novushomus
Sergeant
- Joined
- May 23, 2016
I can remember well that the Civil War was taught as the "first modern war" in my high school and college classes because of the technological innovations in warfighting equipment AND the attempt by both the USA and CSA to mobilize the economy for "total war."
The concept of total war is perhaps more important than the use of new machines. And total war is linked to the concept of 'hard war,' where the civilian population becomes an important military target.
I'm not even sure the American Civil War can claim a first in that. What the Thirty Years' War did to central Europe would make Sherman's march through Georgia look like a picnic.
I'll recommend this book to cover some the horrors of that conflict and others of the period.
Of course, targeting of civil populations economically is nothing new, for instance Hannibal burned Roman farms in Italy in an attempt to coax Fabius's legions to battle and the complete destruction of Carthage is the stuff of legends.