# total war

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. Warfare where all of a country's available resources, military as well as civilian, are employed.

## Etymology
Calque of German totaler Krieg, coined by Erich Ludendorff.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/total-war