War & Humanity: Where Do We Go from Here?
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WAR AND HUMANITY: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?.
There is an average of twenty ongoing wars in the world at any given time. Some are internal civil wars, others are between nations. But the purpose of this thesis is not to report warfare, but the act of it. This includes the evolution of conventional and nuclear warfare, the potential effect of a nuclear war and why it is necessary for nations to fight war. This analysis will be based on a study of Gwyn dwyer?s seven-part series, ? War ?. The only other references used to compound this thesis will be statements from former heads of state, as corresponding to the subject of war.
War is an indispensable part of civilization an is found at every chapter of human history. It is the culmination of the basic survival instinct when provoked. In the early centuries, traditional warfare employed the use of hoplite soldiers and cavalry who met at a scheduled location and fought reciprocally. The seventeenth century changed the rules of warfare, beginning with Napoleon, who increased the scale of battle in the Baradino church in 1812. The French Revolution marked the rise of modern nationalism, with civilians volunteering to join the army. The concept of National Mobilization was introduced, but not effected until the American Civil war. The Industrial Revolution produced new weapons, such as the machine-gun and the tank. These weapons assured a greater scale of destruction than was formerly accomplished.
The two world wars marked the greatest events in modern history. Apart from discarding traditional for what was termed ? conventional? warfare, they also disrupted the world order and set the stage for global destruction. With each war, there were new technological developments in weaponry, which were naturally followed [at a slower pace], by strategy. For the first time, on September 15th, 1915, combat was introduced on a civilian front, by the London bombing. Total war was a new idea developed to incorporate enemy civilians as targets as they were the backbone of the war industry. The atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima are perhaps the best demonstration of the evolution of chemical warfare and its destruction potential. What was then known as Conventional warfare has become like an endangered species. Many nations have resorted to the accumulation of nuclear technology to protect their territoriality. Some of these are the U.S, Russia, the U.K, France, China, Israel, India and possibly Iraq. Ironically, the threat of nuclear war serves as the best prevention of war today.
Nuclear weapons are possibly the greatest threat to humanity, [besides global warming and the comet aimed for earth], and also the major stabilizing factor for world peace. Robert Oppenheimer said of the atomic bomb, after it was built, ?I am become death, the Destroyer of Worlds.? This statement is more accurate of the power of the nuclear bomb. There are presently over a thousand nuclear warheads in Europe, which has been predicted to be the battlefront of World War III. While the U.S claims that the use of their nuclear devices will only be if absolutely necessary, the Russians guarantee a deadly total retaliation. When does it become necessary to fight a nuclear war?. When one side attacks the enemy?s nuclear bases perhaps. The end of civilization would be reduced to the absurdly primitive notion of ?use?em or lose?em?.
While Nuclear technology can effectively destroy the world, it also serves as the best medium of peace-keeping. This is what Thomas Alva Edison envisioned when he