USA HISTORY

World War I was a “total war” in the sense that

(A) it brought great suffering to civilians.

(B) nations from all over the world were involved.

(C) new technologies played a large part in the war.

(D) ** the nations involved devoted all their resources to it.

Concept note-1: -T or F: A total war was a war that involved all the nations in the world? False! A total war only involved the countries involved in war.

Concept note-2: -“Total war” includes four things: Mobilization, refusal to compromise, the blurring of roles between soldier and civilians, and total control of society. In many ways World War I was total war. There had never been a war that was so widely devastating.

Concept note-3: -World War I was a ‘total war’ that involved the governments, economies and populations of participating nations to an extent never seen before in history. This was distinct from how wars had been previously been fought.

Concept note-4: -Total war is a type of warfare that includes any and all civilian-associated resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilizes all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare over non-combatant needs.