From Wikipedia.org:
"Total
war is a neologism to describe an international
war wherin countries or nations use all of their resources to destroy another organized country's or nation's ability to engage in
war. The practice of total
war has been in use for centuries, but it was only in the middle to late nineteenth century that total
war was recognized as a separate class of warfare. Total
war is most easily distinguished from other forms of warfare through a blurring and combining of strategy and grand strategy...
The most identifiable consequence of total war in modern times has been the inclusion of civilians as targets in destroying a country's ability to engage in
war...
The final consequence of total
war eventually became, ironically, an end to
war between industrialized nations. After World
War II, industrialized nations' ability to wage
war between each other became terribly destructive largely due to nuclear capabilities...There could no longer be an economic impetus for war between industrialized nations. Instead, wars between industrialized nations were fought through proxy, such as the
US war in Vietnam, the Six Day War, or the Soviet War in Afghanistan."
