WWI - The First Year 1914

Triple Entente

A military alliance between Great Britain, France, and Russia in WWI

Triple Alliance (Central Powers)

Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Italy

Empire

an extensive group of states or countries under a single supreme authority, formerly especially an emperor or empress.

Military Alliance

international agreement concerning the national security of the contracted parties

The Shot Heard Round the World

the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand shot by 18-year-old Gavrillo Princip. The trigger action of WWI.

The British Empire

England + its colonies (Ireland, N. America, Asia, Africa, Caribbean)

Austro-Hungarian Empire

Empire in which a dual monarchy was set up in order to bring compromise to a series of different ethnicities.

Ottoman Empire

A Muslim empire based in Turkey that lasted from the 1300s to 1922.

Russian Empire

An Empire that stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean ruled by the Romanovs until 1907

monarchy

authority in one royal person

republic

authority in the people

Western Front

Most fighting was done here. A line of trenches divided the Allied forces from the central powers between France and Germany.

Military Campaign

Large scale, significant strategy, plans, operations or battles during a war

Military front

a region, narrow band of land where armies fight.

Eastern Front

Longest front in WWI and saw some of the heaviest casualties. The primary battleground where Allied Russians fought central powers.

Naval Warfare

battles at sea

The British Naval Blockade of WWI

british ships blocking ships from reaching german ports. Seen as an unfair tactic against the rules of war.

The Rules of War

Rules set out for wars so that wars don't become out of hand or inhumane

Germany's unrestricted U-boat campaign

German U-boats (submarines) destroyed allied ships, military and civilians.

War Crimes

an action carried out during the conduct of a war that violates accepted international rules of war.

Flag of Truce

flag consisting of a piece of white cloth that is hoisted as a sign of surrender

Christmas truce

During World War I, on Christmas Day both sides stopped fighting and joined together peacefully for Christmas.

Tsar Nicholas II

Last emperor of Russia. assassinated during WWI

Bolsheviks

A group of revolutionary Russian Marxists who took control of Russia's government in November 1917

Communism

A theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.

Vladimir Lenin

Leader of the Bolsheviks

President Woodrow Wilson

President of the United States during WWI and kept the US neutral for the most part.

armstice

An agreement to stop fighting

Austrian Hungarian bombards Serbia - WWI beggins

July 28, 1914

Trenches

Deep ditches used in battle for cover against enemy gunfire. built in a zigzag pattern

Munitions

war materials, such as weapons

Propaganda

Biased presentation of information in order to promote an idea.

Patriotism

love of one's country

Britain enters WWI

When Germany invaded France via Belgium

African Colonies WWI

Allies invade German-controlled colonies and vice-versa.

Schliffen plan

German plan for quick defeat of France through Belgium

Odessa and Sevastopol

Russian ports in the Black Sea bombarded by the Ottoman Empire.

HMS Dreadnought

Britain responded in 1906 by launching this, the most powerful warship in the world

Caucasus mountains

A mountain system in southeastern Europe between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea where the Russian invaded the Ottoman Empire

Falkland Islands

A group of islands in the southern Atlantic off the coast of Argentina where the Bristish sank German ships in 1914.

Japan in WWI

Japan joined on the Allied side, with the guarantee of taking over German Pacific colonies.

Italy in WWI

Part of Central Powers at the beginning later joined Allies because they promised them land from Austria-Hungary.

Poland WWI

Was invaded by the Germans during the battles of Tannenberg and the Masurian lakes

The South Pacific islands of Samoa and New Zealand

Were German colonies that surrendered to Australian and New Zealand's allied troops.

The Russian army during WWI

Was very large but poorly supplied and led by untrained soldiers.

German army

Well equipped with trained soldiers and sophisticated military tactics.

Battle of Tannenberg

This battle was a German victory against the Russian, the Russians were crushed as they sent uncoded messages and were easily defeated.

U-boats

The Germany weapon that would eventually help bring the United States in WWI

Heligoland Bight

First naval battle in WWI. The British sink 3 German cruisers.

Plan XVII

French plan to invade Germany through Alsace-Lorraine

Battle of Ypres

The last major battle of WWI