Analyze the Ways in which the First World War was fought

War has existed ever since we can remember. In the beginning they were small skirmishes, growing to become famous battles, and then leading to wars such as the First and Second World War. However the ways we fight nowadays compared to back in the ages is immensely different. World War I can be analyzed for so many different things, but its most obvious aspect is that of Warfare. In a way, World War I brought forth totally new sides to war causing huge changes in the way war is fought, the birth of propaganda, and the concept of Total War.

Analyzing the actual way the Great War was fought always brings forth speculations. Why are we actually asking ourselves this? I believe in a way we believe that World War I totally changed the way we look at warfare, however this could be challenged. Perhaps it was not the war itself which makes us so different nowadays but the actual actions the people took under the war.

However it is clear that the First Great War’s fighting had many impacts on later wars, especially World War II.

Looking at one aspect which World War I influenced, this includes the actual technical aspect of war, such as weapons and the way battles were fought. In the beginning there was the machine gun. This new weapon enabled a single man to shoot multiple bullets at a time, enabling him to mow down several people in one go. Sudden charges of huge masses of men had lost their effects. This continues with the tanks and artillery. Although horses where still used to pull the artillery, the actual effect of a horse rider versus artillery or a machine gun were close to zero.

Another invention which in the beginning was looked down upon was the tank. For qhen they were launched they were close to useless. Cramped in tiny spaces, soldiers would often become sick from the fumes of the engine, not to forget that often the tanks would not even move or turn on. However, with the idea of an armored car, the basis was founded for the rise of the great tank divisions of Germany in World War II.

Also, suddenly camouflage became important to soldiers. With fast guns, an easily spotted target would not live long. Therefore it became more and more important to blend in with the surroundings. The red pants of the French were soon to their disadvantage as they were easily to spot. This had never been of such importance before as in WWI.

The newest and most horrifying invention of warfare however was the trench warfare and its follower: poisonous gas. Without being able to outflank each other, the Germans began to dig in trenches in order to put up a hard line to overrun. Soon men were rotting away in cold, rat ridden trenches. The fast pacing battles were practically over now. Instead men fought over meters of land.

Poisonous gas, first used in the Battle of Ypres by the Germans, only served to escalate the misery of trench warfare. It served no purpose other then to kill the enemy in masses, causing totally new aspects of warfare to open. This had not come before World War I.

Arguing the idea of change of warfare due to World War I, one should not forget that although many new weapons and ways of war were brought forth, horses and cavalry were still present within the First Great War and were used a lot on the Eastern Fronts. Therefore new inventions did not totally flush out the old. To that, the mechanization of the army already started before World War I, with the invention of guns and artillery. It is only with the escalation of WWI that this went to such extreme measures.

Looking at the new warfare from a Militaristic point of view, the new warfare started a totally new epoch within war, something which could perhaps later be called Total War, (discussed more later) in the respect of the aspect of killing people. From a counterfactual standpoint, one would question whether World War I would have been so terrible and cost so many lives if none of the technical war changes would have been made? Would WWI even be discussed as much without the technological changes?

Another aspect of war which changed during World War I was how to gain the support of the people, how to recruit men, and how to incite women to work. This new method became propaganda. Propaganda was a mean to control the masses of a country. While each side used propaganda, each however was effective on different levels, such as Adolf Hitler states in his work “Mein Kampf”.

The British clearly made the Germans figures out of horror stories calling them Huns, and saying they raped and mutilated Belgium which made the British folk stand behind its government. Not only that but it caused men to be ready for the horrors of the war.

However the Germans in contrast, by actually making the English look insignificant and weak, caused the exact opposite effect upon their soldiers. Suddenly a German soldier felt like its fatherland was lying to him and that the war was for nothing. Propaganda soon had huge effects upon the moral of men, which again changed the way a war had been fought.

Propaganda also could be used to gain allies. A good example of this is England’s manipulation of America through the Transatlantic Cable by telling them horror stories of how the “Huns” of Germany misused “innocent little” Belgium. This could been seen on posters of propaganda everywhere, in movies, and even in art pieces. The power of propaganda can be seen especially well in movies of the time as well. When Britain brought forth actual filmings of the front to its people without realizing that the showing of men dying in masses could have negative effects on the moral, we can gain a small glimpse on how propaganda can backfire and yet how much mass of people it actual effects.

However it was through this propaganda that World War I was able to spread throughout the ranks of society, even inciting school teachers (who had almost never before marched to war) to grab their gun and enter the army. War was no longer just for the professional army men but also for farmers, workers, etc. Propaganda also enabled the country to use its women as labor workers in factories, working for days on end to help their men at the front.

