Editing Total war (section)

{{short description|Conflict in which all of a nation's resources are deployed}}
{{Other uses}}
{{EngvarB|date=May 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
[[File:Cyprian War.jpg|thumb|Ruins of [[Warsaw Insurgents Square (Warsaw)|Warsaw's Napoleon Square]] in the aftermath of [[World War II]]]]
{{History of war}}

'''Total war''' is a type of [[war]]fare that includes any and all (including [[civilian]]-associated) resources and infrastructure as [[legitimate military target]]s, mobilises all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare over [[non-combatant]] needs.

The term has been defined as "A war that is unrestricted in terms of the weapons used, the [[Territory (country subdivision)|territory]] or [[combatant]]s involved, or the objectives pursued, especially one in which the [[law of war|laws of war]] are disregarded."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803105038425 |title=Total war |work=Oxford Reference |access-date=3 March 2022}}</ref>

In the mid-19th century, scholars identified  what  later became known as total war as a separate class of warfare. In a total war, the differentiation between combatants and non-combatants diminishes due to the capacity of opposing sides to consider nearly every human, including non-combatants, as resources that are used in the [[war effort]].<ref>{{cite journal |first=Edward |last=Gunn |title=The Moral Dilemma of Atomic Warfare |journal=Aegis: The Otterbein College Humanities Journal |date=Spring 2006 |page=[http://www.otterbein.edu/Aegis/Aegis_2006.pdf#page=67 67]}} NB Gunn cites this Wikipedia article as it was on {{diff|Total war|pref|24038262|27 September 2005}}, but on only for the text of the song "The Thing-Ummy Bob".</ref>