World War I

A war fought from 1914 to 1918, in which Great Britain, France, Russia, Belgium,

Italy, Japan, the United States, and other allies defeated Germany, Austria-

Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria.

Zimmerman Telegram

A 1917 diplomatic proposal from the German Empire for Mexico to join the Central Powers, in the event of

the United States entering World War I on the side of the Entente Powers. The

proposal was intercepted and decoded by British intelligence. Revelation of the contents outraged American public

opinion and helped generate support for the United States declaration of war on

Germany in April of that year.

Freedom of the Seas

A principle in the international law and law of the sea. It stresses freedom to navigate the oceans. It

also disapproves of war fought in water. The freedom is to be breached only in a necessary

international agreement.

Lusitania

A British ocean liner, holder of the Blue Riband and briefly the world's biggest ship. She was launched

by the Cunard Line in 1907, at a time of fierce competition for the North Atlantic trade. In 1915

she was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat, causing the deaths of 1,198 passengers.

Sussex Pledge

A promise made in 1916 during World War I by Germany to the United States prior to the

latter's entry into the war. 

• Passenger ships would not be targeted;

• Merchant ships would not be sunk until the presence of weapons had been established, if necessary by a search of the ship;

• Merchant ships would not be sunk without provision for the safety of passengers and crew.

Submarine Warfare

Submarine warfare in World War I was partly a fight between German U-Boats and

Atlantic supply convoys bound for Great Britain. British and Allied submarines

conducted widespread operations in the Baltic, North Sea, Atlantic, Mediterranean

and Black Seas.  A type of naval warfare in which submarines sink vessels such as

freighters and tankers without warning, as opposed to attacks per prize rules (also

known as "cruiser rules"). 

Selective Service Act

The Selective Service Act or Selective Draft Act authorized the federal government to

raise a national army for the American entry into World War I through

conscription.

Schenck v. U.S.

Defendant's criticism of the draft was not protected by the First Amendment,

because it created a clear and present danger to the enlistment and recruiting

service of the U.S. armed forces during a state of war.

American Expeditionary Force

The American Expeditionary Forces were the United States Armed Forces sent to

Europe in World War I. During the United States campaigns in World War I the AEF

fought in France alongside French and British allied forces in the last year of the

war, against Imperial German forces

John J. Pershing

A general officer in the United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. Pershing is the only person to be promoted in his own lifetime

to the highest rank ever held in the United States Army—General of the

Armies.

Battle of Argonne Forest

Part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along the entire

western front. It was fought from September 26, 1918, until the Armistice.

Alvin York

One of the most decorated American soldiers in World War I. He received

the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine gun nest, taking 32 machine guns, killing 28 German soldiers

and capturing 132 others.

Trench Warfare

A type of combat in which opposing troops fight from trenches facing each other.

U-Boats

A German submarine used in World War I 

President Woodrow Wilson

As World War I erupts in Europe, President Woodrow Wilson formally

proclaims the neutrality of the United States, a position that a vast majority of Americans favored, on August 4, 1914.

Fourteen Points

The "Fourteen Points" was a 1918 statement by United States President

Woodrow Wilson that the Great War was being fought for a moral cause and for

postwar peace in Europe.

Versailles Treaty

The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I.

It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five

years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Reparations

World War I reparations were the payments and transfers of property and equipment that Germany was forced to make under

the Treaty of Versailles following its defeat during World War I.

League of Nations

International organization created to ensure world stability.

Henry Cabot Lodge

An American Republican Senator and historian from Massachusetts. He is best known for his positions on foreign policy,

including his opposition to U.S. involvement in WWI, and his battle with President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 over

the Treaty of Versailles. Lodge demanded Congressional control of declarations of

war; Wilson refused and the United States Senate never ratified the Treaty nor

joined the League of Nations.  

Isolationism

A policy of national isolation by abstention from alliances and other international

political and economic relations.