What is the concept of ‘Total War’ and how useful is it in understanding the conduct of the First World War?

Thèmes abordés

Total War - First World War -

Résumé du document

The concept of total war describes a war that has implications not only on the battlefield, but for the whole society of the belligerent country. The war is not only fought on the front anymore, but also within the State. It leads to the setup of a war economy: the people are rationed for the war effort, the women may work to replace the men in the factories. The State takes the charge of the economy during the war.

More generally, the State has to direct all its resources towards the war, and thus to achieve a total strategy. This is often made possible by the sacred union of all the political parties within the country. The military dimension overthrows every other preoccupation: Eric Ludendorff, in his book The Total War argues that the spirit of the people is stronger during the war, which triggers a submission of the society to the military.

Extraits

[...] This leads to the use of all the kind of weapons available. Moreover, the armies are not made of professional soldiers but rather of conscripts. All the country is required to participate to the war effort, and the capabilities of each citizen are employed in the most efficient way possible by the State: it thus has recourse to a draft for what regards men use in the war effort. The armies are therefore huge. So, the battles are even more murderous than in a regular war. [...]

[...] What is the concept of ‘Total War' and how useful is it in understanding the conduct of the First World War? The concept of Total War: The concept of total war describes a war that has implications not only on the battlefield, but for the whole society of the belligerent country. The war is not only fought on the front anymore, but also within the State. It leads to the setup of a war economy: the people are rationed for the war effort, the women may work to replace the men in the factories. [...]

[...] The World War One: a total war: The concept of total war is useful to understand the World War One because it allows us to understand every dimension of it. Let's first focus on the front. First, new weapons were produced and used, such as yperite gas (also called mustard gas), aviation, artillery of bigger calibre, or even submarines! This led to the birth of someone war heroes, especially for the aviation, which was used to perform aerial duels between the belligerent. [...]

[...] The women were called to work in the factories to replace the men that left to war. In France, the sacred Union was decreed, and the population was rationed. Moreover, the belligerent proceeded to huge loans in order to finance the war effort. Furthermore, the conflict was global: besides the fact that there was belligerent all around the planet, the colonial empires were also used for the war effort. Thus, we can say that the WWI was a total war, as all the resources of the States were mobilized for the unique objective of a victory. [...]