World War II: Total War

The Second World War was the closest the world has come to a complete total war.

The Second World War shattered the boundaries between battlefield and home-front in much of the world. As nation after nation fell to advancing armies, their people and their resources were subsumed into the total war efforts of occupying forces. In this episode we examine the impact of occupation and the stories of those who fought to resist their occupiers.

In the Second World War civilians became defenders against and targets of aerial warfare on a scale never before seen. We trace the escalation of strategic bombing campaigns which incinerated great cities in an attempt end the war. We examine the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the deaths of tens of thousands in the ultimate expression of total war from the air.

Total War was not the cause of the Holocaust but it did provide a means for its execution. This episode will explore what role total war played in this genocide.