8 - First World War

Summary

While the First World War may not have been the first war to be global in scope, the development of European societies, economies and governance meant that combatant states were able to make effective use of the levers of national power in ways hitherto unseen. Capable of mobilising the resources of their own nations and their empires, the belligerents raise, equipped and sustained large forces in the field for four years. In the process of building their own power, they developed mechanisms to apply military, diplomatic and economic pressures on their enemies. The states best able to mobilise and deploy all the levers of national power – Britain and France – had the edge in the long war over Germany, which concentrated on building its military power at the expense of other levers. This chapter explores how the Entente was able to make deliberate use of its resources more effectively than the Central Powers to achieve its strategic goals.