived just in time to
counterattack the Germans at the first Battle of Marne. The Germans fell back, and the war turned into a
stalemate, where neither the Germans could advance any further, nor can the French pursue the Germans
any further because of lack of resources. And thus, the war turned into a war of trenches.
11. Battle of Verdun - The German High Command decided to take offensive against the French forts at
Verdun, thinking the French would do anything to defend it. The battle only cost 700,000 lives in exchange
of a few square miles of land. The city of Verdun, itself, was subjected to massive artillery shelling, and its
population dropped from 15,000 to 3,000 during the 10 months battle.
12. Schlieffen Plan - under the German general Alfred von Schlieffen, he devised a two-front war with
France and Russia. He thought he would use minimal troops against Russia while most of the German army
would rush to France and try to invade it through Belgium. After the attack, he figured it would end in the
French's defeat, and that way he can move all his forces afterwards to attack Russia. The problem was
Germany couldn't mobilize its troops only against Russia, and so they had to declare war on France as well.
He issued an ultimatum to Belgium demanding that the German troops have the right to pass through it. But
this plan failed when Great Britain stepped into the Great War.
13. The Black Hand- a Serbian national, radical, terrorist group dedicated to the creation of a pan-Slavic
community. A Bosnian activist in this group carried out the assassination of Austrian Archduke Francis
Ferdinand and his wife Sophia.
14. Franz Ferdinand (1863-1914)- heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated in
the Bosnian city, Sarajevo. This event precipitated the confrontation between Austria and Serbia that led to
World War I.
15. Wilson's Fourteen Points- American President Woodrow Wilson attempted at the beginning of 1918
to shift the discussion of war aims to higher ground. He outlined "Fourteen Points" to the American
Congress that he believed justified the enormous military struggle then being waged. Later, Wilson spelled
out additional steps for a truly just and lasting peace. He characterized the Great War as a people’s war
against absolutism and militarism.
16. Submarine Warfare- used by the Germans against the English in the 1st world war. Strong American
protest against the sinking of passenger liners, however, forced the German's to modify its policy of
unrestricted submarine warfare they had used before and to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare a year
later.
17. "Over the top" - phrase that now means excessively; had its origins in World War I; was mainly used
by the British to describe how the men climbed out of their trenches and emerged into "no man's land" in
order to attack the enemy during trench warfare
18. Zimmerman Telegram - A note sent in 1917 from the German Foreign Minister, Arthur
Zimmerman, to his ambassador in Mexico, containing details of a proposed alliance against America and
also that Germany would again be resorting to unrestricted submarine warfare, despite the sinking of the
Lusitania; it was intercepted and published, strengthening morale and hatred of Germany that eventually
brought the U.S. into the war in 1917
19. Mobilization - an act by a leader or a government that orders their nation and their army to prepare for
war and also to prepare to attack or be attacked by another nation
20. All Quiet On the Western Front - most famous book written about World War I by Erich Maria
Remarque that described a soldier's excitement for war, only to realize how close life could be to hell; it
also vividly describes the horrors of trench warfare and the boringness of the days spent behind the trenches
21. Gallipoli- A tactic that was used in the war, was gaining allies. With the Ottoman Empire on
Germany's side, Russia, Great Britain, and France all declared war on the Ottomans in November. The
plan was for the British to open up a Balkan front, by landing forces here in Gallipoli (southwest of
Constantinople), but when the Bulgarians entered the war on the Central Powers side (Germany, AustriaHungary, and Ottoman Empire) the British withdrew.
22. Lawrence of Arabia- Was a British officer in the Middle East, who convinced Arab princes to revolt
against the Ottomans.
23. Poison Gas- Along with other new technological advances in warfare, trenches etc., poison gases, like
mustard gas, were used against enemies to kill and distract during invasions. The introduction of it in 1915
produced new injuries and military equipment, hence the gas mask.
24. Total war: It was called total war because just about every major country in
the world was involved in this war by a chain reaction. Asia, Europe, and
the U.S were all at one point fighting in this war that was supposed to end
all wars.
25. Propaganda: The government’s way to almost brainwash people and evoke their
emotions so they could get the right reaction. This included recruiting
troops, home front effort, buying bonds, joining organizations, and
alienating the enemy. They used tactics such as, deionization, symbols,
patriotism, emotions, fear, caricatures, humor, etc to attain such goals.
