Limited war
A limited war is one in which the belligerents do not expend all of the resources at their disposal, whether human, industrial, agricultural, military, natural, technological, or otherwise in a specific conflict.[1] This may be to preserve those resources for other purposes, or because it might be more difficult for the participants to use all of an area's resources rather than part of them. Limited war is the opposite concept to total war.
Examples[edit]
American Indians[edit]
Many American Indians practiced limited warfare or similar behaviors. Eastern groups at the time of contact with Europeans often would not kill all enemies but would capture many for adoption to replenish their own populations. That is related to mourning wars. The Aztec did flower wars to keep subordinate nations symbolically defeated and capture sacrificial victims, who were symbolically adopted. The wars left noncombatants and materials without risk of physical harm.
Crimean War[edit]
For the Crimean War, British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston decided to fight a limited war against Russia since waging a total war would have required massive reform of the armed forces.
Korean War[edit]
At the beginning of the Korean War, US President Harry S. Truman and General Douglas MacArthur strongly disagreed with each other. Truman believed in the containment of North Korea north of the 38th parallel. MacArthur pressed for the destroying and routing (rollback) of North Korea. The disagreement escalated to the end of MacArthur's command and career after he had exasperated and frustrated Truman's limited war policy. Truman gave the following reasons for the policy: