From Neutrality to War Key Terms

Central Powers

• the group of nations- led by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire- that opposed the Allies in World War 1.

Allied Powers

• Great Britian, The United States, China, and the Soviet Union were apart of this group.

U-boat

• A German submarine used in World War 1 or World War 2.

Lusitania

• A British passenger ship that was sunk by a German U-boat in 1915.

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

• A type of naval warfare in which submarines sink vessels such as freighters and tankers without warning, as opposed to attacks per prize rules

Sussex pledge

• The Sussex Pledge was a promise made by Germany to the United States in 1916, during World War I before the latter entered the war. Early in 1915, Germany had instituted a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare,[1] allowing armed merchant ships, but not passenger ships, to be torpedoed without warning.

Preparedness movement

• A campaign that began prior to U.S. entry into World War I to increase U.S. military capabilities and to convince the U.S. citizenry of the need for American involvement in the conflict and ongoing military preparedness.

Zimmermann note

• Zimmermann note, secret telegram sent on Jan. 16, 1917, by German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann to Count Johann von Bernstorff, the German ambassador to the United States. In it Zimmermann said that in the event of war with the United States, Mexico should be asked to enter the war as a German ally. In return, Germany promised to restore to Mexico the lost territories of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.