26. War Bonds: "Bonds" people could buy to help support the troops during the
war.
27. Erich Ludendorff - Ludendorff was a German Army staff-officer from 1904 to 1913 and on the
outbreak of the First World War was appointed Chief of Staff in East Prussia. Ludendorff supported
unrestricted submarine warfare and successfully put pressure on Kaiser Wilhelm II to dismiss those in the
armed forces that favored a negotiated peace settlement.
28. Spartacists- The Spartacists were an extreme faction of Germany's socialist movement, headed by Karl
Liebnecht and Rosa Luxemburg. Instead of democratic reform, these socialists wanted their own
Revolution to create a Communist state in Germany. However, the leaders were murdered by right-wing
freikorps during demonstrations in January 1919, but not before the movement transformed into the
Communist Party of Germany.
29. Rationing- the act of limiting distribution of goods deemed necessary for the war effort (so those
fighting could have them)
30. Censorship: The act, process, or practice of hiding information and stuff
that are not meant to be seen
31. American Expeditionary Force- When the USA declared war in April 1917, Wilson sent the
American Expeditionary Force (AEF) under the command of General John Pershing to the
Western Front. By May 1918, there were over 500,000 US soldiers in France.
32. Treaty of Versailles: treaty with Germany that ended WWI. Woodrow Wilson
submitted 14 points that Germany has to follow.
33. League of Nations: League of Nations, established by the peace treaties
that ended World War I. The League was a product of World War I in the sense
that that conflict convinced most persons of the necessity of averting
another such cataclysm.
34. Lusitania – The British passenger liner sunk on May 7th, 1915 by Germany’s unrestricted submarine
warfare policy. Over 100 American passengers died; this event was one of the causes of the U.S.’s entry
into WWI on the side of the Allies.
35. Georges Clemenceau – It was much more difficult for the French to establish a total war economy
because of German occupation of its lands that held the most resources. A strong leader, Clemenceau, rose
during these times. He stated “war is too important to be left to generals” and created greater civilian
control of the war government for more efficient mobilization.
36. Vittorio Orlando – He became the Prime Minister of Italy in 1917. Followed by a successful victory
at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, in which 300,000 Austrians were taken captive (November 2 nd, 1918),
Orlando represented Italy at the Paris Peace Conference. He supported Mussolini but later resigned. After
the fall of Mussolini he became the leader of the Conservative Democratic Union.
37. Woodrow Wilson – American president during WWI. After the war was over, Wilson wanted a
guaranteed and unbroken peace settlement for all the great powers. Known as an advocator for democracy
and freedom, the president was warmly welcomed by many Europeans at the Paris Peace Conference.
38. Nicholas II- the last tsar of Russia, Nicholas got Russia involved in WWI and was the one who
officially surrendered to take care of the more important matter, the Russian Revolution.
39. V.I. Lenin- became the author of mass terror and the first concentration camps ever built on the
European Continent.
40. Revolution of 1905- There was a mass protest in Russia, and troops opened fire on petitioners of
Nicholas II (Bloody Sunday). Czar later put fundamental laws into action.
41. Duma
42. Stolypin Reforms- Russian statesman under the rule of Nicholas II and instituted the first reforms in
1907 by dissolving the second Duma. This resulted in more conservative votes and the institution of the
zemstvos. Eventually, he tried to dissolve the peasant communes, but only 10%complied with these
measures. However, through these reforms he did boost the overall economy of Russia but was
assassinated in 1911.
43. Sergei Witte/industrialization- Russian finance minister appointed to the post during the reign of
Alexander III to greatly enhance the slumping Russian economy. Sergei advocated foreigners to invest in
Russian markets and established the gold standard in 1897. Eventually the industrial sectors grew under
him, especially the petroleum and metal sectors. However, he did fail in the agrarian sector of the economy
and the peasant restlessness perpetuated his eventual resignation.
44. Petrograd Soviet- The most important soviet that centered around the October revolution and Lenin's
rise to power. Originally dominated by the Menshiviks, the Bolsheviks led by Lenin had control over most
of Russia's soviets including the very important Petrograd Soviet.
