Absolutely - although note that, at certain historical time periods, the command and control situation was closer to the current one than the WWI situation. The early 20th century was just a period when weapons ranges and (off-battlefield) transportation speeds had gone up immensely, increasing the effective size of a battlefield from practical shouting/runner range, while battlefield communication still hadn't caught up. On the other hand, there are clear examples of maneuver warfare in ancient times, involving tiny (by modern standards) amounts of space and force.