World War I

132 flashcards by MentisLibrary

The war that ended four empires. Covers the alliances and the July Crisis, the trenches of the Western Front, Gallipoli, the war at sea and in the air, the global reach of the fighting, and the treaties that shaped the century after.

What four long-term forces are usually blamed for World War I?
Militarism, alliances, imperialism and nationalism
What did the Franco-Prussian War leave behind?
A united Germany and a France determined to recover Alsace and Lorraine
Why were the Balkans called the powder keg of Europe?
Ottoman decline left competing nationalist claims and rival Austrian and Russian ambitions in the region
What were the two main alliance blocs before 1914?
The Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, and the Triple Entente of France, Russia and Britain
Who was Manfred von Richthofen?
The German fighter pilot known as the Red Baron, credited with 80 aerial victories
What was the Schlieffen Plan?
The German plan to defeat France quickly by sweeping through Belgium, then turn on Russia
What were the Moroccan crises?
Two confrontations in which Germany challenged French influence in Morocco
What was HMS Dreadnought?
A British battleship so much faster and better armed that it made all existing battleships obsolete
What was the Bosnian annexation crisis?
Austria-Hungary formally annexed Bosnia, humiliating Serbia and Russia
Who were the Black Hand?
A secret Serbian nationalist society with links to army intelligence that armed the Sarajevo assassins
What were the Balkan Wars?
Two short wars that drove the Ottomans out of most of Europe and doubled Serbia in size
How did the Eastern Front differ from the Western Front?
It was far longer and more fluid, with movement over hundreds of kilometers rather than static trench lines
What made the machine gun so decisive?
A single well-sited gun could sweep an approach with continuous fire, making infantry advance across open ground suicidal
What caused most casualties in World War I?
Artillery
What was no man's land?
The ground between opposing trench lines, cratered and strung with barbed wire
How were aircraft used in the war?
First for reconnaissance and artillery spotting, then for fighting, bombing and ground attack
What was the British blockade of Germany?
A naval blockade cutting off food and raw material imports
How did the war affect Africa?
Fighting took place in the German colonies, and hundreds of thousands of Africans served as soldiers and carriers
What role did India play in the war?
Around 1.3 million Indians served, fighting in France, Mesopotamia, East Africa and elsewhere
What is total war?
A war in which states mobilize entire economies and populations, and civilians become targets and resources
How did the war change women's work?
Millions took jobs in munitions, transport, agriculture and services previously closed to them
What was shell shock?
A term for the psychological trauma of combat, now understood within post-traumatic stress disorder
How many people died in World War I?
Around 9 to 10 million military deaths and a comparable number of civilian deaths
Why is World War I sometimes called the first modern war?
It combined industrial mass production, railways, chemical weapons, aircraft, submarines and total mobilization of societies
What was trench foot?
A painful and sometimes disabling condition caused by prolonged exposure to cold, wet conditions
What happened at Sarikamish?
An Ottoman winter offensive in the Caucasus collapsed, with most losses from cold rather than combat
How was a trench system actually laid out?
In several parallel lines, fire, support and reserve, linked by communication trenches and dug in zigzags
Why was barbed wire so important?
It held attackers in the open under machine gun fire long enough to be killed
What conditions did soldiers live with in the trenches?
Mud, rats, lice, contaminated water and constant damp
What was the Haber process's role in the war?
It let Germany make nitrates from air for explosives after the blockade cut off Chilean supplies