Was World War 1 a 'total war'?

Answer 1

== == Total war is a military conflict in which nations mobilize all available resources in order to destroy another nation's ability to engage in war. The practice of total war has been in use for centuries, but it was only in the middle to the end of 19th century that total war was identified as a separate class of warfare. There are several reasons of why Total War was recognized in the 19th century. The main reason is industrialization. As countries' natural and capital resources grew, it became clear that some forms of conflict demanded more resources than others. Additionally, this is the time when warfare was becoming more mechanized. A factory in a city would have more to do with warfare than it did before. The factory itself would become a target, because it contributed to the war effort. It follows as well that the factory's workers would also be targets. World War One gave birth to total war in the industrial age when huge armies of soldiers faced each other across battlefields that had been made horribly lethal by technological advances in weaponry. Once the war began, the countries involved mobilized their entire populations and economic resources to achieve victory on the battlefield. The term home front was used for the first time during World War I and perfectly symbolized this new concept of a war in which the civilian population behind the lines was directly and critically involved in the war. Young men were removed from production jobs, and were replaced by women. Rationing occurred on the home fronts. One of the features of Total War in Britain was the use of Propaganda posters to divert all attention to the War on the home front. Posters were used to influence people's decisions about what to eat and what occupations to take, and to change the attitude of support towards the war effort. As young men left the farms for the front, domestic food production in Britain and Germany fell. In Britain the response was to import more food, which was done despite the German introduction of unrestricted submarine warfare, and to introduce rationing. The Royal Navy's blockade of German ports prevented Germany from importing food, and the Germans failed to introduce food rationing. German capitulation was hastened in 1918 by the worsening food crises in Germany. Military success was critically dependent on a country's ability to produce a continuous supply of goods for their armies. German industrial resources were so great that Germany was able to survive the British naval blockade and meet the demands of four years of war, while giving some help to Austria-Hungary. British industry, although capable and versatile, had begun to lag in output and in modernization. Britain came to depend heavily on U.S. production. Throughout the war, Germany occupied French territory that contained important industrial and mineral resources, so France also depended on U.S. supplies. Russian industry was incapable of dealing with the needs of the Russian armies. Although Germany gained access to the vast economic resources of the western part of the former Russian Empire in the spring of 1918, it was too late in the war to affect the outcome. The combined economic resources of the United States and the British Empire played a significant role in the Allied victory. Since the end of World War II, there has not been the need for a industrialized nation to fight a decisive war, due to the availability of weapons that are so destructive that their use would balance the advantages of victory. With the making of nuclear weapons, the fighting of a war became something that instead of taking years and the full mobilization of a country's resources would instead take hours and was developed and maintained with relatively modest peace time defense budgets.

Answer 2

Yes. World War I falls into the category of total war because the major focus of the governments involved was the war.