Total War in Modern World History

One of the history’s seeming paradoxes is the fact that, the more humanity appears to be affiliated with the values of progress and enlightenment, the bloodier are the wars, in which the world’s most technologically and culturally advanced countries find themselves plunged into.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Total War in Modern World History specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Nevertheless, despite the paradoxical subtleties of the phenomenon in question, the earlier mentioned state of affairs can be best referred to, as such that has been dialectically predetermined by the very laws of history. In this paper, I will explore the validity of the above-stated at length, while promoting the idea that the very emergence of the term ‘total war’ cannot be discussed outside of the fact that, throughout the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, it was specifically the Westerners’ gr owing awareness of what the concept of ‘nationhood’ stands for, which began to define the qualitative dynamics on the arena of international politics. The origins of the term ‘total war’ can be traced back to the era of the Napoleonic Wars. After all, it was namely Napoleon, who took a practical advantage of the policy of a nationwide ‘mass mobilization’, as the main principle of staffing the French army with soldiers (Broers 253). This suggestion contains a clue, as to why it proved possible for Napoleon to be able to do it, in the first place. Ever since the time of the French Great Revolution, it became a commonplace practice among Europeans to go about constructing their sense of self-identity along the lines of what happened to be the particulars of these people’s national, rather than religious or socially-sectarian affiliation. In its turn, this predetermined the main characteristic of the Napoleonic Wars – the fact that, d uring the course of hostilities, the combatants on both warring sides tended to perceive the significance of their involvement, as such that related to what these people were, in the ethno-cultural sense of this word. It is needless to mention, of course, that this created objective preconditions for the concerned warfare to be marked with utter cruelty – one of the total war’s main features.Advertising Looking for term paper on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The reason for this is apparent – the very paradigm of war between the two or more nations presupposes that, regardless of what happened to be their age, gender or social status, the citizens from from involved countries do contribute (directly or indirectly) to the continually applied war-effort. In its turn, this naturally makes the legitimate targets of military operations. This suggestion explains the sheer cruelty, with which the French soldiers were trying to ‘pacify’ the Spanish civilians, during the course of the so-called ‘Peninsular War’ (1807-1814). Nevertheless, its contemporary sounding the concept of ‘total war’ has attained at the time of the WW1. After all, it is not only that this war resulted in the deaths of great many civilians, but also it has brought about the rise of a new military strategy, the advocates of which believed that the war’s actual objectives must be consistent with the notion of ‘totality’. Eventually, this resulted in the qualitative transformation of the term ‘soldier’. Whereas, prior to the outbreak of the WW1, soldiers used to be encouraged to act in the ‘knightly’ manner, while at the front-line, from the year 1914 onwards, this effectively ceased to be the case. The mentioned war’s ‘totality’ resulted in the creation of the situation when, regardless of what happened to be the particulars of their national affiliation, the front-line soldiers began to be progressively discussed in terms of a ‘cannon meat’ (Neilson 19). The historical account of the WW1, provides us with the insight into what can be considered the additional indications of a particular military clash deserving to be considered a ‘total war’. These indications can be outlined as follows: a) The deployment of the airforce, as the mean of causing damage to the hostile country’s economic infrastructure and the instrument of terrifying civilians. The validity of this suggestion can be well illustrated in regards to the bombing missions, carried out by German Zeppelins against the city of London through the years 1915-1918. b) The dramatic boost, provided to the pace of the technological progress by the ongoing hostilities. As a direct consequence of the WW1, the Western civilization has undergone nothing short of a technological revolution.Advertising W e will write a custom term paper sample on Total War in Modern World History specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For example, before the outset of the WW1, there were only 600 internal-combustion vehicles in Britain; whereas, by the time this war ended, the country’s automotive industry has managed to manufacture 60.000 cars, which differed drastically in quality/technology from the ones produced before the