Military

From the military aspect, WWI can be said to be total war as countries were pumping resources and money to gear up war production. An arms race took place between major European powers, especially between Britain and Germany where both countries were competing for naval superiority.

LAND

•  Chemical warfare was first used in WWI. Poisonous gases such as chlorine and mustard gas were fired across trenches and they cause skin irritation and death if inhaled in large quantities.

SEA

• Dreadnoughts, battleships that were designed to be superior in speed, firepower and endurance, were built by the British and Germans during the naval arms race.
• Submarines(U-boat) were revolutionized for war at sea.

AVIATION

• Improvement in the offensive capabilities of fighter planes with the introduction of front firing machine guns that fire in synchronisation with the rotation of the propeller blades.
• Many countries were converting existing technology to accommodate the new aviation technology.

Thus, with so much money and resources being spent on weapons and military technology, it is undeniable that countries were moving towards total war as the scale of their armament was considerably large.