A World at Total War: Global Conflict and the Politics of Destruction, 1937–1945

doi:10.1017/CBO9781139052382

This volume presents the results of a fifth and final conference on the history of total war. It is devoted to the Second World War, which many scholars regard as the paradigmatic instance of total war. In considering the validity of this proposition, the authors address a broad range of analytical problems that this vast conflict posed in the arenas of Europe and Asia. They analyze modes of combat, war aims, the mobilization of economies and societies, occupation regimes, the vulnerability of noncombatants, and the legal and moral issues raised by the industrialized warfare of the mid-twentieth century. The volume will be of interest to all students of war and society in the modern era.

Review of the hardback:‘Within the covers of this book is such a wealth of information that it makes it almost compulsory reading for any student of WW2.‘

Source: Open History

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-xii
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Are We There Yet? World War II and the Theory of Total War
pp 1-16
- By Roger Chickering, Stig Förster
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Part A - The Dimensions of War
pp 17-18
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1 - Total War: The Global Dimensions of Conflict
pp 19-32
- By Gerhard L. Weinberg
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2 - Total War: The Conduct of War, 1939-1945
pp 33-52
- By Hew Strachan
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3 - The Ultimate Horror: Reflections on Total War and Genocide
pp 53-68
- By Stig Förster, Myriam Gessler
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Part B - Combat
pp 69-70
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4 - Germany and the Battle of the Atlantic
pp 71-88
- By Holger H. Herwig
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5 - From “Blitzkrieg” to “Total War”: Germany’s War in Europe
pp 89-108
- By Jürgen Förster
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6 - Global Yet Not Total: The U.S. War Effort and Its Consequences
pp 109-134
- By Dennis Showalter
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Part C - Mobilizing Economies
pp 135-136
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7 - The USSR and Total War: Why Didn’t the Soviet Economy Collapse in 1942?
pp 137-156
- By Mark Harrison
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8 - Blood, Sweat, and Tears: British Mobilization for World War II
pp 157-176
- By Stephen Broadberry, Peter Howlett
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9 - The Impact of Compulsory Labor on German Society at War
pp 177-186
- By Hans Mommsen
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Part D - Mobilizing Societies
pp 187-188
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10 - Fantasy, Reality, and Modes of Perception in Ludendorff’s and Goebbels’s Concepts of “Total War”
pp 189-206
- By Martin Kutz
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11 - The Home Front in “Total War”: Women in Germany and Britain in the Second World War
pp 207-232
- By Jill Stephenson
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12 - Women in the Soviet War Effort, 1941-1945
pp 233-244
- By John Barber
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13 - The Spirit of St. Louis: Mobilizing American Politics and Society, 1937-1945
pp 245-258
- By Bernd Greiner
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Part E - The War against Noncombatants
pp 259-260
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14 - Partisan War in Belorussia, 1941-1944
pp 261-276
- By Hans-Heinrich Nolte
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15 - Allied Bombing and the Destruction of German Cities
pp 277-296
- By Richard Overy
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16 - “Accidental Judgments, Casual Slaughters”: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Total War
pp 297-314
- By Robert L. Messer
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Part F - Criminal war
pp 315-316
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17 - Sexual Violence and Its Prosecution by Courts Martial of the Wehrmacht
pp 317-332
- By Birgit Beck
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18 - Ideologies of Difference and the Turn to Atrocity: Japan’s War on China
pp 333-354
- By Louise Young
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19 - On the Road to Total Retribution? The International Debate on the Punishment of War Crimes, 1872-194
pp 355-374
- By Daniel Marc Segesser
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20 - Total War: Some Concluding Reflections
pp 375-384
- By Michael Howard
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Index
pp 385-392
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A World at Total War

Global Conflict and the Politics of Destruction, 1937–1945

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