In what ways was World War 1 a total war?

Answer 1

Answer

The definition of total war is war with all a nations power - economic, population, diplomatic, scientific - dedicated to the military effort. Usually this means that your opponent is attacking you in all these areas as well.

Of course, in reality no nation can mobilize 100% of their national power into a war effort, so the euphemism 'total' is inaccurate.

Nonetheless, in WWII several nations made huge efforts at total war. Probably the USSR and Japan were closest to achieving the goal. Food rations for non military workers was below starvation level in the USSR. In Japan the food situation deteriorated rapidly during the war and reached a similar level by 1945. All other civilian supplies were in near total absence. One example: Japanese civilians were given an annual cloth allotment during the war that amounted to about one good sized American towel. This was not even enough to patch ragged clothing.

Britain also had a high level of organization - non-military personnel were moved out of the the country (children by the thousands were sent to Canada), historic buildings were ravaged for metal to feed the blast furnaces, attacks against German civilians were rampant, duplicity and Propaganda reined supreme in the diplomatic corps at it had in WWI.

Next among major combatants would be Germany. Germany never achieved the level of militarism found in Japan or the USSR. They only began to match Britain late in the war. For example: Even in the last year of the war Germany was still manufacturing many tons of wall paper, a total waste of effort in a military campaign.

Italy scarcely mobilized at all and was thus a drag on the military efforts of Germany from the start. The incredible disorganization, corruption, crime, and just plain sloppiness of the Italian economy and military created one military disaster after another. Example: Despite a large merchant marine and sizable navy, Italy could not even adequately supply a handful of divisions in north Africa, ultimately leading to the collapse of that Axis campaign.

In the USA there was a lot of output and the nation was well organized. However, the USA had so much slack economic capacity at the start of hostilities (1941 for the USA) that it took a long time to begin using some of it. As such, the USA was never fully engaged in the war to the extent that Britain, Japan, or Germany were. Additionally the USA was lone among combatants in having long distances to travel to the fighting fronts. As such the USA was never able to engage the large numbers of troops in combat as compared to Germany, the Soviets, or even Japan. Example: Exemptions to the military draft were common, with men able to avoid service for reasons that would have been deemed laughable in Germany, Russia, Japan, or even Britain.

Answer 2

A total war is one in which the entire resources and population of a nation are utilized to fight the enemy -military, economic, political and cultural. As the entire population is contributing towards the war effort, total war also involves targeting the entire population of the enemy in order to reduce the overall effectiveness of a nations overall war effort.

Examples from WW!

British naval blockade - starve the German population into surrender.

Air raids and naval bombardment of civilian targets by Germany

Conscription of troops for armies (all countries)

Conscription of women for war work on the Home Front (Britain)

Unrestricted submarine warfare, attacking all ships, including merchant and passenger ships (Germany).

High taxes to pay for the war (there was a 70% profits tax on all British companies in WW1).

Answer 3

Total war is when a country utilises all of its resources (economic, human labour, military) for a war effort. World War II was a total war for most of its participants, including Britain, Russia, Germany, Japan, USA and Australia.

Notably, Germany did not enter a state of total war until 1943. This was because they expected a short war, based around their Blitzkreig strategy of 'lightning war'.

Answer 4

For one total war is a term used when a country was contributing all of its resources to the war. Second countries from all over the world were involved in the war including all the superpowers and many of the smaller countries. (Brazil, United States, England, Japan, Russia, Australia and etc.)

Answer 5

Because when World War 1 started everything went to a total disaster, a lot of people got stuck and a huge chunck of people got killed from ww1. So that war will keep on pur hearts and every day we to will remember the couarages soilders

Answer 6

Assuming you are talking about the American civilians. Every US citizen (within reason) did something productive for the war. Either by joining the military, working in factories or even just cutting back on what they bought. (to leave more for the troops)

Answer 7

as the war dragged on, it became evident to all involved that an industrial war required total commitment; or total war

Answer 8

Countries devoted all their resources to the war effort.