What is total war? The history of the phenomenon

Even in times immemorial, people have learned to interact with each other. Human genius evolved, which led to the formation of language, writing, social consciousness. With the help of their capabilities, people created empires, cultures, and communities. However, in the process of inexorable development, mankind has invented yet another important, but very terrible attribute of one's life - war. This term symbolizes the time when an individual realized the fact of his own power, which can bring him certain social benefits. War is the easiest way to achieve anything, it can bring very much, but the price of the fruits of war will be high: destruction, death, suffering. The concept of war and the forms of its implementation developed in parallel with humanity.

It is worth comparing the military art of the ancient Romans and modern people. To our great regret, we will see the difference in how people killed each other in ancient times, and how they do it today. The war developed over the centuries, and in the twentieth century a new kind of this terrible phenomenon appeared - total war.

a brief description of

What is total war? This issue worries many politicians for several decades. To answer it, one should turn to the historical statement of the person, famous during the First World War. Erich Ludendorff is a man who in 1935 published the book "Total War". In it he detailed the whole essence of this problem. Simply put, this person is the ancestor of the term "total war". In his opinion, it means a military conflict, it does not matter what, most importantly, that it uses all the forces and means for the complete destruction of the enemy. It should be noted that the total war is aimed at total devastation, and not at achieving any strategic goals. Everything comes down to the banal destruction of the opposing side, whether it be a whole state or a single entity. But there are other opinions that are a response to the question of what total war is.

Historical development of the concept

In the military doctrine of the German fascist army, the principle of total war was laid in the middle of the 20th century, although the very essence of this term was formed at the beginning of the century. The theorists of the time saw that the world is extremely unstable, therefore, in the conflict that was brewing, the one who will accept the new, modern principles of warfare will be victorious. Thus, the total war in the understanding of scientists of the early twentieth century was considered in the systemic combination of two main stages: external and internal. A detailed study of these structural elements will make it possible to understand what total war is.

Stages

There are two main stages of total war:

1. The internal stage is characterized by the complete mobilization of the entire male population of the belligerent side, because total war is a war of nations, therefore, to win it, it is necessary that all who can do it fight. Also, the inner stage includes constant propaganda among the population, psychological work, so that people's consciousness is directed towards hatred of the opposite side of the conflict.
2. The outer stage is not only fighting, as it is commonly believed. You can achieve complete destruction of the enemy population in various ways. In total war, terror and genocide of civilians are used especially aggressively, along with classical military actions.

Goebbels: it's about total war

The fundamental principles of total war were included in the work of the German fascist army only in 1943, when the Nazis began to suffer fatal defeats in Russia. The German prototype of the phenomenon was proposed in his extremely radical statement by Germany's main propagandist Goebbels. The total war in the vision of this man had some differences from the classical version. Two main principles were included completely, but the very essence was slightly distorted. Goebbels used the concept of total war in the political context of the struggle against Bolshevism in the east, namely, in the USSR. Therefore, from the time of Goebbels, the concept acquired not only a military, but also a political meaning, which characterized the war with representatives of another social system.

The total war in the days of Ancient Rome

Pitfalls of the basic principles of total war were laid long ago, even in the times of Ancient Rome. We should pay tribute to the commanders of that time, as they used the same tactics during the conquest of the new peoples, which worked flawlessly. When on the way of the Roman legions there was a village or a city, all residents were asked to surrender and swear allegiance to Rome. If people did not accept this offer, then the village was completely destroyed, and people became slaves.

In the same way, Julius Caesar captured Gaul. He understood that such a militant people could be defeated only by breaking his spirit. Therefore, Rome, total war For which was the main principle of conducting military operations, made a great contribution to the development of this concept.

In the article we tried to answer the question "what is total war?" The term can be viewed from the point of view of the military and political principle, and also give it its own, purely subjective assessment.