War
An Essay by me, M.J. Matteson
War
By M.J. Matteson
War, sometimes cheered and praised about being full of bravery, as being the true test of "manhood". The soldiers called heroes and thought of as showing true valor. At other times war has shown to be a horrid element of human history. It is thought of as an unforgettable part of life, this ironic death. Children have always played "war" and thought of war as a heroic adventure, not knowing how life-changing or life-taking war is. History has shown that adventure has brought many men to war, taking them away from home with the prospect of seeing places they have only dreamed of. War as the great adventure only lasts a little while. As soon as the exposure to death and loss has kicked in, the adventuresome boy becomes a fearful man. Being exposed to war matures people, makes them realize how important life is, how important family is, how important it is to settle disputes in more peaceful and less violent ways.
War is a life changing experience. No one ever returns from war, they are either killed or the survivors returned changed to such an extent that they have a whole new way of living life. War changes men; it makes them realize the destruction of the human existence. The mass destruction of the nuclear bomb and the suffering that occurs with chemical warfare are just two factors to the changing of the veteran. Soldiers who experience war may find a new philosophy. The destruction that occurs with war makes this happen. This changing occurs almost inevitably with the wars of the twentieth century. Starting with World War I a new way of fighting happened. New mass destroying machines were built and new war techniques were invented. The wars that would follow would include these life changing experiences and have war being a more fearful action rather than heroic and adventuresome.
War changes not only the soldier, but the people back home too. There is sometimes a cry for help that is met as seen during World War II when the work force needed workers, who filled the empty slots? The women who stayed home took the place of men in the work place. Back home there can also be the opposite of support and help to those sent to fight for what is thought of as right. During Vietnam there was a big movement of anti-war of hate between generations. War can change many things that were familiar, many things that were normal. The place that a soldier left may never be the same when they get back.
The destruction of World War II has scarred the countryside of central Europe and the ocean bottoms of the Pacific. The bombing raids made by both Germans and Allies left many towns in ruins after the war, and in some places there is still signs of war. Bombing raids and urban warfare are the major causes of this scarring. The oceans are littered with the skeletons of war ships. Pearl Harbor's main tourist attraction is the remains of the U.S. navy of 1943. Almost all the oceans of the world have the remains of great war-ships left on its bottom. With this visible destruction there is the unseen destruction of human life. So many people have lost their
lives in the wars over the years. People that might have not even been fighting in the wars, but just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The destruction of the human life may be the biggest horror of war.
There is another huge horror of the twentieth century, the atomic bomb. This kind of destruction was introduced during World War II at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombs dropped there caused immense destruction and horrid death. The strength of those two bombs is nothing compared to the ones in the arsenal of today's armies. The prospect of nuclear war is not one that is looked forward to. This destruction causes the citizen of a warring country to experience the death and destruction of war, rather than just the soldier who is fighting on the lines. This kind of warfare destroys a way of life rather than an enemy, moral rather than a fighting machine. If the need for nuclear war ever happens, with the strength of the weapons present, the life that we know will cease to exist. This is a fearful result of technology and a fact that threatens everyone's life from now until the end of human existence.
War not only changes the soldier, but changes the environment also. As shown in the war of the South Pacific a paradise can be turned into a hellish war zone. An exotic island where you would expect to see a resort all of a sudden becomes a site of struggle, suffering, and death. The beautiful countryside of Europe or the monuments that are so famous turned into a fearful fight for ones life. A beautiful jungle full of green life and colorful flora turns into a site of slaughter where lives are lost. During war that very soldier who would have been a visitor destroys places that would have been visited. A vacation dream becomes a deadly nightmare of war. This contributed to the occurrence of the suffering countryside as well as the suffering soldier.
