Question

What were two ways that the idea of total war was used in World War I?

Answer 1

Total war is 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. The American-English Dictionary defines total war as "war that is unrestricted in terms of the weapons used, the territory or combatants involved, or the objectives pursued, especially one in which the laws of war are disregarded."

In the mid-19th century, scholars identified "total war" as a separate class of warfare. In a total war, to an extent inapplicable in less total conflicts, the differentiation between combatants and non-combatants diminishes and sometimes it even vanishes entirely because opposing sides can consider nearly every human resource, even that of non-combatants, to be a part of the war effort.[1]

Answer 2

The idea of total war is that the enemy can be best won by destroying everything including soldiers, civilians, meals, equipment etc.

World War I used the idea of total war by the mean of using administration, economies and communities of joining nations to an extent never seen before. Therefore, the entire country was assembled into service, rather than just its army.

Another way that the idea of total war used in World War I, the use of government announcement posters to redirect all consideration to the war on the home front. The government used the posters to manipulate the ideas of the public such as what to consume and what professions to practice and to improve the view of support towards the war industry.