Industrialization 

By the late 1800s, the process of industrialization had transformed most of Europe. Factories and densely populated urban areas dotted the 
landscape and railways connected them together. Advances in industrial production made manufacturing faster, and enabled factory owners to 
produce more complicated goods with precision. Factories used ​assembly lines​ to speed up production. With an increase in support and money 
from governments during the war, factories could ​mass produce​ guns, tanks, airplanes, automobiles, ammunition, and replacement parts needed 
for the war effort.  
 

 
Women munition workers stacking cartridge cases 
in the New Case shop at the Royal Arsenal, 
Woolwich, 1918. 
  Source: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cartridge_cases_at_Woolwich_Arsenal_1918_IWM_
German munitions (weapons) factory, 1916.  Q_27848.jpg  
Source: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_World_War_I#/media/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-19
70-047-37,_Munitionsfabrik.jpg 
 
The chart above shows industrial 
output in Great Britain and Germany 
over the course of the war. Note how 
the British produced more goods as 
they started to have more success 
against the Germans.  
Total War 
A total war is a military conflict in which nations are willing to make any sacrifices necessary to win. In a state of total war, a nation will mobilize, or 
make us of its total available military, technology, and human resources to be victorious. In a state of total war, there are no limits to the weapons 
used, the territory or combatants involved, or the goals. Total war is considered the most extreme form of warfare because both civilians and 
soldiers are targets.  
In addition to dedicating time and money to build new war technologies, European women at home were mobilized to work outside of the home to 
replace men who went off to war. Additionally, hose at home were asked to make the sacrifice of rationing. Rationing was a policy of strictly 
distributing food to ensure that soldiers had enough food. Sugar, meat, flour, butter, margarine and milk were tightly controlled and families were 
urged to consume less.  
During the war, propaganda posters were used to influence people's decisions and to increase support towards the war effort. 
Source: Adapted from ​https://www.britannica.com/topic/total-war​, ​https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/total_war​, ​http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/0/ww1/26439020​,
http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/educational-magazines/home-front  

   
War poster : Women are Working Day and  During World War I, the British government 
  Night to Win the War / Witherby & Co. London,  relied heavily on loans to finance the cost of the 
Aerial view of the village of Passchendaele, Belgium before  1915.   war. This 1915 posters, encourages British 
Source: 
and after WWI. ​In a total war, civilian and military buildings  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Affiche-guerre_Femmes-au-travail.jpg   citizens to give metal and money to the war 

are targets.   effort.  

 
Source: ​https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Passchendaele_aerial_view.jpg  
Sources: ​http://www.wdl.org/en/item/581/
Technological Developments 
Advances in industrial production and competition between countries led to technological and scientific achievements that were used in World 
War I. Below are some of those that made the greatest impact.  
Watch ​History.com video on technological developments in WWI​ then analyze the images and text below.  

Machine Guns  Chemical Warfare  Submarines 

 
British Vickers machine gun crew during the Battle 
of Menin Road Ridge, World War I (Ypres Salient,     
West Flanders, Belgium).   A Canadian soldier with mustard gas burns, ca. British R-class submarine.  
Source: ​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vickers_IWW.jpg  1917-1918.  Source: ​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:British_WWI_Submarine_HMS_R3.JPG  

Source: ​https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mustard_gas_burns.jpg  
Airplanes    Tanks 
The first use of chemical weapons of mass 
destruction were during World War I. The use of 
chemical weapons such as chlorine and mustard 
gas were not only a threat to soldiers but also 
civilians and those who worked to manufacture 
these weapons. The French were the first to use 
chemical weapons during the First World War, 
using tear gas. The German's first use of chemical 
weapons were shells containing xylyl bromide, an 
early form of tear gas, that were fired at the 
Russians near the town of Bolimów, Poland in   
January 1915.   Mark II Tank Number 598 advancing with Infantry 
Source: Adapted from ​https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2376985/​, 
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31042472   at Vimy. April 1917.  
  Source: 

German Albatros D.IIIs of Jagdstaffel 11 and    

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Canadian_tank_and_soldiers_Vimy_1917.jpg

Jagdstaffel 4 planes parked in a line at La Brayelle 

near Douai, France.  
Source: ​https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AlbatDIII.jpg  
Trench Warfare 
At the start of the war, both sides thought that WWI would be fought in the open like previous wars had been. Once they realized how accurate and effective the 
new artillery and machine guns were, they needed a new tactic. Both sides dug a series of trenches to protect themselves from enemy fire. Most of WWI, 
especially in the Western Front in France and Belgium, was fought through trench warfare. One side would attack by climbing out of their trench, over the 
dangerous section known as “no man’s land,” and into the opposing trench to fight the enemy. Later, the other side would do the same thing to win back that 
trench, gaining only a small amount of land and losing a lot of soldiers to machine gun fire, grenades, and gas. This resulted in a ​stalemate​, a position in which 
neither side could win.  
Watch ​History.com video on trench warfare in WWI​, ​this scene from the film All Quiet on the Western Front​ and/or ​this excerpt 
from the History Channel show ​Conquest​ then analyze the images and text below. 

   
Illustration from Neil Demarco ​The Great War  French soldiers in a trench northwest of Verdun, 1916. 
Source: ​http://spartacus-educational.com/FWWsapping.htm   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:French_87th_Regiment_Cote_34_Verdun
_1916.jpg  
 
  
A ration party of the ​Royal Irish Rifles​ in a communication trench during the Battle of the 
Somme. The date is believed to be 1 July 1916, the first day on the Somme, and the unit is 
possibly the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles (25th Brigade, 8th Division).  
 
Source: ​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Irish_Rifles_ration_party_Somme_July_1916.jpg

Voices of Soldiers 
“We have been in camp near the wood at Écurie for some days now and a more miserable 
existence it would be hard to imagine. There is nothing but unrest and uncertainty and   
everyone here is absolutely fed up to the teeth.”  An aerial reconnaissance photograph of the opposing trenches 
- Private Archie Surfleet, February 8th, 1918  and no-man's land between ​Loos​ and ​Hulluch​ in ​Artois​, France, 
  taken at 7.15 pm, 22 July 1917. German trenches are at the 
"Bombardment, barrage, curtain-fire, mines, gas, tanks, machine-guns, hand-grenades —  right and bottom, British trenches are at the top left. The vertical 
words, words, but they hold the horror of the world.”  line to the left of center indicates the course of a pre-war road 
- Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front  or track. 
Source: ​https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aerial_view_Loos-Hulluch_trench_system_July_1917.jpg  

 
No Man’s Land, Flanders Field, France, 1919. ​Source: ​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:No-man%27s-land-flanders-field.jpg