Who should fight the war? To what extent? This question is likely to have a different answer in every era.
The "national land defense for the whole people" mechanism is to enable every countryman to implement the "defense of the whole people" from the homeland around them, to provide disaster relief in peacetime and to fight in wartime, so as to achieve the purpose of integrating soldiers and the people and defending the country. So, what is the situation of the "national defense mechanism"?
one
From the participation of the people in the war to the general war
Historically, since ancient times, there have been written records that most of the time the army was composed of nobles or full-time (professional) soldiers, and ordinary people joined the army because they could obtain certain rights in their personal political economy by joining the army. For example, the ancient Greek city-state of Athens or Sparta, the Roman Empire, the knights of the European feudal system in the Middle Ages, the conscription system of the Tang Dynasty, the Eight Banners of the Manchus, and so on.
The indiscriminate participation of the people in the war because of the political mechanism or the state apparatus in modern times belongs to the conscription system pioneered during the French Revolution. At that time, the French revolutionary government executed King Louis XVI, arousing opposition from all countries, in order to defend the achievements of the revolution, the implementation of a new conscription system, the conscription of men of the right age to the battlefield, with various military reforms, the results of which were naturally remarkable, enough to support Napoleon's hegemony.
After another 100 years, to the First World War, with the development of the industrial revolution and scientific and technological progress, the armies of various countries have used various new inventions in the war, such as aircraft, submarines, chariots, etc., which make ordinary people also suffer the damage and harm caused by modern warfare in their daily lives, and the battlefield away from the direct battle between the enemy and us is no longer a guarantee of survival.
For example, the ships of the Allied people at sea may be attacked by the "unrestricted submarine warfare" of German submarines, and the residents of London, the capital of The United Kingdom, will have to avoid German bombing at night.
Therefore, the concept of "total war" represented by the famous German general Ludendorff in the First World War gradually became concrete, and one of the key elements was to mobilize all civilian resources and forces to serve the war.
two
How does Germany and Japan "resist the whole people"?
If we say that the First World War was an experiment of the "total war", then we can say that the Second World War 20 years later is the practice and acceptance of the "total war".
With the great improvement of the performance of aviation weapons, such as air machine guns, aviation machine guns, etc., even if the civilian population is far away from the battlefield, it will also be affected by the war, and the strategic bombing of China's Chongqing in the War of Resistance Against Japan, Germany against Britain in the European theater, Germany and the United Kingdom in the Pacific Theater, and the strategic bombing of Northeast China and the Japanese mainland by the United States in the Pacific Theater are the most obvious examples. In addition, countries have organized their manpower (especially women) in a more efficient way to engage in war production and support work in the rear.
However, as the war situation evolved, the Axis powers began to lose in the war, of which Italy withdrew from the war as early as 1943, and then only Germany and Japan were left to die, and at the end of the war, both countries chose the "national resistance" route, intending to make a final attempt.
On the German side, under Hitler's slogan of "fighting to the last man", the authorities set up the so-called "National Commando" to mobilize men and even women between the ages of 16 and 60 who had not yet been recruited, who were equipped with simple rifles and "iron fist" anti-tank rockets, and even all kinds of captured weapons or emergency research and development weapons, with bicycles, and even uniforms, in a vain attempt to resist the British and American Allied and Soviet forces on the eastern and western fronts.
As a result, it is taken for granted that the 2004 German film The Destruction of the Empire has a scene depicting the senseless sacrifice of the "National Commandos".
As for Japan, after the US military broke through the "absolute defense circle," Japan also began to make similar plans, shouting the slogan of "100 million total jade fragments" and setting up a "national volunteer combat team" to prepare for the upcoming decisive battle on the mainland.
Their sources of soldiers are mainly men between the ages of 15 and 60, and unmarried women between the ages of 17 and 40. In terms of weapons, it is even more varied, even 19th century old-fashioned rifles, and even cold weapons such as bows and arrows, swords, and bamboo spears come in handy. If it really engaged the U.S. troops for a short time, would there be any chance of victory? However, before this day, the two atomic bombs of the US military made all such delusions disappear.
However, historical facts have proved that the gap in the strength of the United States and Japan in the regular armed forces has made the "National Volunteer Combat Team" have no room to play at all.
three
Israel: The winning case of "mobilization of the whole people"
Is it just that the results of the "national mobilization" are so terrible? Not necessarily, we can look at another example of "popular mobilization" in modern history that has been implemented but won in the end, and that is Israel.
Immediately after Israel established the State of Palestine in 1948, conflicts broke out with neighboring Arab countries due to religious and ethnic factors. Sensing the historical lesson of thousands of years of undetermined slaughter by the Jews, the Government of Israel is determined to defend this only foothold at all costs.
Israel enacted the Military Service Act in 1959, which, in addition to requiring men and women to serve without special circumstances, was complemented by relevant reserve norms to ensure that a sufficient number of troops could be sent to the front line when necessary. The Israeli system worked well, playing a role in many Israeli-Arab wars, such as the 1973 "Yom Kippur War", in which the heroic resistance of active forces bought time so that the mobilized reserve forces could rush to the front and turn the tide of the war.
shop
In modern warfare, professional soldiers are the protagonists
According to the above historical experience, is the so-called "national homeland defense mechanism" really feasible?
Any discussion of "mobilization of the whole people" should be preceded by clear national grand strategy and war guidance before the discussion can be meaningful. For example, if war is inevitable, what is the ultimate goal of the country? Finite Conflict or Infinite War? If the war situation is favorable to our side, when will we seize the opportunity to close it when we see it? If the battle is unfavorable, when will the stop loss be implemented to avoid unnecessary human sacrifice?
After all, in modern warfare, "full-time (professional) active servicemen" are the protagonists of combat. The four elements of the state, the people, the land, the government, and sovereignty, the people rank first, so the actions and will of the state also reflect the people's thinking to a considerable extent. Today, in the 21st century, we should seriously consider whether there is any goal worth sacrificing the lives of people with the ability to fight to defend. The answer to this question serves as a reference for the guidance of national grand strategy and war.
Chinese culture has a history of thousands of years, and since ancient times, the scourge of war has been bleeding continuously, but now in the 21st century, what will happen to the two sides of the strait?