Which characteristic made world war il different from previous wars?

The death toll was substantially higher for both civilians & military forces.

peasants’ war, (1524–25) peasant uprising in germany inspired by changes brought by the reformation, peasants in western and southern germany invoked   divine law to demand agrarian rights and freedom from oppression by nobles and landlords. as the uprising spread, some peasant groups organized armies. although the revolt was supported huldrych zwingli and thomas müntzerits condemnation by martain luther contributed to its defeat, principally by the army of the swabian league. some 100,000 peasants were killed. reprisals and increased restrictions discouraged further attempts to improve the peasants’ plight.

i think it would be " a" i might be wrong tho

the effect of the ming leaders banning ships with more than two masts was that there was no further construction of ships masts, because there was a surplus. ming emperors disallowed foreign exploration