Why Was World War I A World War?

World War I was a conflict that permanently changed the lives of millions of people. It caused societal and individual trauma and led to crashes in the economies of many places around the world. World War I was a world war to an extremely large extent as the majority of the world’s population was involved. Although some may argue that World War I was not a world war because of the fact that not every country, empire, or region, was actively in battle, the factor that debunks this claim was the colonial empires because they introduced their colonized areas and countries into the war to fight and be of service. These contributions to the war came in the form of BIPOC Soldiers/troops and laborers. Britain, France, and America contributed most

Britain and France made the greatest contribution to the millions of laborers and contractors of color. People of African and Chinese ethnicities were the most common workers. There were millions of African laborers and hundreds of thousands of Chinese laborers throughout World War I. However, Chinese laborers' experiences during these times were especially difficult and brutal. These Chinese laborers and contract workers were hired to carry out tasks and jobs off the battlefield. They did basically everything besides fight. Although, just because they did not wear uniforms, carry guns, and line up for battle, does not mean that their jobs were safe by any means. These unsafe laboring jobs consisted of tasks such as collecting fallen soldiers and retrieving unexploded ordinance from the front. These workers were not seen as important by European countries. They were mistreated and misled. It was made to believe that these tasks they were carrying out were not hazardous but as a result, thousands of Chinese laborers died due to their risky jobs and overall mistreatment from the European powers. Though just “helpers” for the war, these laborers and contract workers often witnessed and experienced mixing between races whether it was between soldiers, or among themselves. The war was a very integrated

It’s somewhat understandable why someone would make this argument, but it just takes a little bit of debriefing to realize that this is not at all true. World War I was bigger than just the war itself. Obviously, the focus is the war as you can guess from the title, but it affected the world on such a drastic level and brought so many people together (maybe not under the best circumstances). Almost every single place under colonization was fighting on their colonizer's side. For example, places that may seem less relevant or prominent in the war such as Canada, New Zealand, and Pakistan still contributed soldiers from their countries to fight with the British Army. It was not just a few main powers fighting, but also every colony and small region under them. Even if the colonized countries and regions had not been forced or persuaded to fight in the war, it would still directly affect their economy and overall lives. Their colony's outcome would inevitably be their outcome. For example, if France had lost then so would Morocco. When considering colonies inside of the main powers/colonial empires, it’s like looking at the war through a microscope. It seems like a much bigger and more widespread war. Which is the