TOTAL WAR

...explanation via fiction

The nature of these posts indicates nonfiction sources. But for me, the best source for understanding the meaning of the concept of ‘total war’ is not a textbook, but a passage from John Steinbeck’s East of Eden.

War has always been expensive. But in the 20th century, when war became industrialized and globalized, it became expensive on an entirely different level: logistics, mechanized weaponry, the immense scope of the battles, the millions of military personnel, and the workforces required to support them. And the financing that funded all of it. (Looking at World War II this way, from a historical distance, one can see that the scenarios for a victory by Nazi Germany or Japan were almost nonexistent.)

This passage from the novel shows that the implications were also personal:

“Olive had great courage. Perhaps it takes courage to raise children. And I must tell you what she did about the First World War. Her thinking was not international. Her first boundary was the geography of her family, second her town, Salinas, and finally there was a dotted line, not clearly defined, that was the county line. Thus she did not quite believe in the war.

“… Martin Hopps lived round the corner from us. … He belonged to Troop C [the local cavalry militia] because the armory had a basketball court. … When [the Germans] killed Martin Hopps, they lost the war, because they made my mother mad and she took out after them. … When they killed him, Olive declared war on the German Empire. … She cast about for a weapon. Knitting helmets and socks was not deadly enough. … She found her weapon in [selling] Liberty Bonds.”