how world war 1 was fought 7.3

Total War Definition

• World War I is described as the "world's first Total War"

• Total War mobilizes a country’s entire population (both military and civilian)

• Distinction between battlefield and civilian life blurred

• Civilian targets are legitimate in Total War

Government Strategies for Morale

• Importance of maintaining morale among troops and civilians

• Propaganda as the chief strategy

• Used to motivate sacrifices & demonize enemies

• Exaggerated enemy atrocities

• Framed the conflict as a "righteous struggle"

• Various media forms: art, newsreels, posters, pamphlets

• Exploited intensified nationalism to elicit fear and pride

Military Technology and Warfare

• New military technologies responsible for high death toll

• Key technologies:

  • Machine guns

  • Chemical gas

  • Tanks

• Nature of usage contributed to lethality of the war

Trench Warfare

• Shifted tactics from open field assaults to digging trenches

• Strategy not new, but scale unprecedented

• Trench design included

• Fortifications like machine guns

• Barbed wire

• Resulted in stalemates with high casualties

• War transformed from a quick conflict to a prolonged struggle

Globalization of the War

• High casualties led to recruitment of colonial troops

• Troops from regions like:

  • Africa

  • India

  • Southeast Asia

  • Australia

  • Canada

  • New Zealand

• Colonial soldiers often conscripted as porters

• Lack of enthusiasm among colonial troops for a war unrelated to them

• Hopes for self-rule or independence after the war often unfulfilled

Entry of the United States

• U.S. remained neutral initially

• Factors leading to involvement:

• Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare

• Attempts to incite conflict with Mexico

• U.S. involvement provided fresh troops and industry support

• Shifted the tide against Germany and the Central Powers

End of the War

• Official end in 1918 with the Treaty of Versailles

• Germany and Central Powers lost; Allied Powers won

• Treaty aimed to punish Germany, diverging from President Wilson’s vision of peace

• Consequences of the treaty foreshadowed future conflicts (e.g., WWII)

Conclusion

• The impact of World War I not only reshaped battle strategies and international relations but also impacted colonial dynamics and national identities. The lessons learned during this conflict would echo into future global conflicts, fundamentally altering the geopolitical landscape.