Chapter 30 Terms and Definitions

U-boat: German submarines used to attack Allied and neutral shipping, including passenger liners, during World War I.
RMS Lusitania: A British ocean liner torpedoed by a German U-boat in May 1915, killing 1,198 people including 128 Americans and inflaming U.S. opinion against Germany.
Sussex Pledge: Germany's 1916 promise, after the sinking of the French steamer Sussex, not to sink merchant and passenger ships without warning.
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare: Germany's January 1917 policy of sinking any ship, including neutral vessels, without warning — a major cause of U.S. entry into the war.
Zimmermann Telegram: An intercepted 1917 German message proposing an alliance with Mexico against the United States, promising Mexico help reclaiming Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.
Selective Service Act: The 1917 law instituting a military draft, which registered nearly 24 million American men for World War I service.
War Industries Board: The federal agency, led by Bernard Baruch, that coordinated American industrial production for the war effort.
Committee on Public Information: A propaganda agency led by George Creel that promoted American support for World War I through posters, films, and speeches.
George Creel: Journalist who led the Committee on Public Information, shaping American public opinion in favor of the war.
Herbert Hoover: Head of the wartime Food Administration, which encouraged voluntary food conservation through "meatless" and "wheatless" days.
Espionage Act: An 1917 law imposing harsh penalties for interfering with the war effort or aiding the enemy, used to suppress antiwar dissent.
Sedition Act: An 1918 law that further criminalized criticism of the government, the Constitution, or the war effort.
Eugene V. Debs: Socialist leader imprisoned under the Espionage Act for a speech criticizing U.S. participation in World War I.
Schenck v. United States: An 1919 Supreme Court case upholding wartime speech restrictions, in which Justice Holmes articulated the "clear and present danger" test.
John J. Pershing: Commanding general of the American Expeditionary Force, who insisted U.S. troops fight as an independent army in Europe.
American Expeditionary Force (AEF): The United States military force sent to fight in Europe during World War I under General Pershing.
Meuse-Argonne Offensive: A major 1918 Allied offensive in which American forces played a decisive role in breaking German resistance.
Fourteen Points: Woodrow Wilson's January 1918 peace program calling for open diplomacy, free trade, self-determination, and a League of Nations.
League of Nations: The international organization proposed by Wilson to resolve disputes peacefully, ultimately rejected by the U.S. Senate.
Treaty of Versailles: The 1919 treaty ending World War I, which imposed harsh terms on Germany and included the League of Nations Covenant.
Henry Cabot Lodge: Republican senator who led opposition to U.S. membership in the League of Nations, helping defeat the Treaty of Versailles in the Senate.
Irreconcilables and Reservationists: Senate factions opposed to the Treaty of Versailles, either rejecting the League of Nations outright or demanding major changes before ratification.