Cultures and the Effect of Total War

Since its inception, warfare has evolved

Since its inception, warfare has evolved, and this evolution has had various impacts and changes on society, the environment, and the economy. Total war tactics were used during the Great War, which had a profound impact on the cultures of combatant nations like the United States, Germany, France, Russia, and England. Prior to the First World War, Britain’s population was initially split into fighters and non-combatants, but by the end of the conflict, nearly everyone was contributing to the war effort in some capacity. (Eksteins, 306). The military had a tradition of hiring troops between the ages of 18 and 40 who were single, but during the Great War, the recruitment further extended to even the married ones and those working in reserved occupations like the merchants.

The change in technological culture during the Great War

The total war made countries like France, Germany, and U.S change technological culture during the Great War because initially, they used to manufacture only simple weapons using simple technology. During the Great War, advanced technical measures were implemented to create sophisticated and powerful weapons in large numbers. The countries started building flamethrowers, navy ships, and warplanes. The application of total war made Germany adopt the use of chemical warfare using elements like chlorine and phosgene gases which were very lethal to defeat their enemies (Eksteins, 303).

Effect of the Great War on workforce culture in Britain

Countries like Britain experienced a strain in the workforce as most men who were employed in the job industry were away fighting in the Great War making the women take over most of the jobs. Jobs which were formerly dominated by men were now full of women such as blacksmiths and clerks, and some even got employed to work in munitions for the war (Eksteins, 307). The total war made Britain realize a drastic change in the workforce culture.

Effect of Death Toll on Cultures

The death toll experienced during the Great War had different significant effects on the cultures of the respective countries. The Great War claimed many lives ranging about twenty million both soldiers and civilians. The death toll affected not only the soldiers, but also the merchants who dealt with the production, and distribution of food products. Initially, food was in abundance, and the people would purchase and consume it at any time, but after the death toll of the Great War took place, many merchants and farmers got killed. This affected the food distribution and quantity in a nation like London leading to the adoption of a culture of food rationing to ensure prolonged sustenance (Eksteins, 313).

The absence of bodies and the impact on mourning

When people die they get buried and the relatives and friends mourn their departure by visiting graveyards bringing flowers among other practices. However, the Great War had many casualties, and it was difficult to identify and organize the dead bodies, thus mourning was affected due to the absence of bodies. The bodies of the soldiers were bombarded and mutilated beyond recognition; hence the mourning and remembering of the dead became difficult since there was no place or bodies to mourn (Eksteins, 309). The absence of bodies and places to remember and mourn the dead from the Great War made the people adopt cultures like spiritualism and going to séances instead of the usual ritual of mourning.

The impact on families and the role of women

The troops in the Great War consisted majorly of men who were the breadwinners in the families and the death toll wiped out a great number of them leaving the families vulnerable. The women took it upon themselves to look for jobs to fend for their children and other relatives (Eksteins, 314). The women became the heads of houses since most of the men who were initially the family heads had died during the Great War.

Work Cited

Eksteins, Modris. “Rites of spring: The Great War and the birth of the modern age”. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2000. Print