Help WIth History. Why World War One required total warfare?

Question

Could you explain Please???

Answer 1

WWI did not "require" total warfare. It just worked out that way. The alliances of the day were organized that certain countries were obligated to join other countries in going to war against enemy countries. The system of mobilization meant that once war was declared, each country had to follow a timetable of assembling soldiers and officers at certain massing points, commandeering the railroads to transport men and weapons, and propelling entire armies across borders as fast as possible. The country that crossed its enemy's borders second was lost. France lost the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 that way. Germany was first again in August 1914. But German commanders von Moltke and von Kluck yielded to temptation, abandoned the plan of overwhelming force, and tried a quick, short capture of Paris. They miscalculated, and the result was a long grinding four-year war of attrition.

Answer 2

What do you mean? Can you be clearer about your question?

Do you mean burning crops, killing civilians, chem. weapons...