Sugar was the main crop produced on plantations in the 1500s Americas. Columbus had opened the way for Spanish explorers who came to the America. Sugar mill construction ignited development of the technological skills needed for an emerging industrial revolution in the early 17th century
Because it was the kind of war that was very debilitating. It was a war against civilians for one thing.
Poison gas which could maim as often as kill, left a person with permanently damaged lungs.
The war was fought in trenches. Plenty of opportunity to murder or be murdered, very little opportunity for clever espionage at the front. There was, however, plenty of opportunity behind the lines, but "All Quite ..." takes place at the front.
