Of course, it would be better if we never knew the meaning of the word "total war", but the escalating outbreaks of aggression between world powers are increasingly forcing us to think about the worst scenario. Do we, like our grandparents, have to dream of a peaceful sky over the city and a land cleansed of blood?
Total war: what is it?
Wars have been fought on Earth almost since the origin of the human race. People wanted power, territorial expansion and increased resources, and these desires pushed them to aggressive and cruel behavior towards the side of the resistance.
Total war is a nationwide battle with one or more opponents using all economic, weapons and human resources. The concept of total war provides not only permitted methods of combat, but also the use of any type of weapon, including weapons of mass destruction, biological, chemical and nuclear. In addition, in order to intimidate the enemy, terrorist acts can be carried out against the civilian population, in particular against the unprotected sections of society (children, the disabled, pensioners). These events are aimed at suppressing the national spirit, developing a sense of helplessness among the people and distrust of the government, which allows such acts of violence.
It's not just the military who volunteer to take part in the fighting that suffers in this war. Total war is a nationwide catastrophe that can be interpreted as a total genocide.
Theory of Mass Destruction
The most striking example of the concept of total war is well known to us - this is the military program of Nazi Germany.
In 1935, the military theorist Erich Ludendorff, in his infamous book, first used the term "total war". This was the beginning of one of the most terrible periods in the history of mankind. The theory of massive attraction of resources and brutal terror against the enemy was to the taste of the Nazi military commanders.
In 1943, Joseph Goebbels, minister and propagandist of the Third Reich, called for total war. Both men and women, and the elderly, and children were sent into battle. They were given one priority goal - the destruction of the enemy at any cost, theft of property, the destruction of cultural monuments, national oppression.
The theory of total war was also supported by the famous politician Benito Mussolini, who dragged the Italians into the war and forced them to take sidesfascist regime.
Crime and Punishment
After the capitulation of the fascist army, all the perpetrators of the total war had to appear before the tribunal, where they were charged with a crime against humanity and the death pen alty. But the main figures of the war never lived to see this day.
Adolf Hitler and his wife Eva Braun took their own lives on April 31, 1945, and the next day the Goebbels family repeated this feat: the couple poisoned their six children, after which they took the poison themselves.
Benito Mussolini still failed to punish himself. On April 28, 1945, he was shot and hung upside down in Milan Square, where everyone could mock his body. After the mutilated corpse was thrown into the sewer as a sign of contempt.
Relevance of the problem today
It would seem that humanity should learn a lesson from the bloody pages of history and take measures to prevent similar situations in the future. But, oddly enough, some of the fascist ideas of Goebbels are still popular today.
People are being misled into seeing their brothers as the enemy. All men from 18 to 60 years old are sent to war, even against their will. Border crossing measures have been tightened. Social payments and benefits have been stopped, the entire economic reserve has been directed to the army. Thousands of dead, tens of thousands of wounded … Houses destroyed, destinies crippled. People live in fear and uncertainty.
Total war is not a necessity, but a way of "tops" of governmentmeet the needs of power. And before you take up arms, you should think about it.
