Unit 3: Chapter 12

By the early 1900s in Europe, diplomacy had taken a back seat to militarism. This policy involved aggressively building up a nation's armed forced in preparation for war and giving the military more authority over the government and foreign policy.

On July 29, Russia, as Serbia's protector, began mobilization—the readying of troops for war.

Relatively equal in size and strength, the two sides reached a bloody stalemate, a situation in which neither side is able to gain the advantage.

The Kaiser, or emperor, was an autocrat—a ruler with unlimited power.

While civilians suffered severely under German occupation, some of the worst stories of German crimes were not true. British newspapers published false propaganda, or information intended to sway public opinion, that spread throughout the United States.

In what came to be called the Sussex pledge, the German government again promised that U-boats would warn ships before attacking.

This Russian Revolution cheered the prowar faction in the United States.

Congress passed a Selective Service Act in May 1917, authorizing a draft of young men for military service.

Volunteers and National Guardsmen made up the remainder of what was called the American Expeditionary Force (AEF).

Starting in May 1917, all merchant and troop ships traveled in a convoy. A convoy consisted of a group of unarmed ships surrounded by a ring of destroyers, torpedo boats, and other armed naval vessels equipped with hydrophones to track and destroy submarines.

German zeppelins, or floating airships, and German bombers launched more than 100 raids on London, killing almost 1,500 civilians.

A civilian representative of the new German Republic signed an armistice, or cease-fire, in a French railroad car at 5:00 AM on November 11, 1918. Six hours later, as agreed, the guns finally fell silent.

In a campaign of genocide, or the organized killing of an entire people, Ottoman forces deported and murdered Armenians, whom they suspected of disloyalty to the government.

It borrowed money by selling Liberty Bonds, special war bonds to support the Allied cause. Like all bonds, they could later be redeemed for the original value of the bonds plus interest.

He also had the power to begin a system of rationing, or distributing goods to consumers in a fixed amount.

Sedition is any speech or action that encourages rebellion.

Groups of vigilantes, citizens who take the law into their own hands, lynched and horsewhipped others.

Wilson also called for the right of Austria-Hungary's ethnic groups to self-determination, or the power to make decisions about one's own future.

Wilson claimed that he was not interested in the spoils, or rewards, of war.

They insisted that Germany supply reparations, or payment for economic injury suffered during a war.

On June 28, the great powers signed the treaty at Versailles, the former home of French kings, outside of Paris. Thus, the treaty is known as the Versailles Treaty.