History II / The First World War and the Interwar Collapse
Practice question · Select all that apply

Which features made the First World War a "total war"?

Hints
  1. Three of these describe the mobilisation of whole societies; the fourth describes something that did not exist.
  2. Ask what happened to the distinction between the front and the home front.
Show the answer
  • A. State direction of industrial production and raw materials
  • B. Large-scale entry of women into industry and transport
  • C. Conscription, rationing and organised censorship and propaganda
Why

Total war means the whole society is a war resource, which is why the category of the civilian erodes: if factories and food supply decide the outcome, they become targets, and the state acquires powers over labour, speech and consumption that it does not readily give back afterwards.

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