Vocabulary

Words from World War 1
 * nationalism**-pride in one's nation
 * Militarism**-the policy of building up strong armed forces to prepare for war
 * terrorist**-uses threats and violence to promote a cause
 * kaiser**-German emperor
 * Central Powers**-Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman, or Turkish, and Empire
 * Allied Powers**-France, Britain, and Russia
 * stalemate**-a deadlock in which neither side is strong enough to defeat stalemate
 * Battle of Verdun**-lasted for 10 months in 1916
 * Propaganda**-the spreading of ideas that help a cause or hurt an opposing cause
 * U boats**-a fleet of submarines
 * Lusitania**-a British passenger ship
 * warmonger**-a person who tries to stir up war
 * Zimmermann telegram**-instructed the minister to urge Mexico to attack the United States if the United States declared war on Germany
 * czars**-Russian emperors
 * Selective Service Act**-it required all men from ages 21 to 30 to register for the military draft
 * draft**- a law requiring people of certain age to serve in the military
 * illiterate**-unable to read or write
 * bureaucracy**-a system of managing government through departments
 * Liberty Bonds**-bonds sold by the United States government to raise money for World War 1
 * pacifists**-people who refuse to fight in any war because they believe that war is evil
 * Socialist**-believes that the people as a whole rather than private individuals should own all property and share the profits
 * Treaty of BrestLitovsk**-a 1918 treaty between Russia and Germany that ended Russia's involvement in World War 1
 * Harlem Hell Fighters**-African American unit
 * Battle of Belleau Wood**-hard fought American victory over the Germans in France in 1918
 * Battle of the Argonne Forest**-defeat of the Germans by French and American troops in France in October 1918
 * armistice**-an agreement to stop fighting
 * abdicate**-give up power
 * epidemic**-the rapid spread of a contagious disease among large numbers of people
 * Fourteen Points**-to prevent international problems from causing another war
 * self determination**-the right of national groups to have their own territory and forms of government