Total War
A popular propaganda poster put out by the U.S. government
World War 1 was one of the most deadly conflicts in the history of war. Around 10 million military soldiers were killed, but the more surprising fact is that around 7 million civilians were also killed credit to the Great War. There were so many civilian casualties because of “Total War”, which means the war was not only affecting soldiers on the battlefield, but also their families back at home.
The concept of Total War is that everyone from a certain country or nation gets involved in the fight. Not everyone will be participating in combat, but there are numerous ways where one can still help out whether it is recruiting young men to be soldiers, working in a factory that manufactures weapons or bombs, or creating new technologies to benefit their soldiers. Government propaganda is often a major factor in Total War because that is an easy way to get their citizens involved. They produce flyers, commercials, songs, or anything that would portray a negative view on the enemy to the common public. The goal was to get everyone, including children, to hate their enemy.
Originally, when the war was first beginning, Total War was a bit different in the United States. There was some indifference as to whether the United States should join the war or not because throughout the 1800’s and early 1900’s many Europeans immigrated to America. This resulted in not only a diverse culture, but diverse opinions as well. There were many British, German, Irish, Italian, and more immigrants in the U.S. with family still back in Europe, and with the war threatening many of these people were opposed to getting involved. So early in the war it was difficult for the U.S. government to get everyone in their diverse culture participating in Total War. When Congress agreed to join the war in 1917 the United States did not have a very proficient army. It took about a year to recruit soldiers, train them, and send them overseas, which is when America began to make any sort of impact on the battlefield. The American soldiers were more of a morale boost for the British and French troops that had been fighting in the trenches for several, grueling years.
However, one aspect of Total War that the U.S. did have a major impact on was the financial and economical advantages they gave the Allies. As soon as they joined the war the U.S. Treasury sold a great deal of bonds to citizens, which Britain and France used to fund their purchases of raw materials and weapons. The U.S. government also generated revenue by increasing taxes. The economic assistance that the United States provided was probably their greatest contribution to the Allied victory in World War 1.
Another way that the United States government got citizens to be a part of Total War was through propaganda. On the home front, they suggested that people need to, “do their part” which brought everyone in on the war effort. The government was demonstrating to the public that the soldiers were not the only ones fighting. There were several messages that they wanted to get across, and they used many different methods to do so. The first message was, enlist! Troops are the most obvious necessity of war so the U.S. government was rounding up as many as possible with posters that read, “I want YOU for the U.S. army”, another displayed an American dressed man pointing towards the reader saying, “It’s up to you to protect the nation’s honor!”, or the most famous poster of a gorilla with a German army helmet holding a defenseless woman saying, “Destroy this mad brute. ENLIST.” The government attempts to show how ruthless the German army is, and that the Allies need us to come to their rescue. The second message the government wanted to get across was buy U.S. government bonds. As mentioned earlier, a great portion of America’s war effort was the money made off war bonds. These posters consisted of messages such as, “Help Uncle Sam stamp out the Kaiser, Buy U.S. Government Bonds.” The last idea that the government was trying to spread was the importance of working in factories. They urged woman to do these jobs because the majority of the men were soldiers, and the United States supplied a great deal of weapons, bombs, ships, tanks, and other war materials to almost all of Europe boosting the U.S. economy. In the end propaganda was a great tool to get everyone included in Total War.
Another issue at the Home Front was since many men were sent off to fight and often face their deaths, there was plenty of absence in the factories that they had worked in. Women and African Americans were needed to fill these positions. In order to support their families’ women needed jobs so they flooded the workforce and were eager to work wherever they were needed. Women were not only subject to jobs in factories, they filled a wide variety of roles from farming to street car conductors. Again, government propaganda encouraged them to do something with slogans like, “Everyone has to be a helper.” As the war progressed most women wound up working in factories and munitions plants. The conditions were all but pleasant especially when trying to meet the high demands of the government. Factories had to produce a certain amount of bombs, ammunition, or whatever they were providing due to government regulations. Women were paid half of what men were paid and had to work long, demanding hours. Not to mention the risks of most of factories made them unhealthy and quite dangerous. When filling shells with explosives women were dealing with acid fumes and other chemicals that often damaged their lungs. Occasionally, the shells would even explode and kill workers. Another occupation many women chose was nursing, and many of them went into the war zone to aid wounded soldiers. Most of the medical training was basic, but everyone had to do something in the efforts of Total War.
Woodrow Wilson was the president of the United States during World War 1. While running for his second term in 1916, he based his campaign off of keeping America out of World War 1 and was an advocate for world peace. It was inevitable that the U.S. was going to join the war especially after German submarines sank ships killing American civilians. Wilson decided to ready an army once they joined the war because his goal was to remain neutral, and he thought building an army would make people want to go to war. Again, through propaganda he recruited soldiers, filled jobs, etc. In 1919, when the war was ending Wilson attended the Peace Conference in Paris, making him the first president to go to Europe while in office. He presented his Fourteen Points plan in attempt to end the war, and create peace amongst the nations. This plan basically just said that all of the countries borders should be restored, world peace, independence for Austria-Hungary and Poland, and the last point created the League of Nations. The main goal of the League of Nations was to maintain national security and prevent any future world wars. The United States chose not to join.
