TOTAL WAR: CIVILIANS AS CASUALTIES AND CIVILIANS AS LABORERS

2989 WD

Introduction and thesis

The concept of “total war” can be seen throughout history in various forms. Some countries used the tactic of targeting of civilians in order to lower morale and support for war. Some countries in the past mobilized their economies and population in order to support the war effort. It wasn’t until World War II did the idea and the concepts of “total war” emerge so prominently as the best method to win the war in Europe. From 1930 to 1945, the concept of “total war” evolved significantly. Two key ideas and tactics demonstrate this clearly. By analyzing the targeting of civilians and the industrialized labor force, one can see this evolution as “total war” come to be the largest scale in the history of the world.

Civilians targeted Civilians had been targeted in past history but never to the scale that took place during World War II. Germany’s atrocities towards the Jews, the Russian reprisals of German civilians once they pushed westward, and the U.S. “fire raids” and use of the atomic bomb were all