Actions that characterize the concept of total war after the 19th century include: blockade and siege of population centers, as in the Allied blockade of Germany; Tonnage trade warfare and unrestricted submarine warfare, such as privateers and German submarine campaigns. During the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864), which followed the secession of Tàipíng Tiānguó (太平天國, Wade-Giles T`ai-p`ing t`ien-kuo) (Heavenly Kingdom of Perfect Peace) from the Qing Empire, the first case of all-out war can be seen in modern China. Almost all citizens of Tàipíng Tiānguó received military training and were conscripted into the army to fight against the imperial forces. According to an analysis by Tiziano Peccia of the works of Stig Förster, total war is characterized in four dimensions: World War II was the epitome of the total war of modernity. [21] The degree of national mobilization of resources from all parties to the conflict, the contested battlefield, the scale of armies, navies and air forces increased by conscription, the active targeting of non-combatants (and non-combatants` property), the general disregard for collateral damage, and the unrestricted objectives of the warring parties characterized an all-out war against an unprecedented and unparalleled war, Multicontinental scale. [22] In the mid-19th century, scholars identified total war as a distinct class of war. In all-out warfare, the distinction between combatants and non-combatants diminishes because of the ability of opposing parties to view almost every person, including non-combatants, as resources used in the war effort. [2] Goebbels and Hitler had spoken in March 1942 of Goebbels` idea of placing the entire home front on a war basis. Hitler seemed to accept the concept, but did nothing. Goebbels had the support of Armaments Minister Albert Speer, Economy Minister Walther Funk and Robert Ley, the leader of the German Labor Front, and they urged Hitler to act in October 1942, but Hitler outwardly agreed but continued to hesitate. Finally, after the 1942 recess, Hitler sent his powerful personal secretary, Martin Bormann, to discuss the matter with Goebbels and Hans Lammers, the head of the Reich Chancellery.
Bormann then commissioned Goebbels to draft the necessary decree, which was to be signed in January 1943. Hitler signed the decree on January 13, nearly a year after Goebbels first discussed the concept with him. The decree established a steering committee consisting of Bormann, Lammers, and General Wilhelm Keitel to oversee the efforts, with Goebbels and Speer as advisors; Goebbels expected to be part of the triumvirate. Hitler stayed away from the project, and it was Goebbels and Hermann Göring who gave the Sportpalast`s “Total War” radio speech the following month, on the 10th anniversary of the Nazi “seizure of power.” [29] World War I nations mobilized their own civilians for the war effort through forced recruitment, military propaganda, and rationing, which can be all aspects of total war. People who disagreed had to sacrifice food, supplies, time and money to support the war. As for the conflict itself, the United States initiated the four-year blockade of Germany, which starved citizens and soldiers and weakened the nation`s access to resources. In addition to blocking food and agricultural supplies, the blockade has also restricted access to foreign arms imports. The French Revolution introduced some of the concepts of total war. The young republic was threatened by a powerful coalition of European nations. The only solution, in the eyes of the Jacobin government, was to channel all the nation`s resources into an unprecedented war effort – it was the emergence of the mass uprising.
The following decree of the National Convention of 23. August 1793 clearly shows the enormity of the French war effort: in fact, it was General Erich von Ludendorff during World War I (and in his book The Total War of 1935) who was the first to overturn Clausewitz`s formula and call for total war – the complete mobilization of all resources. including politics and social systems until victory in the war. The term “total war” dates back to the publication of German General Erich Ludendorff`s memoirs of World War I, Total War, in 1935. Some authors extend the term to Carl von Clausewitz`s classic work, On War, as “absolute war”, although he did not use the term; others interpret Clausewitz differently. [6] Total war also describes French as “all-out war” during the German-French War. [7] [8] [9] Sherman`s march to the sea during the American Civil War – November 15, 1864 to December 21, 1864 – is sometimes considered an example of total war, for which Sherman used the term hard war. Some historians question this designation, as Sherman`s campaign primarily attacked military targets and Sherman ordered his men to spare civilian homes. [16] The United States experienced an unprecedented mobilization of domestic resources for World War II. Although the United States did not risk an existential attack, the national meaning after Pearl Harbor was to use all the resources of the nation to defeat Germany and Japan. Most non-essential activities were rationed, banned or restricted, and most healthy young single men were recruited. Before 1940, when the collapse of the France ended the sham war and revealed urgent needs, there was little urgency.
Yet President Franklin Roosevelt tried to solidify public opinion before acting.
