In the United States, conscription began in 1917 and was generally well-received, with a few pockets of opposition in isolated rural areas. Though most deaths were young unmarried men, 160,000 wives lost husbands and 300,000 children lost fathers.

Conscription was common in most European countries but controversial in English-speaking countries. Young men were removed from production jobs to serve in military roles and were replaced by women. World War I as Total WarДЄlmost the whole of Europe and its colonial empires mobilized to wage World War I. In a total war, to an extent inapplicable to other conflicts, the differentiation between combatants and non-combatants diminishes and even sometimes vanishes entirely as opposing sides consider nearly every human resource, even that of non-combatants, as part of the war effort.ДЄctions that characterize the post-19th century concept of total war include: blockade and sieging of population centers, as with the Allied blockade of Germany commerce-raiding tonnage war, and unrestricted submarine warfare, as with privateering and the German U-Boat campaigns. In the mid-19th century, scholars identified вЂњtotal warвЂќ as a separate class of warfare. The American-English Dictionary defines total war as вЂњwar that is unrestricted in terms of the weapons used, the territory or combatants involved, or the objectives pursued, especially one in which the laws of war are disregarded.вЂќ Total war includes all civilian-associated resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilizes all societal resources to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare over non-combatant needs.

conscription The compulsory enlistment of people in a national service, most often military service. Key Terms total war Warfare that includes any and all civilian-associated resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilizes all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare over non-combatant needs.

Empire total war great britain