Question

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

Answer 1

We can define a total war as a war that involved everyone (or practically everyone) in a country.  In other words, it is not just a war that is fought by soldiers and that only affects them.  Instead, it is a war that impacts everyone in the belligerent countries.  Let us examine three ways in which WWI can be characterized as a total war.

First, the war involved civilians in many ways. In this war, women were pulled in to factories to work in place of men who had gone off to fight. In this war, civilians working on merchant ships were liable to being injured or killed when their ships were attacked by submarines. In this war, cities were attacked using aircraft or artillery.  These attacks were meant to terrorize the populations and destroy the countries’ will to fight. 

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.