What were the characteristics of warfare during world war 1

The main characteristic was the trench war.

At the dawn of the war, it seemed that technology would make the war fast and furious. However, faced with the new machines of war like machine guns, tanks, and artillery armies dug in trenches, particularly in continental Europe. The war became a war of attrition, a grind where soldiers were bombed and gassed inside the trenches.

Aerial warfare was little developed, so despite being the first war to feature it, it played a secondary role.

In other parts, like the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East, the British employed guerrilla war and financed and trained the local militia.