Glossary

This section contains the meanings of words and phrases found within the education packs and online.

Adjutant	A staff officer who helps a commanding officer with administrative affairs
Alliances	An agreement between nations in which each nation agrees to do certain things towards a common goal. This often means supporting each other in war.
Anarchist	A person who believes that government is undesirable and should be abolished.
Armistice	A truce or peace agreement, the First World War ended with the 1918 Armistice.
Army Post Office	Organisation that carried letters and parcels between battalions.
Assassination	A murder of someone who is often prominent politically; the First World War was sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
The Balkans	A historic name of the region in south-eastern Europe. A conflict between the Balkan country of Serbia and Austria-Hungary the First World War.
Battalion	A unit in the military composed of a headquarters and at least two or more companies or units. Several battalions make up a regiment.
Bombardment	An attack carried out by artillery or military aircraft.
Captain	An officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
Combat	To fight or oppose, in a military battle.
Conscription	A compulsory enlistment of people into military service. In the early years of the First World War. Britain relied on a voluntary military service, but in January 1916 the Prime Minster Herbert Asquith introduced the Military Service Act which gave Britain conscription.
Contributed	To give to or aid.
Correspondence	Communications between individuals, often through letters.
Counterattack	An attack made directly in response to an enemy’s offensive.
Deadlock	When opposing forces are each unable to make progress; a stalemate.
Depletion	To severely decrease something, often a resource.
Deterioration	The gradual decline in quality of an object or situation (e.g. the relationship between Britain and Germany deteriorated).
Dissemination	To disperse or spread widely.
Distribute	To provide or give out.
Empire	A large group of people or territory traditionally ruled by a sovereign emperor. Three important empires took park in the First World War: the British Empire, on the side of the Allies; and the Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empires on the side of the Central Powers.
Espionage	A government’s use of spies to uncover the secrets of other nations.
Gallantry	Acting exceedingly courageous or brave.
'Going over the top'	A military phrase refering to infantry soldiers having to climb out of their trenches to fight the enemy.
Home Front	The civilians who remain at home and oversee the nation when its soldiers are at war. In Britain during the First World War the Home Front is often associated with the women who held the country together while the men were in Europe fighting.
Humanitarian	A person who is devoted to the promotion of human welfare and the advancement of social reforms.
Imperialism	The belief in empire-building; a belief that one is entitled to conquer other nations.
Incident	An important event e.g. the sinking of the Lusitania caused the USA to enter the war.
Inconvenience	Something which is not helpful.
Independence	Freedom from the control of others.
Intelligence	Level of knowledge e.g. a government would gather intelligence on another government
Killed in Action	A soldier who is killed outright or who dies as a result of wounds or other injuries while fighting in battle.
*Lusitania*	A British ocean liner famously sunk by a German u-boat on 7 May 1915, drawing international outrage against the Germans. 1,198 people died in the sinking of the Lusitania.
Militarism	The belief that building up a large military is beneficial.
Mobilise	To make ready.
Monitor	To closely follow or watch.
Morale	Positive or negative feeling within a group of people.
Nationalism	The political belief of asserting the interests of one’s nation before others’.
Neutrality	Remaining free of allegiance, particularly in a conflict.
(Uniform) Penny Post	A system of post which began in 1840, in which posting a letter only cost a penny.
Postal censorship	The censorship of mail during the First World War carried out by the Post Office was responsible for the capture of numerous spies like Karl Lody. Mail was opened and read during sorting.
Prestigious	Highly regarded.
Prisoners of war	Soldiers captured by an opposing military force.
Punish	To impose a penalty for a wrong committed.
Ration books	Given to civilians in order to ‘restrict’ the use of consumable goods
Recruitment	Convincing people to enlist into something e.g the army.
Regiment	A military ground unit composed of two or more battalions, a headquarters, and other supporting units.
Rejected	Refused to accept.
Reparations	Making up for wrongs you have committed, often monetary compensation. Germany was forced, by the Treaty of Versailles, to concede many reparations to other European nations; the harshness of these is often cited as one of the causes which led to Hitler’s rise to power.
Restrictions	Something which obstructs or limits.
Revenge	An action inflicted on someone for a perceived wrong done to you.
Rivalry	A competition between individuals or groups e.g in the years before the First World War there was a rivalry between the British and German navies.
Sabotage	To ruin something deliberately.
Spies	Individuals who secretly investigate other countries or groups.
Stalemate	A position where no progress can be made by any side involved in a conflict.
Telegraph	A means of communication which sends messages or signals across long distances through electrical wires, using a simple code.
Terrorist	A radical person who employs terror as a political weapon
Theatres of war	A specific geographic area in which military battles take place.
Treaty of Versailles	The treaty signed at the Paris Peace Conference which stated the terms of Germany's defeat.
Trench warfare	A method of warfare in which each side has a set, unmoving line of defence based in trenches.
Triple	Group of three.
Triple Alliance	An agreement between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy which lasted from 1882 until First World War, stating that each would aid the others in an armed conflict.
Triple Entente	An alliance formed between the Britain, France, and Russia in 1907, which would lead to their partnership in the First World War.
Ultimatum	A final issuance of demands which, if not accepted, often leads to a collapse in relations.
Victoria Cross	The highest award for valour and gallantry ‘in the face of the enemy’ in Commonwealth countries.
Volunteer	An individual who, of their own accord, enlists in the military.
War effort	The mobilisation of the Home Front to support the army and soldiers away at war.
Western Front	A theatre of war between 1914 and 1918, running from the North Sea south across Continental Europe to the Swiss border and consisting of trench networks separated by No Man's Land.
The Weimer Republic	The government that governed Germany from 1919 until 1933.
Woodrow Wilson’s ‘Fourteen Points’	A famous speech given by US President Wilson in which he outlines a solution for post-WWI Europe. In these points he suggests the creation of a League of Nations, (to keep the peace between countries) which becomes the predecessor to the United Nations.
Zeppelin	A rigid-framed airship (not a balloon) filled with helium or hydrogen, used by the Germans in bombardments of England during the First World War.

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