war. The reason for this is apparent – only the states (at the time of a ‘total war’) are able to invest adequately in the economy’s technologically intense sectors, while overlooking the scope of potential hazards – these hazards to not come even remotely close to the danger of the country’s territory facing the prospect of being occupied by the enemy. c) The fact that those states that end up losing a ‘total war’, are commonly being deprived of their de facto independence. For example, according to the Treaty of Versailles, signed in the aftermath of the WW1, Germany was required to pay an enormous monetary contribution, while forbidden to continue maintaining its military airforce and fleet, which in turn has effectively reduced this country into nothing short of a semi-independent ‘bantustan’. d) The deployment of wartime propaganda for the purpose of dehumanizing the enemy. In the time of the WW1, it became a commonplace practice, on the part of the warring countries’ governments, to invest heavily in the production of propagandistic posters, which portrayed the enemy soldiers as murderous beasts, who were born to kill and destroy, as their only the purpose in life (Strayer 1025). This, of course, created additional prerequisites for the WW1to end up gaining the fame of being utterly atrocious. Nevertheless, it was namely during the course of the WW2, that the term ‘total war’ has attained its modern-day meaning. P artially, this has to do with the fact that it was in 1943 that this term was mentioned for the first time by Dr. Goebbels, when he was holding his famous ‘Sportpalace Speech’ in Berlin.Advertising Looking for term paper on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More While addressing the crowd, he pointed out that, regardless of what happened to be their gender and age, all Germans are expected to actively contribute to the country’s ongoing war-effort (Overy 622). However, the actual reason why many historians refer to the WW2, as the most illustrative example of what ‘total war’ is all about, is that during the course of this war, the actual objective of many military operations (at least on the part of the Germans) became the physical elimination of the whole nations. For example, as it is now being known for just about anyone, Nazis strived for nothing less than ‘freeing’ world of Jews, in the physical sense of this word. Essentially the same they planned to do with the Russians – the so-called ‘Plan Ost’, designed by the SS Reichsfà ¼hrer Himmler, contained a number of detailed provisions, as to how the population of Russians could be reduced down to 30 million, within the matter of 10 y ears. It needs to be mentioned that, in respect of conducting a particularly atrocious warfare (‘total war’), the Allies did not fall too far behind their German counterparts. The full legitimacy of this statement can be shown in relation to the Allied bombing of Dresden on February 13, 1945, during the course of which, at least 75.000 of German civilians have lost their lives in the artificially created firestorms (Beck 332). The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US, stands out as yet another illustrative example – even though that there was no any immediate military necessity to proceed with this bombing, President Truman nevertheless did choose in favor of it. This provides us with the clue, as to the probably the most crucial sign that a particular war may indeed be discussed in terms of the ‘total’ one – the warring parties’ preoccupation with trying to kill as many ‘enemy’ civilians, as possible. Within the context of a ‘total war’, the considerations of morality have no place, whatsoever, because this type of war is being fought exactly for the purpose of ‘freeing’ the most attractive environmental niches on the planet, which in turn can only be achieved by the mean of elimination these niches’ former occupants physically – pure and simple. In light of what has been said earlier, in regards to the discussed subject matter, the paper’s initial thesis may indeed be considered thoroughly valid. After all, as it was shown, it is namely the objective laws of history that predetermine the outbreaks of ‘total wars’ and not the ongoing ‘decline of morals’, as some naà ¯ve people continue to believe. Works Cited Beck, Earl. â€Å"The Allied Bombing of Germany, 1942-1945, and the German Response: Dilemmas of Judgment.† German Studies Review 5.3 (1982): 325-337. Print. Broers, Michael. â€Å"The Concept of â⠂¬ËœTotal War’ in the Revolutionary Napoleonic Period.† War in History 15.3 (2008): 247-268. Print. Neilson, Keith. â€Å"Total War: Total History.† Military Affairs 51.1 (1987): 17-21. Print. Overy, R. J. â€Å"Mobilization for Total War in Germany 1939-1941.† The English  Historical Review 103.408 (1988): 613-639. Print. Strayer, Robert. Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources, Volume  2. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. Print. This term paper on Total War in Modern World History was written and submitted by user Jovani S. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.