Total War was first introduced in World War 1 where it played a big role, and it was very evident in the United States. The war was not solely won by the soldiers fighting endlessly in the trenches only over a couple of miles, but also by the efforts made by those back at home. Total War is a scary concept when a war consumes entire countries, but also reassuring because like the great Michael Jordan once said, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”
The concept of Total War is that everyone from a certain country or nation gets involved in the fight. Not everyone will be participating in combat, but there are numerous ways where one can still help out whether it is recruiting young men to be soldiers, working in a factory that manufactures weapons or bombs, or creating new technologies to benefit their soldiers. Government propaganda is often a major factor in Total War because that is an easy way to get their citizens involved. They produce flyers, commercials, songs, or anything that would portray a negative view on the enemy to the common public. The goal was to get everyone, including children, to hate their enemy.
Originally, when the war was first beginning, Total War was a bit different in the United States. There was some indifference as to whether the United States should join the war or not because throughout the 1800’s and early 1900’s many Europeans immigrated to America. This resulted in not only a diverse culture, but diverse opinions as well. There were many British, German, Irish, Italian, and more immigrants in the U.S. with family still back in Europe, and with the war threatening many of these people were opposed to getting involved. So early in the war it was difficult for the U.S. government to get everyone in their diverse culture participating in Total War. When Congress agreed to join the war in 1917 the United States did not have a very proficient army. It took about a year to recruit soldiers, train them, and send them overseas, which is when America began to make any sort of impact on the battlefield. The American soldiers were more of a morale boost for the British and French troops that had been fighting in the trenches for several, grueling years.
However, one aspect of Total War that the U.S. did have a major impact on was the financial and economical advantages they gave the Allies. As soon as they joined the war the U.S. Treasury sold a great deal of bonds to citizens, which Britain and France used to fund their purchases of raw materials and weapons. The U.S. government also generated revenue by increasing taxes. The economic assistance that the United States provided was probably their greatest contribution to the Allied victory in World War 1.
Another way that the United States government got citizens to be a part of Total War was through propaganda. On the home front, they suggested that people need to, “do their part” which brought everyone in on the war effort. The government was demonstrating to the public that the soldiers were not the only ones fighting. There were several messages that they wanted to get across, and they used many different methods to do so. The first message was, enlist! Troops are the most obvious necessity of war so the U.S. government was rounding up as many as possible with posters that read, “I want YOU for the U.S. army”, another displayed an American dressed man pointing towards the reader saying, “It’s up to you to protect the nation’s honor!”, or the most famous poster of a gorilla with a German army helmet holding a defenseless woman saying, “Destroy this mad brute. ENLIST.” The government attempts to show how ruthless the German army is, and that the Allies need us to come to their rescue. The second message the government wanted to get across was buy U.S. government bonds. As mentioned earlier, a great portion of America’s war effort was the money made off war bonds. These posters consisted of messages such as, “Help Uncle Sam stamp out the Kaiser, Buy U.S. Government Bonds.” The last idea that the government was trying to spread was the importance of working in factories. They urged woman to do these jobs because the majority of the men were soldiers, and the United States supplied a great deal of weapons, bombs, ships, tanks, and other war materials to almost all of Europe boosting the U.S. economy. In the end propaganda was a great tool to get everyone included in Total War.
Another issue at the Home Front was since many men were sent off to fight and often face their deaths, there was plenty of absence in the factories that they had worked in. Women and African Americans were needed to fill these positions. In order to support their families’ women needed jobs so they flooded the workforce and were eager to work wherever they were needed. Women were not only subject to jobs in factories, they filled a wide variety of roles from farming to street car conductors. Again, government propaganda encouraged them to do something with slogans like, “Everyone has to be a helper.” As the war progressed most women wound up working in factories and munitions plants. The conditions were all but pleasant especially when trying to meet the high demands of the government. Factories had to produce a certain amount of bombs, ammunition, or whatever they were providing due to government regulations. Women were paid half of what men were paid and had to work long, demanding hours. Not to mention the risks of most of factories made them unhealthy and quite dangerous. When filling shells with explosives women were dealing with acid fumes and other chemicals that often damaged their lungs. Occasionally, the shells would even explode and kill workers. Another occupation many women chose was nursing, and many of them went into the war zone to aid wounded soldiers. Most of the medical training was basic, but everyone had to do something in the efforts of Total War.
Woodrow Wilson was the president of the United States during World War 1. While running for his second term in 1916, he based his campaign off of keeping America out of World War 1 and was an advocate for world peace. It was inevitable that the U.S. was going to join the war especially after German submarines sank ships killing American civilians. Wilson decided to ready an army once they joined the war because his goal was to remain neutral, and he thought building an army would make people want to go to war. Again, through propaganda he recruited soldiers, filled jobs, etc. In 1919, when the war was ending Wilson attended the Peace Conference in Paris, making him the first president to go to Europe while in office. He presented his Fourteen Points plan in attempt to end the war, and create peace amongst the nations. This plan basically just said that all of the countries borders should be restored, world peace, independence for Austria-Hungary and Poland, and the last point created the League of Nations. The main goal of the League of Nations was to maintain national security and prevent any future world wars. The United States chose not to join.
Total War was first introduced in World War 1 where it played a big role, and it was very evident in the United States. The war was not solely won by the soldiers fighting endlessly in the trenches only over a couple of miles, but also by the efforts made by those back at home. Total War is a scary concept when a war consumes entire countries, but also reassuring because like the great Michael Jordan once said, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”