The suffering soldier also had to deal with another part of the environment, the weather. Weather is another element of war, which has always been an element of war. Weather is something that can be an aid to success or a determining factor to defeat. Soldiers fighting an enemy can suddenly start fighting Mother Nature in a battle to stay warm, or stay dry, or stay cool! From the freezing winters of Europe and Russia to the humidity and heat of the South Pacific, World War II saw it all. The soldiers fighting in Europe could be experiencing a cold winter in one season but in the next there was the flooding and the mud of the thaw. With summer came the relief, only at the beginning was it though of as relief, of heat. The mud dried to dust and that could be even worse. In the Sahara desert there was a fight with endless dust storms or the fight with horrid flies attracted to the death that came with war. On the islands there was the humidity and the heat that caused heat stroke and heat exhaustion that claimed as many people sent to the hospital as those who were sent because of weapons of war.
War is one of the most ancient actions still a part of today's demeanor. War being so ancient probably explains why it is so primitive. No matter how sophisticated or high tech the weapons become, war will always have the same purpose of destroying the enemy. In every history book written war dominates the pages. War can change history, making the viewpoint of one generation obsolete to the new thoughts of a conquering empire. War with weapons and killing, or war simply by dominating someone different from themselves, war has always been present. Even if it didn't include the killing, it was still the primitive behavior of arguing apes!
It may all start when we are children, arguing with our siblings about the littlest things. Most of the arguments could have been settled less violently if we had been more mature and had used the mind that is so developed and advanced. As we get older we start to realize that fighting isn't so great if you are on the losing side and as our minds mature we realize that talking and discussing the problem may extinguish any misunderstanding that would have caused anger. No matter how much we preach diplomacy, somehow someone always forgets. We all forget in the midst of war. We all forget when we think that everyone else has forgotten. That smart individual who would be discussing the problem becomes a stupid, dangerous mob of people. A person may be smart, but everyone has this other primitive need to be like everyone else. There is a need to have the same opinion as everyone else and to have the same beliefs as everyone else. This need can be reversed also, to have the opposite opinion, but then you anger everyone else and they try to force the same opinion or belief on to that person with a different belief.
War is between countries, and countries are made up of many people, most want to have a say in how their government is run and what actions might be taken by their government. With a country you truly don't have that smart individual discussing the matter over with someone. With a country you have that dumb mob that are ready to fight anyone who might be different or have a different opinion. This mob might not even have all the facts; all they probably do know is that this other side, this enemy, has something against them. If someone doesn't like us, then we don't like them. This mob might not even have anything to do with it, but a misunderstanding occurs, and with misunderstandings there is war.
That primitive ape, who fights with their brother over whose turn it is, becomes a terrifying mass of people who want war. What is a politician to do? Give them this war; give the people what the people want. A great way to get re-elected if in a democracy you should give the people what the people think they want. One of the greatest signs of a good politician is if a country wants war, then you know that the leader of that country is a very persuasive speaker. No one truly wants war, but if it is preached to them, then a belief or a need for it occurs. Treaties are disobeyed, friendships are broken, and other friendships are made stronger.
If war is wanted, then there is a forceful misunderstanding caused by some public speaker, some politician of one side or the other. If war is wanted, then the people feel that they either have a strong army or a strong ally, because no one wants to lose a war. Germany had a very strong army in the two conflicts they were responsible for. They felt that they could take on anything. This sense of protection from a strong army may be false if the reasons for the war are wrong. That highly advanced minds that aren't so good at diplomacy also are good at making friends.
A strong army can bring a country to a belief of being undefeatable and of being able to conquer the world. With a strong army a country feels that they can pick on any one smaller than them and that wouldn't be wrong, after all it's for their own benefit. With a strong army an imperialistic approach to everything occurs to even the humblest people. With a strong army you can back up anyone who is a friend to you and go to war with a country that picks on your friend or if your friend picks on them. No rules are followed; you make the rules with a strong army! The enforcers of the world are the countries with the strong armies. All the empires of the world have been because of a great army that could conquer, then keep the empire strong for a couple of centuries, but it is all to their own benefit!
