Glossary

Central Powers

After the assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, a complicated system of alliances pitted the Allies (France, Russia, and Great Britain) against the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Turkey) and triggered a chain reaction that started World War I.

CPI

Headed by George Creel, the Committee on Public Information (CPI) mobilized public support for the war. It was America's first propaganda agency, and it hired hundreds of musicians, writers, and artists as well as 75,000 speakers to stage a patriotic campaign.

Edward House

Together with Robert Lansing and Walter Hines Page, House helped to push President Wilson to side with England and the Allies.

Hague Conferences

These conferences, held in 1899 and 1907, seemed to fulfill the promise of a world without war by codifying international law in order to establish procedures for the peaceful resolution of conflict.

strict accountability

Wilson's response to Germany's use of submarine warfare was to warn Germany that it would be held "strictly accountable" for American lives lost to submarine attacks.

Sussex pledge

After the German submarine attack on the unarmed French passenger ship Sussex, which left seven Americans severely wounded, Germany pledged to stop sinking all merchant and passenger ships without warning. This promise temporarily eased tensions between the United States an Germany.

WIB

As head of the War Industries Board (WIB), Bernard Baruch, a Wall Street financier, assumed management of the nation's economy in 1918.

William Jennings Bryan

As Wilson's secretary of state, Bryan was the only member of the cabinet who supported strict neutrality. Dissatisfied with Wilson's handling of violations of American neutrality, he resigned and was replaced by Robert Lansing.

WLB

As part of his effort to make peace with labor during the war, Wilson created the National War Labor Board (WLB) to settle labor disputes.

Zimmerman telegram

Wilson appeared indecisive and confused after Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in March 1917. The telegram proposed that Mexico go to war against the United States as an ally of Germany in exchange for help in recovering territory it had lost in the 1840s.

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