Final answer:
WW1 was influenced both by the decisions of individual governments, such as alliances and mobilization, and collective action, such as allied nations pooling resources. Society was mobilized through efforts like rationing and price controls, and new technology drastically changed combat.
Step-by-step explanation:
The role that individual government decisions and collective action played in the lead up to and during World War I is comprehensive. On one hand, decisions by individual governments, such as strategic alliances, military mobilization, and the assertion of national interests, were pivotal in creating a scenario where a singular event could trigger a large-scale war. For example, after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, a complex network of alliances prompted nations to declare war in a domino effect. On the other hand, collective action was integral to the war efforts, emblematic of the way allied nations pooled their resources, coordinated strategies, and fought together to defeat common enemies.
Not only did governments take action, but entire societies were mobilized. Rationing, price controls, and draught laws are examples of how civilian populations were expected to contribute to the war effort. On the battlefield, new technology, such as chemical warfare and machine guns, transformed combat and amplified the scale of destruction faced by soldiers, marking the conflict as the first fully-industrialized global war. Moreover, the entry of the United States into the war in 1917, driven by President Woodrow Wilson’s defense of the freedom of the seas and rights of neutral nations, also illustrates a combination of individual government decision-making and collective war efforts.