Total War on the Western Front

Research Paper # 57218

History > European - World Wars
History > U.S. World Wars
International Relations > Non-U.S.

The convergence of science, technology, and ambitious war plans creates the phenomenon of total war in World War I.

5,350 words () | 8 sources | MLA | 2003 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper argues that the phenomenon of "total war", the total mobilization of the human, economic, and material resources of belligerent nations for the total destruction of the enemy, was born on the Western Front in World War I with the convergence of science, technology, and ambitious war plans. Discusses the war plans of the Germans, British, and French, the industrial mobilization in the combative nations, and the different forms of warfare developed and implemented.

From the Paper:

"No single event shaped the 20th century as The Great War. The blazing guns of August in 1914 created a new world order and a new standard by which modern wars were fought, phrased by German General Erich Ludendorff in 1935 as der totale kreig, or total war. This phenomenon was the unlimited warfare waged as a result of the total mobilization of the human, economic and material resources of belligerent nations. In many ways the totality of WWI was born as synthesis of the independent developments in technology and industry, military organization and planning, and the breakdown of diplomacy that had evolved over time and wars, aligning themselves by 1914 to produce a war of attrition that would leave its mark on the remainder of the new century."

More papers on Total War on the Western Front:

View more related papers »

Cite this paper

APA Citation:

Total War on the Western Front (2012, January 15). Retrieved February 13, 2012, from http://www.academon.com/Research-Paper-Total-War-on-the-Western-Front/57218