What are facts about World War 1 and the way it was fought?

Answer 1

1) First truly global war, empires versus empires with whole continents choosing a side

2) First total war - the entire economy of each reorganized such that winning the war is the most important goal of the country (contrast with, say, the Vietnam War)

3) The first war where most modern technology was used and abused: internal combustion engine, aeroplanes, tanks,landmines, snipers, grenades...

4) Very different to previous wars, in that it was no longer unsporting to target specific men/specialists

5) The first war in centuries where defense was much stronger than attack - concrete bunkers and machine gun fire were almost impossible to destroy even with 1000s of men and huge artillery bombardments -compare to castles vs cannons, forts vs siege weapons etc

6) Horse borne cavalry effectively ceased to exist as a military unit, replaced with vehicles like motorbikes and tanks

7) Each country had a pre-war plan which was "guaranteed" to work. None of them did.

8) The first real wide spread deliberate attacks on industrial means of production instead of enemy forces (bombing raids on factories/farms, far from the battlefield)

9) Naval power, although at its zenith, played only an indirect role, in terms of starving the enemies civilians into submission

10) Air forces like the RAF and the Luftwaffe were first created leading to the begining of the end for naval and ground warfare as standalone strategies - air supremacy began to have meaning.