Total defence is a

defence policy Military policy (also called defence policy or defense policy) is public policy dealing with multinational security and the military. It comprises the measures and initiatives that governments do or do not take in relation to decision-making and ...

combining and extending the concept of

military defence A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

and

civil defence Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mit ...

. It has been adopted by several countries: for example Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Russia,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Lithuania, and Ukraine. It entails a high level of readiness of both the state and its society to defend itself in cases of dangers and catastrophes such as war, crisis, or natural disasters. Total defence represents all activities preparing the society for war. It implies that in a state of war or emergency, all functions of society, both military and civilian, are included in the defence efforts. This means that in the event of a crisis, all social institutions, such as army, police, parliament, government and its agencies, local authorities, the health system, civil society organizations, entrepreneurs, and individuals would all be mobilized to defend the state. The implementation of total defence is not globally uniform; instead, the modalities of its application differ from state to state. Differences can be noticed from the implementing elements. Achieving absolute protection of the population is not possible and requires significant resources and costs, for that reason the states make calculations on how to reach the highest possible level of readiness of the population for crisis situations. They usually opt for certain combinations of elements of total defence, which are adapted to their capabilities and level of threat. Particularly important elements are

compulsory military service Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

, territorial defence forces, civil defence, economic defence, and psychological defence. For example, in Finland, the term ( fi, kokonaismaanpuolustus) encompasses all measures in civil and military sectors that safeguard the livelihoods and security of citizens against external threats, in order to defend Finland's independence. Similarly in Sweden, the term ( sv, totalförsvaret) means that civil and military defence activities operate jointly, with the aim of protecting and ensuring socially important functions, such as the

Swedish Parliament The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and s ...

and the

Port of Gothenburg The municipally-owned Port of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs hamn) is the largest port in the Nordic countries, with over 11,000 ship visits per year from over 140 destinations worldwide. As the only Swedish port with the capacity to cope with the ...

References

See also