45. Provisional Government- The government that ruled Russia after the death of the czar from March
1917 to November of 1917. It was led by Alexander Kerenski and mostly of middle class representatives,
not the working classes who sorely needed representation. This no recognition of the poor and
working classes drew back the popularity of the provisional government and the eventual clashing with
Kornilov would gain even more indirect power towards the growing Communist forces in Russia.
46. Bolsheviks- a faction of the Russian socialist political parties that was formed by Vladimir Lenin
because he was unwilling to accept the fact that the formation of socialist political parties was illegal under
the Tsar's autocratic government. They played
Little part in the 1905 Revolution because most of their leaders were living in exile. In 1911 they made
plans to capture control of the Social Democratic Labour Party, but they failed and caused the Bolsheviks
to split from the Mensheviks. They then took the name of the Social Democratic Workers' Party. In
December of 1918, they seized power and
declared the Constitutional Democratic party to be illegal and arrested some of the Cadets.
47. Social Revolutionaries- formed in 1896 as the Northern Union of Socialist Revolutionaries. In 1901,
leading figures in this group founded the Party of Socialist Revolutionaries. Their main policy was the
confiscation of all land. The land would then be distributed among the peasants according to need. They
also desired the establishment of a democratically elected constituent assembly and a maximum 8-hour
workday for factory workers. They eventually became a competing group with the Mensheviks and
Bolsheviks for power in the First Congress of Soviets.
48. Kadets- members of the Russian Constitutional Democratic Party. They were founded in 1905 and
sought a constitutional government that would insure universal suffrage, freedom of speech, a popularly
elected legislature, an independent judiciary and a system of social welfare. They dominated the cabinet of
the provisional government established in March of 1917, and also formed the majority party in the first
Duma. They had little power compared to the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks (5% of the vote in
Elections to the Constituent Assembly) and were arrested when the Bolsheviks seized power and declared
the Constitutional Democratic Party to be illegal.
49. "All power to the Soviets"- an expression of Lenin in all his speeches and articles of the first half of
1917. He emphasizes the possibility and desirability of a peaceful transfer of power to the Soviets. He even
went so far as to suggest that compensation could be paid to the capitalists whose industries were taken
over, on condition that they handed the factories over without any sabotage, and would collaborate in the
process of the reorganization of production. The central task of his party, the Bolsheviks, was not the
seizure of power, but winning over the majority who had illusions in the reformists. If the reformist leaders
were to take power, the Bolsheviks would limit themselves to the peaceful struggle for a majority inside the
soviets.
50. “Peace, bread, and land” – IN February 1917, the Russian government introduced a bread rationing in
which many women who had put in 12 hour work days stood in the lines for bread. On March 8, a day
celebrated since 1910 as International Women’s Day, about ten thousand Petrograd women marched
through the city shouting “Peace and Bread” and “Down with Autocracy.” Soon other workers joined the
women, and together they called for a general strike that succeeded in shutting down all the factories in the
city on March 10.
51. Army Order #1 – The Petrograd soviet issued its Army Order No. 1 in March to all Russian military
forces, encouraging them to remove their officers and replace them with committees composed of “the
elected representatives of lower ranks” of the army. Army Order No. 1 led to the collapse of all discipline
and created military chaos.
52. Rasputin – he was a Siberian peasant whom the tsarina regarded as a holy man because he alone
seemed able to stop the bleeding of her hemophiliac son, Alexis. Rasputin’s influence made him a power
behind the throne, and he did not hesitate to interfere in government affairs. As the leadership at the top
experienced a series of military and economic disasters, people began to hate the tsarist regime. The
assassinated Rasputin in December 1916 in an attempt to save the government, but it was too late.
53. Civil War – The Russian Civil War lasted from 1918 to 1921. A variety of disparate groups, including
victorious powers from WWI, sought to either overthrow the Bolsheviks or seize Russian territory. Lack of
cohesion among enemies helped the Bolsheviks triumph, but at the cost of much hardship and bloodshed.
54. Leon Trotsky- A fervid revolutionary and Bolshevik. Leader of "the Left" in the Politburo, which
desired to end the NEP and start industrialization. This group also desired to spread communism abroad.
Stalin was eventually expelled him from the communist party.
