what is total war

Total war is a type of warfare that involves the mobilization of all civilian-associated resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, prioritizing warfare over non-combatant concerns. It is characterized by the willingness to make any sacrifice in lives and resources to achieve complete victory. This concept was extensively studied by scholars of conflict and war, with notable contributions from Stig Förster, who identified four dimensions of total war: total purposes, total methods, total mobilization, and total control. The phrase "total war" can be traced back to the 1935 publication of German general Erich Ludendorffs World War I memoir, "Der totale Krieg" ("The total war") . The modern concept of total war can be attributed to the writings of the 19th-century Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz, who rejected the limited objectives of 18th-century warfare and described wars as tending constantly to escalate in violence toward a theoretical absolute. The two World Wars of the 20th century are usually regarded as total or at least the most total of history’s wars. In many ways, World War I was considered a total war due to its wide devastation and the blurring of roles between soldiers and civilians, refusal to compromise, and total control of society.