Download Total War

Total War
What is Total
War?
Make any sacrifice in order to achieve
victory
 Direct all resources and economy towards
war effort

 No
distinction made between
soldiers and civilians
 Civilians
specifically targeted
Why Was WWII a
Total War?

Over 35 million civilians were killed


13,000 civilians died every day
Both the Allies and Axis Powers specifically
targeted civilian cities.


Demoralize civilian population
Destroy capability of enemy to make war
materials
Axis
Powers
Examples
of Total
War
Guernica





Spanish Civil War in progress, Germany
supported Franco
Guernica was cultural center of Basques, no
military value
April 26, 1937, German bombers dropped high
explosive and incendiary bombs on the city
Fires burned for three days, 70% of the town
was destroyed
1,600 civilians killed or wounded
Guernica
Nazi Bombing of
London—”The Blitz”




By September 1940, Hitler lost the Battle of Britain
 Could not invade England, but could still bomb London
 Believed if enough civilians killed would force government
to make peace
Began on September 7, 1940, lasted 76 nights
43,000 British civilians were killed
“Explosions were everywhere, there just was not a break, bang
after bang after bang. The clang of bells from fire service
vehicles and ambulances were drowned out by these bombs.
You would hear a whistle as a stick of bombs came down then
a loud explosion as they hit factories and houses, the ground
shook. Then as soon as that explosion happened, another
whistle and another explosion. God, this seemed to go on for
hours. “
Allied
Powers
Examples
of Total
War
Allied Bombing of
Germany

Casablanca Conference



January 1943
Allies decided to target civilian cities in order to undermine
the German morale and destroy Germany’s ability to wage
war
Bombed many German cities, including Hamburg,
Cologne, Dresden, and Berlin.
Bombing of Hamburg
Bombing of Dresden
 Bombing
 July
of Hamburg
1943
 Bombers dropped incendiary and
high explosive bombs
 Destroyed over 60% of the city,
killed 50,000 civilians
Hamburg
Hamburg
Dresden
Bombing
of Dresden
February
1945
Dresden
was cultural and artistic center of
Germany, population of 1,000,000
Bombers
days
started gigantic firestorm, burned for 7
Unknown
how many civilians were killed,
estimates range from 35,000 to 250,000
“You
needn't worry about bombs, by the way.
Dresden is an open city. It is undefended, and
contains no war industries or troop concentrations
of any importance.” - Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
American Policy


Until 1945, refused to bomb civilian targets.
Success of Allied campaigns in Dresden and
Hamburg forced leadership to rethink.
The Decision to Drop
the Atomic Bomb
Japanese
atrocities
Japanese willingness to
fight to the death
A
land invasion could cost
many American lives
Japanese Actions in
Nanking
Japan seized control on December 13,
1937
 Killed over 300,000 soldiers and
civilians

Any male suspected of being a soldier
was immediately executed
 Civilians were beheaded, shot,
bayoneted, hung, and burned alive

Rape
of Nanking
Over
raped
20,000 women were
After
they were raped, they
were tortured, killed, and their
body mutilated
Japanese
soldiers raped young
girls, elderly women, nuns, and
pregnant women
Japanese Willingness
to Fight to the Death





Believed emperor was a god
Public schools taught Japanese students to die for emperor
Japanese propaganda claimed Americans killed babies,
murdered civilians
Japanese soldiers would not surrender at Iwo Jima or
Okinawa
Kamikaze
 Planes were packed with explosives and intentionally
crashed into battleships
 Desperate defense against American battleships closing in
on mainland Japan
 Killed 5,000 Americans in Okinawa
Saipan
Kamikazi
Pilots
Tokyo
Fire Bombing
Fire Bombing of
Tokyo
 March
1945
 Used incendiary bombs to start
huge firestorms
 Most
of the buildings were made of
wood, fire spread very quickly
 Killed 80,000 civilians, left over
100,000 homeless
"Everything
combustible would be consumed,
…In some cases the heat would soften the
asphalt in the streets, so that fire equipment
mired down and was lost to the flames. Water
sprayed on the fire would simply vaporize; glass
panes would soften and drip from metal
window frames. Here and there, incredibly,
concrete melted. No living thing could survive in
such an atmosphere."
Was
so successful that the U.S. ordered fire
bombings for almost every other major Japanese
city
Led
the U.S. to believe that Japan could be
defeated without an invasion
Hiroshima and
Nagasaki




August 6, 1945 and August 9, 1945
Enola Gay dropped atomic bomb on
Hiroshima
Hiroshima killed at least 70,000 people and
Nagasaki 80,000
Over the years many have died from
radiation poisoning
“The homes of many of us have been destroyed, and the
lives of old and young have been taken. There's scarcely a
household that hasn't been struck to the heart. Why, in all
conscience, should these be the ones to suffer?.....Are these
our soldiers? Are these our fighters? Why should they be
sacrificed? I shall tell you why.
Because this is not only a war of soldiers in uniform, it is a
war of the people, and it must be fought not only on the
battlefield but in the cities and in the villages, in the
factories, and on the farms, in the home and in the heart of
every man, woman, and child who loves freedom.
This is a peoples war, it is our war, we are the fighters, fight
it, then. Fight it with all that is in us. And may God defend
the right.”– Closing sermon of Mrs. Miniver