How did total war, new technology, and the targeting of civilians make the Second World War so destructive?
Topic 7.7 Conducting World War II: the methods and technologies of the Second World War, including total war, the deliberate targeting of civilians, new weapons, and the use of the atomic bomb.
A focused answer to AP World History Topic 7.7, explaining how the Second World War was fought: total war and total mobilization, new technologies like tanks, aircraft, and radar, the deliberate targeting of civilians through strategic bombing, and the use of the atomic bomb.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
Have a quick question? Jump to the Q&A page
Jump to a section
What this topic is asking
Topic 7.7 covers how the Second World War was fought. It asks you to explain the methods and technologies that made it the deadliest conflict in history: the practice of total war and total mobilization, new and more powerful weapons (tanks, aircraft, radar), the deliberate targeting of civilians through strategic and firebombing, and the use of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
What "conducting World War II" means
Total war, intensified
The whole of society was mobilized.
The Second World War was a total war even more complete than the First. States took command of their economies, directing industry to war production and rationing civilian goods. With men in the armed forces, women entered factories, farms, and services in huge numbers. Propaganda sustained morale and demonized the enemy. Entire nations, not just armies, were harnessed to the war, so victory depended as much on industrial output as on battlefield skill, which is why the immense production of the United States and the Soviet Union proved decisive.
New technology and mobile warfare
Technology made the war faster and deadlier.
- Mobile land warfare. Fast tanks, motorized infantry, and air support restored movement to the battlefield, seen in the German Blitzkrieg that overran much of Europe.
- Air and sea power. Aircraft dominated, aircraft carriers became decisive at sea (as in the Pacific), submarines waged war on shipping, and radar transformed detection and air defense.
- The atomic bomb. Scientific war research produced the atomic bomb, the most powerful weapon ever made.
The deliberate targeting of civilians
Civilians became targets on a vast scale.
Try this
Q1. Name the two Japanese cities destroyed by atomic bombs in 1945. [Recall]
- Cue. Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Q2. Explain one way the Second World War deliberately targeted civilians. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Strategic bombing aimed to destroy enemy cities and morale, as in the firebombing of Tokyo and Dresden, culminating in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed enormous numbers of civilians.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of College Board exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AP 2020 (style)3 marksBriefly describe ONE technology of the Second World War. Briefly explain ONE way civilians were deliberately targeted. Briefly explain ONE feature of total war in the conflict.Show worked answer →
A Short Answer Question (SAQ), 3 points, one per bullet.
A. Describe: aircraft, tanks, radar, and ultimately the atomic bomb transformed the conduct of the war.
B. Targeting civilians: both sides deliberately bombed cities, as in the firebombing of Tokyo and Dresden and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing huge numbers of civilians.
C. Total war: states mobilized their entire economies and populations, with rationing, war production, and millions of women entering the workforce.
Each bullet must be concrete.
AP 2023 (style)6 marksEvaluate the extent to which the Second World War was more destructive to civilians than earlier conflicts in the period c. 1900 to the present.Show worked answer →
A Long Essay Question (LEQ), scored on the 6-point comparison rubric.
Thesis (1): "The Second World War was far more destructive to civilians than earlier conflicts because new technology and a doctrine of total war made cities and populations deliberate targets, culminating in the atomic bomb, though the First World War had already begun to erase the line between soldier and civilian."
Contextualization (1): situate the war in the development of industrial total war.
Evidence (2): strategic bombing of cities; the firebombing of Tokyo and Dresden; the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the mobilization of whole societies.
Analysis (2): explain HOW technology and total-war doctrine targeted civilians, then add complexity by comparing this to the First World War's earlier blurring of the civilian-combatant line.
Related dot points
- Topic 7.3 Conducting World War I: the new technologies and the practice of total war that made the First World War uniquely destructive and global, including trench warfare, the mobilization of home fronts, and the global reach of the conflict.
A focused answer to AP World History Topic 7.3, explaining how the First World War was fought: trench warfare and new technology like machine guns and poison gas, the practice of total war and home-front mobilization, the use of colonial troops, and the global reach of the conflict.
- Topic 7.6 Causes of World War II: the causes of the Second World War, including the legacy of the First World War, the Great Depression, fascist and militarist expansion, and the failure of appeasement and collective security.
A focused answer to AP World History Topic 7.6, explaining the causes of the Second World War: the legacy of Versailles and the Great Depression, fascist and militarist expansion by Germany, Italy, and Japan, and the failure of appeasement and the League of Nations.
- Topic 7.8 Mass Atrocities After 1900: the genocides and mass killings of the twentieth century, including the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, and others, and the conditions that enabled them.
A focused answer to AP World History Topic 7.8, explaining the mass atrocities and genocides of the twentieth century: the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, the Holodomor, the Cambodian and Rwandan genocides, and the conditions of ideology, total war, and state power that enabled them.
- Topic 5.5 Technology of the Industrial Age: the new technologies and energy sources of the first and second industrial revolutions and how they changed production, transport, and communication.
A focused answer to AP World History Topic 5.5, explaining the technologies of the first and second industrial revolutions: the steam engine and coal, then steel, electricity, the internal combustion engine, and chemicals, and how they transformed production, transport, and communication.
- Topic 8.1 Setting the Stage for the Cold War and Decolonization: the emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as rival superpowers after the Second World War and the start of decolonization.
A focused answer to AP World History Topic 8.1, explaining how the Second World War set the stage for the Cold War: the rise of the United States and Soviet Union as rival superpowers, their opposing ideologies of capitalism and communism, the division of Europe, and the start of decolonization.
Sources & how we know this
- AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description — College Board (2020)