The First Total War
Driving Question: How did people in different regions experience the First World War?
World War I was more than a battlefield—it was a global experience. It blurred the line between home and front, and changed what war looked and felt like.
Learning Objectives:
- Create arguments using historical evidence to support claims and communicate conclusions through informal writing.
- Use evidence to understand key events and developments of World War I and evaluate how the conflict affected both soldiers and civilians.
- Compare two graphic biographies to support, extend, or challenge the overarching narratives of this period.
Vocab Terms:
- caliphate
- conscription
- mutiny
- neutrality
- trench
Sentence starters are a great scaffold for helping your students support claims with evidence. Use the BHP Sentence Starters with your WHP Origins students to give them either a reminder or a leg up in their writing.
What is a total war? You’ll use your sourcing skills to decide on a definition.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- Why was planning and preparation so important in World War I?
- Why didn’t the Schlieffen Plan work?
- How did industrialization affect the fighting on the Western Front?
- Why did the Ottoman Empire and Italy join the war?
- What was the turning point that helped decide the war’s outcome?
After you read
Respond to this question: How did changes in political communities and production during the long nineteenth century shape the course of World War I?
To help students visualize the scale of this total war, show them our world map of alliances and casualties in the First World War. Be sure they look at countries outside of Europe and note that civilian casualties are provided under military casualties. Ask them to consider which regions and people paid the highest price in this total war.
Beyond the battlefields, World War I reached deep into people’s homes, jobs, and daily lives. These materials will help you understand what made this war “total” and why its impact was truly global.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- What are four key features of total war?
- In what ways was World War I different from earlier wars?
- How did the war contribute to the spread of disease?
- How were wartime rules like the Hague Conventions violated?
- How did the war affect non-European societies beyond battlefield deaths?
After you read
Respond to these questions: What does it mean to say society was “totally controlled” during the war? Who had control, and who didn’t?
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Preview the questions below, and then review the transcript.
While you watch
Look for answers to these questions:
- Why did Britain build such a large navy?
- What caused the arms race with Germany, and why did Britain win it?
- Who typically served in the Guards Regiments?
- How did Belgium’s situation lead Britain into war?
- Why is the poppy a symbol of World War I?
After you watch
Respond to this question: What do Britain’s production systems and war poetry show about the costs of total war?
These two graphic biographies were written and designed to stand together and provoke comparison. These two women experienced the same war from different sides. Both took proactive—but very different—approaches to the war. Both suffered and died as a result of events during and after the conflict. Be sure students consider the art and the way the two women and their worlds are portrayed as part of the evidence for their comparison.
These materials offer insight into the emotional and social toll of total war on individuals from different backgrounds. Uncover how these experiences and reactions reflected deeper shifts in society.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the comic, paying attention to things like prominent colors, shapes, and types of text and fonts. How do you know where to start and in which direction to read? What’s in the gutters (the space between panels)? Who or what is the focus of the comic?
While you read
- What did someone say about Helen Fairchild’s service in World War I?
- What work did Helen Fairchild do during the war?
- How did Helen Fairchild die?
- How is Helen Fairchild remembered today?
- How is the shape of the four central panels meaningful to this story?
After you read
Respond to this question: How does Helen Fairchild’s story add to your understanding of how people experienced and remembered World War I?
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the comic, paying attention to things like prominent colors, shapes, and types of text and fonts. How do you know where to start and in which direction to read? What’s in the gutters (the space between panels)? Who or what is the focus of the comic?
While you read
- Where was Rosa Luxemburg born?
- What were some of Rosa Luxemburg’s major accomplishments?
- How did Rosa Luxemburg feel about the First World War?
- How does the artist visually show Luxemburg’s emotions about the war?
- How is the shape formed by the central panel in the comic meaningful to the story?
After you read
Respond to these questions: How does Rosa Luxemburg’s opposition to the war compare to Helen Fairchild’s choice to serve? Whose decision do you relate to more?
Practicing historical empathy is core to understanding anything in history. But it can be tricky…. Read about it in this Forum thread: “The Slippery Slope of Teaching Historical Empathy.”
Time to reconsider your definition of total war from the beginning of this lesson.
These two videos are important extensions to illustrate the long-lasting impacts of the First World War outside of Europe. The Middle East video in particular is relevant to our world today, as it explains the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which laid the foundations for many regional conflicts happening now.
Learn how World War I shaped regions far beyond Europe. Through two videos, you’ll examine how colonial powers mobilized people and resources in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, and how those regions responded to the pressures and promises of total war.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Preview the questions below, and then review the transcript.
While you watch
Look for answers to these questions:
- Who controlled most of Southeast Asia in 1914?
- How were people in Southeast Asia connected to events in the Middle East?
- Why did the Russo-Japanese War inspire people in Southeast Asia?
- What made Singapore strategically important?
- How did German submariners convince Indian soldiers to revolt in Singapore?
After you watch
Respond to this question: Was Southeast Asia important to the course of World War I? Use one of the course frames—communities, networks, or production and distribution—to support your answer
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Preview the questions below, and then review the transcript.
While you watch
Look for answers to these questions:
- What political powers controlled the Middle East in 1914?
- Why did the Ottoman Empire issue a declaration of jihad during the war?
- Who was Sharif Hussein?
- What did the British promise Sharif Hussein during the war?
- What were mandates?
After you watch
Respond to this question: What was the most important way World War I changed the Middle East? Use the three maps from the video to support your answer.
These short videos reveal how new technologies transformed warfare during World War I. From gas masks to trench tools, you’ll learn how industrial innovations changed how wars were fought—and how soldiers survived.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Preview the questions below, and then review the transcript.
While you watch
Look for answers to these questions:
- Why didn’t the British expect Germany to use gas weapons?
- How was the gas hood supposed to protect soldiers?
After you watch
Respond to this question: How might poison gas and tools like the gas hood have changed how people thought about war?
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Preview the questions below, and then review the transcript.
While you watch
Look for answers to these questions:
- Why did soldiers carry close-combat weapons even if they had guns?
- What were knuckledusters and lead coshes?
After you watch
Respond to this question: What does the way soldiers got these weapons tell us about the role of local communities during World War I?