World War 1 Review Pt. 3

Gallipoli campaign: The Gallipoli Campaign was an Allied invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula in the Dardanelles, a region of the Ottoman Empire. The Allies believed that by taking Constantinople, the Ottoman capital, they could defeat the Turks and form a supply line with Russia. Troops from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and France attacked the western side of the strait. The effort began in February of 1915 but resulted in unprofitable fighting for months with huge casualties. In December, the Allies withdrawed, giving the Turkish forces victory.

Armistice:  An armistice is an agreement to stop fighting. Kaiser Wilhelm II stepped down as the public mutinied and the Central Powers surrendered. A representative of Germany met with the French Commander Marshal Foch and signed an armistice. This marked the end of the Great War on November 11, 1918.

Total War: Governments waged total war, dedicating all their resources to the war effort.The wartime government gained control of the economy and ordered factories to produce certain products. Practically every able bodied civilian was forced to work and unemployment rates dropped. 

Mandates: Mandated countries were territories (specifically Germany and Ottoman Turkey) that were under a transfer of control after World War I. The League of Nations determined that Allied powers would be given control of foreign lands. Complaints were made by these lands that they had no power over themselves since other countries ruled over them. For example, Germany was stripped of its colonies in Africa and the Pacific, and control was given to the Allied Powers.

U-boats: Unrestricted Submarine Warfare was a policy issued by Germany in 1917, stating that the Germans would sink every ship that surrounded Britain with U-boats, or submarines. It had already been used in 1915 when a German U-boat sunk the passenger ship Lusitania, killing 1198 people and 128 US citizens. America was enraged, and the Germansagreed to stop attacking neutral passenger ships. They started the policy again in 1917, as they were desperate for an advantage over the Allies and were willing to risk conflict with the US. The US declared war on Germany when officials intercepted a telegram by Arthur Zimmerman, Germany’s foreign secretary, that stated the nation would help Mexico reconquer land in the US if they allied themselves with Germany. U-boats were an advantageous weapon for Germany. Although they travelled slow, the new technology made it easy to attack on the seas.

Reparations: Reparations are compensation payments made by the losing side in a war. In World War II, Germany was blamed for the entire war, and forced to pay 32 billion dollars in reparations. Unable to pay, Germany started to print more money, leading to hyperinflation. In 1923, one US dollar was equivalent to one trillion German Marks. This severely damaged Germany’s economic and political systems, and took its toll on the general populace.

Alsace-Lorraine: Alsace-Lorraine was taken by Louis XIV in the 1600s, and was a territory acting as the border of France. It gave France access to the Rhine River, but was taken by Germany in 1871 in the Franco-German War. This created tension and an anti-German feeling in France all the way to World War I in 1914.