World War I Flashcards

Grade 11 · Social Studies · Flashcards

Essential terms and concepts for mastering World War I at the 11th grade level.

Flashcards

MAIN causes of WWI

Militarism, Alliance systems, Imperialism, and Nationalism — the four underlying forces that made Europe a powder keg by 1914.

Schlieffen Plan

Germany's pre-war strategy to quickly defeat France in the west, then shift forces east to fight Russia — it failed when Belgium resisted and Britain entered the war.

Trench warfare

Static combat style on the Western Front where armies dug opposing trenches; caused millions of casualties with minimal territorial movement.

Zimmermann Telegram

1917 German proposal to Mexico for a military alliance against the US, intercepted by Britain; key factor in pushing the US into the war.

Fourteen Points

Wilson's 1918 peace framework calling for open diplomacy, freedom of the seas, self-determination, and a League of Nations.

War guilt clause

Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles; forced Germany to accept sole blame for WWI, justifying massive reparations.

League of Nations

International peacekeeping body proposed by Wilson and created by Versailles; the US never joined after Senate rejection.

No Man's Land

The contested, heavily shelled ground between opposing trench lines; crossing it was near-suicidal.

Unrestricted submarine warfare

Germany's policy of attacking all ships — neutral or enemy — in war zones; sank the Lusitania and drew the US into WWI.

Armistice (Nov. 11, 1918)

The ceasefire agreement that ended WWI fighting at 11 AM on November 11, 1918.

Reparations

Financial penalties imposed on Germany by Versailles — eventually set at 132 billion gold marks — that crippled the German economy.

Self-determination

Wilson's principle that peoples should choose their own government; influenced new borders drawn after WWI but was applied unevenly, often ignoring non-European peoples.

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