Total war.
Definition
Total war is a military strategy in which a nation mobilizes all of its resources—military, economic, industrial, and civilian—for the war effort, and targets not just enemy armies but also the infrastructure and civilian systems that support them. This concept emerged fully during the Civil War and reached its peak in the World Wars.
Examples
Real-world.
- 1 General Sherman's March to the Sea (1864) destroyed Southern infrastructure and civilian resources to break Confederate morale
- 2 During WWII, Allied bombing campaigns targeted German and Japanese factories, railroads, and cities
- 3 Both world wars required governments to ration food, draft civilians, and convert factories to military production
Key Fact
Sherman's March to the Sea (1864) is considered one of the first modern applications of total war strategy.