What were the consequences of total war in World War I?

Total war
targets both civilians and the military. Total war changed European attitudes towards WWI, and
at the peace table at Versailles the British and French looked for revenge for what they called
barbarism. Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare can be considered total warfare, as it was a
promise to attack all ships in coastal waters of the Allies.
The Lusitania was one of the most famous examples of this kind of warfare,
as 128 American civilians perished when the ship was attacked in 1915. While Americans cried
foul, German officials claimed the ship carried rifle rounds. During total war, food can also be
considered contraband and kept from the enemy. This led to Britain putting a minefield around
the North Sea, which by 1918 caused starvation in Germany and led to the revolution there that
ultimately ended the war. Germany also executed Belgian partisans during the war, and the Allies
claimed that many innocent Belgians were killed when they were rounded up along with the
guerrillas. Both sides also used terror weapons such as airplanes and zeppelins to bomb civilian
centers in the hopes of hitting military barracks or factories. Strategic bombing was still at
least twenty years in the future, so more civilians died in these attacks than military
personnel. Germany even developed what they called a "Paris gun" which was a massive
piece of artillery which could lob shells into Paris from over ten miles away. It was nearly
impossible to aim it precisely, so this could also be a weapon of total warfare. At the end of
the war, Germany was forced to pay for waging this type of warfare and to assume responsibility
for causing the conflict. Total warfare waged by both sides was the main reason why the
belligerents hoped this would be the last war, but these tactics only proved it was as important
to hurt the will of civilians as it was to defeat armies on the
battlefield.