55. Alexander Kerensky- A socialist Revolution who was prime minister of the provisional government.
He released the Bolsheviks from prison, showing them how weak the government was, ultimatly leading to
the Bolshevik revolution.
56. Mensheviks- a faction of the Marxist Social Democratic party in Russia that wanted a mass electoral
party based on the western model. They were opposed to the Bolshevik regime.
57. Red Army- The army of the Bolsheviks. They faught a series of battles to put down threats to the
Bolsheviks
58. War Communism- communism was introduced during WWI by the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks- part
of the Social Democratic Parties. Lenin was one of the leaders of the Bolsheviks, was a revolution in 1917,
in which Lenin eventually received power and his new government introduced a number of social changes.
One contender: Leon Trotsky: built Red Army, thought NEP was too much of an ideological compromise,
and wanted "War communism" back, he also wanted to spread Communism to the industrialized nations of
Europe.
59. New Economic Policy- After the end of the Russian Civil War the city of Petrograd started a recovery
under the New Economic Policy (NEP), proclaimed by the Bolsheviks, allowing some elements of the
market economy.
60. Great Purges- period during the 1930s in the Soviet Union when the Communist party used execution
and mass imprisonment to destroy any potential political opposition. Anyone who was thought of as being
a potential threat to the regime's authority was executed, incarcerates, or sent into forced labor or internal
exile in Siberia
61. Forced Collectivization- Russia was under state control and established heavy industries using the
profits of forced collectivization from the peasants, which the forced collection of taxes and some crops
from the Russian Peasants
62. Kulaks- a class of well to do peasants and proprietors were the kulaks. 2 million of the 26 million
peasants were part of the Kulaks.
63. Five year plan/Gosplan- This was Stalin's plan to transform Russia from an Agricultural state to a
fully industrialized nation. Emphasized maximum production of goods and armaments and succeeded in
quadrupling the production of machinery and doubling oil production.
64. Stakhanov- Soviets typified people like Alexis Stakhanov who was a coal miner and mined 102 tons of
coal in one shift exceeding the norm by 1,300%.
65. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk- Signed March 3, 1918 it said that the countries of Germany, Austria
Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey for one part and that Russia were not at war anymore and all war is ceased
66. Central committee- Previously, in April 1917, the American Negro Loyal Legion advised the federal
government that it could quickly raise about 10,000 African-American volunteers. Shortly after the draft
was instituted, the Central Committee of Negro College Men organized at Howard University furnished
over 1500 names in response to an Army requirement for 200 college-educated blacks to be trained at a
promised officers school. Despite African-American support for the war effort, some Army leaders had
doubts about enlisting large numbers of blacks because senior officers either feared the negative response
of southern politicians, believed blacks could not fight, or were concerned about possible subversion by an
"oppressed minority." Because of the large number of blacks seeking to enlist, the War Department ordered
that African- Americans not be recruited.
67. Politburo- the former central policy-making and governing body of the Communist party of the Soviet
Union and, with minor variations, of other Communist parties. It was first created on the eve of the
Bolshevik revolution in Russia in 1917, but it did not become fully functional until the Eighth Party
Congress in Mar., 1919. Nominally elected by the central committee to direct the party between the
committee’s plenary sessions, the politburo, in reality, governed the country. The size of the politburo in
the Soviet Union varied; from 1952 until 1966 it was called the presidium.
68. Josef Stalin (1879-1953)- While still a divinity student, he became a convert to Marxism and joined the
Social Democratic party in the Caucasus. After the October Revolution of 1917, Stalin, already a member
of the central committee since 1912 entered the Soviet cabinet as people’s commissar for nationalities and
began to emerge as a leader of the new regime.
69. "Socialism in one country"- This was the great concern and questions that rose after the great war.
Many leaders such as Stalin argued that the spread of revolution to the West was the most desirable thing,
and should aim to build socialism.
70. Third International- international workers union formed in 1918. it led to the formation of communist
parties in many countries. It started in Moscow Russia
71. Comintern- formed in March 1919 by the Russians. Full name is communist international. its goals
were to fight the bourgeoisie and create an international soviet nation before complete removal of the state
72. Women's roles- in the war women played an important role in the homefront. With many ablebodied
men being drafted onto the front lines, the women needed to help maintain the factories to continue the war
effort.