One could argue however that the effect of propaganda was not as huge in World War I as in World War II. To that, propaganda had existed in small amounts before World War I and was therefore not just an invention of the First Great War. Propaganda also has its limits, for like Hitler stated in his analysis, propaganda is limited to the least cleverest in society. Therefore propaganda, no matter how much effect it had, it could not effect everyone.

Looking at the birth of propaganda in WWI from a Women Historian view, women suddenly were also involved in war. While they have been so in limited amounts before, they suddenly had become the driving labor force. With propaganda inciting women to work the hardest they can for their men, and also seeing the horrors men had to face out their in the fields upon propaganda movies, this incited women to work hard for their country as nurses, factory laborers and whatnot.

A revisionist would see propaganda as a new field opened within society where the government suddenly possessed a tool which they could use effectively to manipulate and control its people. This also gave birth to the even larger usage of propaganda during World War II, especially by Hitler.

The third aspect which the new ways WWI was fought gave rise to is the concept of total war. Total war uses all resources of a country, including natural resources as well as human resources. Suddenly huge amounts of soldiers like never before were required. Citizens were also suddenly involved as well, often acting as side victims to war. Even women, like stated in the before paragraph, became used more and more. Not only that but resource such as food, iron, etc. where used to a countries limit amounts. Colonies became very important in order to provide the substances needed for a country to endure in the war, be it food or humans. Suddenly war was no longer a side effect for a country. Instead everything went into one single purpose: war.

With the concept of total war, men could no longer fight without the support of the homeland. This is one of the reasons why women, even in the worst conditions continued in producing shells. They knew that the men in the front needed shells to survive. No matter that the women began to be poisoned by TNT and soon began to be nicknamed “canaries”, women fought onwards for their men.

Another aspect of Total War seen within World War I is the actual involvement of the citizens. With the bombardment of London by Zeppelins, it was no wonder that innocent bystanders would be killed, such as Jay Winter states, a kindergarten. War no longer involved only men at certain battle fields far away from main cities. Instead, it became the actual horror of every person within the country, no matter whether old or young.

Total War was born through the new technologies (since through them new resources where needed such as shells) but also propaganda caused the spread of total war. Before, war was seen as something a king was holding with another country and it did not really affect the citizens as much as it did the professional knights. Perhaps there were higher taxes and less food but not the big involvement such as in World War I, stirred up by propaganda. Ignoring posters and movies everybody else was watching became practically impossible.

A good example of total war was DORA of the British. Acting as the Defense of the Realm Act, the society and resources was suddenly perfectly controlled. Bread was prohibited from being fed to animals, instead to be saved for the army. Gold and silver could not be melted down, etc. The country suddenly started to control the resources more and more to ensure everything was used for the war and to keep any rumors from spreading since this also could hurt the war.

As a counterargument, looking at Napoleon for example, countries had always invaded other countries and then used their resources. Otherwise it was practically impossible to feed larger armies. To that new stage in war for each new epoch was seen as the horror of the time. Therefore in a twisted sort of way, Total War was simply a new invention seen as something totally horrific when it actually also had its positive sides.

From a Militaristic standpoint, the concept of Total war is the idea of just war: the killing of people, new weapons and new strategies of war. It has nothing at all to do with the economic or social aspects of total war.

Prosopography would say that with total war, the common man became an active participant, opinion, and voice within the war, therefore being able to fully state what Total War is. Seen from the eyes of the common people therefore, Total War was horrible since innocent people without defense were being killed at the time, and the people who wanted nothing to do with the war, had to suddenly produced huge amounts of weapons.

All in all, World War I was the beginning of a totally new way of fighting. Still why would we analyze the fighting of WWI? Even with the huge changes which where brought with World War I (such as propaganda, tanks, etc.), how is this in any way significant? When looking at the First Great War using our sense perception and reasoning, we could say that in a way, it shaped all the later wars, especially World War II. In a twisted way, without understanding the origins of WWI and its inventions, there is no way to understand WWII. To that, reason tells us that no matter how insignificant something is within society at the time (which World War I certainly wasn’t) it still will have an effect on our society today. *** With using our four ways of knowing from TOK, we can learn to understand exactly how the war changed the times then and now.

With World War I everything changed. It was no longer just professional soldiers marching out to battle fields but also scholars and headmasters, and even in a metaphorical sense: women. Not only that but World War I also brought forth totally new sides to war causing huge changes in the way war is fought, the birth of propaganda, and the concept of Total War.

With the new ways of fighting, new weapons begun to be used. While horses and cavalry still existed and where used in multiple numbers, they now where backed-up by artillery or could not be used at all, like in the trenches. Propaganda, lead to the including of civilians and making a war not only the business of kings and rulers. With these two things, World War I was able to give rise to something totally new and shocking of the age: Total War. With it, the war had suddenly reached no more limits. No matter who, they could die, and no matter what, it had to be used for the success of the army. The world didn’t care anymore what the limits where, it just kept on fighting.