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total war
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unrestricted warfare in which belligerents engage with all available resources and/or civilians and civil infrastructure are considered legitimate targets
Total war is a form of conflict in which opposing sides use all available resources and target not just each other's militaries but also civilians and civilian infrastructure. It matters because this approach to warfare has historically caused widespread destruction and suffering beyond the battlefield, fundamentally changing how societies experience and endure armed conflict.
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Ruins of Warsaw's Napoleon Square in the aftermath of World War II
Total war is a type of warfare that where a society's entire economy, population, and infrastructure are considered part of the war effort. It mobilizes the totality of national resources to sustain the war effort (particularly through war production), blurring the line between military and civilian segments of a society, and legitimating attacks on civilian targets as part of a war that is "unrestricted in terms of the weapons used, the territory or combatants involved, or the objectives pursued, especially one in which the laws of war are disregarded."