Class Structure and "Total War"

Wars are the products of the civilization in which they are waged. Their specific character is dependent upon the specific organization of society in times of peace. Since it is always a society that is at war with another society, any aspect of war is fully intelligible only when it is seen in relation to the given organization of those societies, their technologies and their institutions, their material resources and their morals.

SOURCE:

American Sociological Review, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Jun., 1939), pp. 370-380. Related archival materials: https://findingaids.archives.newschool.edu/repositories/3/resources/235