Great War Vocabulary

The Schlieffen Plan was a military strategy proposed by Graf von Schlieffen designed to
achieve a German victory in a two-front war by moving four army groups to the extreme
German right. It nearly succeeded but France was not defeated.

The Triple Alliance was an agreement between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy which
then turned into the pariwar alliance of the Central Powers.

The Triple Entente was the uniformal understanding between the Russian Empire, the
French Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain (with Ireland) turned into the
pariwar alliance known as the Allied Powers (the Allies).

The RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner, carrying passengers, sunk by a German
U-boat. The death of so many innocent civilians at the hands of the Germans motivated the
U.S. to support and enter WWI, in favor of the Allies.

The Zimmerman Telegram was a secret diplomatic communication issued from the
Germans in 1917 that proposed a military alliance between them and Mexico. It was one of
the motives the U.S. had to join the war.

The Central Powers were a military alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, the
Ottoman Empire and their colonies which came from the pre war Triple Alliance.

The Allied powers were a coalition with the main countries being Great Britain, the U.S,
China, the Soviet Union, France, Italy and Japan, which came from the pre war alliance the
Triple Entente.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. The objective
behind his assassination was to free Bosnia which precipitated the July crisis and led to
Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia, starting WWI.

Trench warfare was the only way to protect soldiers from the heavy use of machine guns
and rapid-firing artillery. It made armies rethink invasive strategies and turned heavy artillery
hand grenades and bombs into the main feature of the war.

No Man’s Land was the stretch of land, extremely dangerous, that separated German and
Allied trenches during the war. It was a regular feature of WWI until mechanised weapons,
such as tanks, entered the war making the trenches less of an obstacle.

Unrestricted submarine warfare was when Germany declared the area around Britain a
war zone and all merchant ships would be attacked by the German navy. They broke their
promise to the U.S. to stop attacking passenger ships, and caused the U.S. to join the war.

U-boats were submarines used by Germany in commerce raiding and enforcing naval
blockade against enemy shipping, with their primary targets being merchant convoys. They
used u-boats to destroy the blockade set by Britain that cut supplies to Germany.
Liberty Bonds were essentially loans to the U.S. government, citizens would buy them and
that sum of money would be returned on a specific date with interest. They were used to
finance the U.S. participation in WWI and their purchase was seen as an act of patriotism.

The 14 Points were a proposal speech made by the U.S. President Woodrow Wilson where
he outlined his vision for ending WWI in such a way that it wouldn’t occur again.

Propaganda in WWI tried to persuade men to join friends and family who had already
volunteered by making them feel like they were missing out, urging women to help the war
effort and recruit men for the armed services by using their anger towards air raids.

The Czar of Russia at the start of WWI was Nicholas II.

The Bolshevik Revolution happened on November 6, 1917 in Russia when leftist

revolutionaries led by Vladmir Lenin launched a coup d’état. This paved the way for the rise
of communism and allowed the Soviet Union to rise as a world power.

Doughboys was a nickname for the American infantryman during WWI because the brass
buttons on their uniforms looked like dough cakes. Another possible reason for this name
was that they used flour to polish their belts.

Armistice Day was November 11th 1918 at 11:00 AM, it was a truce made by Germany and
the Allies to cease for a certain amount of time. Although it did not directly end WWI, it was
an important step to doing so.

The Espionage Act was passed on June 15, 1917 which prohibited leaking any information
relating to national security if it could be used to injure the U.S. or provide advantage to
foregin nations. It was a crime to share intel intended to interfere with the U.S. armed forces.

Reparations were the financial settlements Germany had to pay (132 billion gold marks)
according to the Treaty of Versailles and the London Schedule of Payments in order to repair
the civilian damage of WWI.

The Kaiser of Prussia at the start of WWI was the German emperor Wilhelm II.

Draft (synonym: conscription) was a legal requirement for people to join the war. The
Selective Draft Act was used by the U.S. to raise a national army through conscription; the
only countries that didn’t institute a draft were Australia, South Africa and India.

A warmonger is a person who encourages aggression towards other countries and groups,
and attempts to stir up war. They favor war above all other options and are constantly
promoting it. Their objective is to start a war.