Allies are the protectors if you don't have that strong army. With the existence of allies there is a big unstableness between countries. A small misunderstanding can turn into a global conflict of incomparable proportions. During World War II it was the ambition of an empire that caused the whole world to be a part of death, war, and destruction. A system of alliances can bring a country not at all involved into a complex progression of declaring war on each other. With a strong ally, who needs a strong army? With a strong ally, you could pick a fight with the strongest army. It's good to be backed up, and it is good to make sure that someone who isn't strong doesn't get into too much trouble, but with a system of alliances, a small misunderstanding can turn into a global event bringing everyone to the action. Alliances can be helpful, but at the same time it can make a little thing into an enormous conflict.
War can be started in many ways. Difference in opinion is a common factor. Difference in religion, difference in government, difference in what brand you prefer can be causes of war, all it takes for public support is a good public speaker. All the politicians known to us today, even the ones we consider crazy were all excellent public speakers. They were all excellent politicians who knew how to make the people believe in the things they preached. An ideology of someone can only be successful if someone who can make everyone believe in it preaches it. Even the inanity of hating a different race can be made into a common belief if the right speaker is praising it. Hitler preached anti-Semitism and had all of Germany believing in the same thing.
The difference in opinion of government is another one that has caused the U.S. many conflicts, and a lot of defeats. Besides Nazism during World War II, a fight against communism has been the passion of the United States government. The politicians of the forties through seventies had the public in such a scare of communism that people were accused of being communists similar to the way some people were accused of being witches like in Salem Massachusetts during the early 1800s. "Witch" hunts for communists were common and the common person who feared communism the most probably didn't even know what
communism involved.
Difference of religion is one of the leading causes of war. Taking back of the holy land or just saying that your God's a bunch of lies, religion has caused tension and war the world over for centuries. The dominant religion of one time era becomes the satin worshipers of tomorrow, all with the conquests of the smaller religion, which then becomes the dominant one. With a conquest of a religion, the winners impose their religion upon the ones they have defeated. They impose their beliefs and their religion, so that the people they have conquered will no longer be that foreign people, but actually be respectable, loyal people. These actions have been going on for centuries and that is why changes in religion are apparent. The spreading out of a religion after they have successfully thrown out the religion of before.
Imperialism and land conquests are probably the leading causes of war in all history. To take a land that wasn't yours from people who are different and are looked upon as being savage and that need our help. The imperialistic belief that it is for their own good if we do that for them is one that is more to help the conquers to sleep at night. The riches that come with the land are just an added bonus, right? Not only taking lands from those "savages", but also taking lands from our neighbors. Taking back land that once belonged to us! Or just taking land because it is adjacent to the land we have now. Complete global control is something that all conquerors want. In ancient times people thought they had complete global control, but they didn't know that a world existed outside of Rome or Greece. Global control isn't something that would come easy to the next Caesar.
With war there is always two sides in the end. The side that won and the side that lost. After a war the winners determine what the losers lose. The losers find themselves not having the control or the power, which they once had. The winners find themselves with more power, more land, and more control. War always has two sides and during a war both sides may find themselves on the sharp end of the stick. The side that wins becomes the police and the protector of the side, which lost. That doesn't mean that the losing side can't come into control again, but it does mean certain financial ruin, and perhaps a loss of government. The defeated are defeated on all areas, not only the battlefield. The winners go on to another day, perhaps another war, but the defeated must first overcome the ruin which comes with losing a war, and especially a global one that the twentieth century seems to breed.
War is a horrid element of our history. The pages we read are filled with words describing a world of desperation, or of heroism. War is something that the human being probably invented and will have to live with for the rest of its existence. We will have to live with the destruction and the death that comes with war, and we will have to live with the horrid machines and weapons that are invented for no other reason besides war. The human existence somehow depends on war. It has a need for the destruction, the ideology, and the myths that come with war. Humans need this war to live, life is determined by this death.
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