WWI Flashcards
Deadlock
Also known as a stalemate- when two sides are fighting, with a lot of casualties, but no real progress in terms of trench lines- seen a lot in this war.
Alliances
Allies: France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, and the U.S.
Central Powers: Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany and the Ottoman Empire.
Western Front and Eastern Front
Western Front: Belgium and France- very intense place to be during the war
Eastern Front: Russia and Austria-Hungary
Triple Entente- Allied Powers
Triple Entente: France, Great Britain, and Russia- they become the first members of the Allied Powers when the war starts
Triple Alliance- Central Powers
Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy- Austria-Hungary and Germany become Central powers while Italy stays neutral until joining the Allies in 1915.
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
June 28, 1914 Sarajevo, Bosnia:
Parade for Hungary featuring their military to essentially confirm their claiming of Bosnia- Archduke Franz Ferdinand made an appearance as well
Gavrilo Princip- Serbian, but in Bosnia to assassinate Ferdinand- Princip is apart of a terrorist group called The Black Hand- Ferdinand takes a wrong turn and is shot- this ultimately led up to WWI
First Battle of The Marne
September 1914: this battle is a direct result of the Schlieffen Plan- Germany gets delayed in Belgium, who dug their heels in, giving Great Britain time to send their troops to France- this ultimately stops Germany at the First Battle of The Marne- Germany is stopped, but not pushed out of France- Germany then rides their troops to Verdun, setting up a battle there.
Gallipoli Campaign
February 1915- January 1916:
Britain’s goal is to sail to the Gallipoli Peninsula and take out the Ottomans there, as well as sailing through Russia and attacking from another side
Huge, long, deadlock, and brutal battle- the Ottomans ultimately win, but they are severely weakened
Sinking of The R.M.S. Lusitania
May 1915:
Woodrow Wilson is trying to keep America neutral by selling supplies to both sides for money- we get a lot of profit
Both sides don’t like this, and Germany begins to bomb some of the ships heading to Britain with supplies- we begin to receive threats from Britain as well
R.M.S. Lusitania passenger ship from the U.S to London, but they secretly have supplies for the British- German U-Boats blow it up and thousands are killed- now the U.S wants war, but Wilson is still hesitant- this also causes a rule to be created on Unrestricted Submarine Warfare- now you can’t kill innocent people
Zimmerman Telegram
January 1917:
Germany proposes an offer to Mexico that if they invade America, Germany guarantees everything they lost in the Mexican-American War
Telegram intercepted by America, but Mexico doesn’t accept the offer- this is the last straw and America gets involved in WWI by declaring war on Germany- congress approves, and America goes to war
Russian Revolution
March 1917-March 1918:
2 million Russian deaths in the war, with not much happening- soldiers begin to leave the frontlines to come home and revolt- proletariat- working class gets fed up
Communists make their way to Moscow and drag Czar Nicholas II out of the throne, officially starting the revolution- after he is killed, the second half of the Revolution begins: a fight for a new kind of government and the throne- two sides: Reds and Whites- Reds being Bolsheviks, or communists, and Whites being liberals- the Reds win and Russia adopts communism- U.S.S.R. is formed and signs a peace treaty with Germany
U.S Entry into WWI
April 1917
Wilson successfully stays neutral in his first term, and after the sinking of the R.M.S. Lusitania along with the Zimmerman Telegram, we have to declare war in Germany
We can’t just slot untrained U.S soldiers into trench lines, so John J. Pershing trains the soldiers for almost a year instead- we enter the war with new, refreshing divide and conquer tactics, giving the French a huge morale boost- when Russia leaves, we slot in with only Germany left to defeat after the Ottomans were weakened from Gallipoli
Battle of Chateau-Thierry
July 1918
Germans go to the offensive as U.S arrives to the frontlines- urban warfare- U.S sees this for the first time- battle is successful and a turning point- Germany is now pushed out of France, but a lot of American losses- from may to November we lose 130,000 Americans
Argonne Campaign
October- November 1918
Last push of the war- fought in dense forest land- Germany was hidden- intense fighting- we end up winning, but at a huge cost- 26,000 Americans killed in three weeks and 120,000 casualties total
Armistice day
November 11th, 1918 11:00am
Shortly after the defeat at Argonne, Germany requested Woodrow Wilson to order an armistice- two weeks later the allies sign a peace treaty with Germany and the war is over
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
Public Diplomacy- everyone makes alliances publicly
Free navigation of the seas
Self-Determination- everyone has to give up their colonies
The League of Nations- international peace organization- countries can peacefully voice their issues before war breaks out
This receives negative response from Britain and France, as they want a harsher punishment for Germany
Treaty of Versailles
June 1919
This treaty went wrong for many different reasons, including the fact that Great Britain and France wanted to punish Germany as much as they could, including forcing them to admit guilt and heavily fining them with economic sanctions, war reparations, as well as military restriction- limit to an 100,000 man army - Germany wasn’t doing anything worse than we were
Germany now has to pay 33 billion dollars- America doesn’t sign the treaty because that would mean we would have to join the League of Nations, meaning we would have to go to war when other countries went to war, we have to pay them, and the fact we wanted to make decisions on our own- strange because Wilson proposed League of Nations- we sign a separate treaty with Germany instead
