Causes Of Wwii + References Essay, Research Paper

“War! Good God ya’ll! What is it good for?! Absolutely nothing! Listen to me!” To whomever have heard the lyrics of Edwin Starr’s War is likely to have had some opinion formulated about how war is a destructive force in itself. In a world where power is absolute and idolized like an omnipotent force, it is easy to see how even an innocent person can be swept up in a race for supremacy. There are many underlying factors in why wars are started. Ranging from economic struggles, to territoriality, from religious beliefs to world domination, it all boils down to one common denominator, our need for greed makes us blood thirsty. That being said, this essay will focus on the aforementioned underlying factors. Each element brings its won unique aspects to catastrophic devastation. Also, the degree of destruction depends on the multiple inclusion of these elements. First up, are the socioeconomic causes of war which push governments to declare war on others to increase their revenue and wealth. Secondly, our differing belief structures, like ideology and religion, are often the reason for conflicting views which may incite jihads’ or religious wars. My third point is territoriality, the need that some groups try to fulfill by taking over others’ lands. As a fourth and final element, world domination with a foundation of prejudices creates mass genocide of past populations.

Economic competition and improvement that existed and still exists creates a great tension between countries. Just like the arms race that was part of the Cold War and World War II, competition generates rivalries. Both the United States and the Soviet Union tried to out do each other and the battle escalated. Since each country wanted to protect themselves against a threat, retaliation lead to overproduction of weapons on each side. The escalation deteriorated the confidence between them, and made it more likely that a crisis could cause one side to strike. One government ready to start a war rather than wait for the other side to strike all because of paranoia. Right now, at this very moment, China and the U.S. have an arms race of their own. The only difference is, that today’s weapons are made for worldwide annihilation. According to Christopher Silber, the United States has a defence’ budget of $288 billion, while China, only $37 billion. Also, literally hundreds of tactical nuclear warheads (500, 380 respectively) are in their possession to prevent or start war (102). The purpose, to protect themselves from the other opponent in case of attack. The theory is that a country’s revenue will increase in a postwar time line. The term economic-boon is used in just this context. Over the course of a war, manufacturing weapons and producing materials for combat use (shells, bullets, etc.) becomes a great source of revenue for the government. Another example of economic gains, or more like measures to cease economic decline is the American Civil War. Abolishment of slavery caused a backlash from the slaveholders who in turn, declared civil war against the abolitionists. Conflict arose from the fact that, now, labour would no longer be free, no longer slave labour (Denis 54). Economic conflicts seldom lead to violence today because military forms of leverage are no longer very effective in economic conflicts. However, in the past, as you can see, there has been much violence and harm caused by this thing we call greed.

Differences in opinion has cost humanity millions of lives and no war is bloodier than those that have been provoked by these differences. Ethnic conflict is quite possibly the most important source of conflict of our times. Although conflicts between ethnic groups are often disputes over territory and control of the state, it results from a hatred that one group feels toward another. Bringing back the example of the Cold War, the breakup of the USSR and Yugoslavia allowed ethnic and regional conflicts to be brought forth, sometimes bringing violence and war. Ideology and religion both deepen and symbolize conflicts between groups and states more than they cause them. Ideologies have a ricketier hold on values and truth than religions do, so they bear fewer problems on an international level. When religion is spread over into ethnic and territorial conflicts, religion often emerges as the central divider between parties. For example, most Indians are Hindus and most Pakistanis are Muslims. Croats are mostly Roman Catholic, Serbs are Orthodox, and Albanians are Muslims. This is a very common pattern in ethnic conflicts. (Brown) There is nothing inherent in religion that must create conflict, but religious differences hold the potential for conflict because they involve values and define what is right and what is wrong. Ideological differences are not of much concern because they don’t affect other nations in the same way religion does. Over the long run, even countries that experience revolutions based on strong ideologies tend to lose their intensity. For example, Marxism/Communism was short lived even if there was bloodshed. Revolutions do change international relations by making wars more likely because of the sudden transformation of governments can change partnerships and the distribution of power (Martin, 47-65). As demonstrated during the Cold War, it can also intensify the conflict between two nations.

With conflicts of the international variety, where goods are concerned, those about territory are very important. Conflicts over control of territory are about gaining the resources that the region possesses. For instance, the Persian Gulf was the site of last decade’s battle over a domain. Kuwait was an area rich in oil reserves and Iraq, a nation led by a fascist named Saddam Hussein, wanted these reserves for themselves (Atkinson, 33). The value of this territory seemed worth risking life and limb in an all-out effort to capture a state that was protected under the U.N. (United Nations). Obviously, the world wasn’t going to stand there and do nothing. Look at past instance like the First and Second World War, the Vietnam and Korean war; the U.N., or the States, interjected by sending troops to help defend the country. Iraq was driven by gluttony. Historically, territory was the reason for expanding agriculture and extracting resources. Wars being won or lost meant gaining or losing territory and power. However, today’s wars have taken the direction that power and wealth are derived from technology rather than agriculture.

Finally, the quest for supremacy led many an individual or group to thoughts of world domination. Such a category encompasses all the previous elements and puts them into one devastating combination. One of the most synonymous names with fascism and prejudiced views is that of Adolf Hitler. Mass genocide of all populations, to leave all but the master race’ alive, proved to be his agenda. His hatred for everything impure’ drove him to establish an army that would storm across Europe and then World. The drive of many men from history long ago had set precedence in trying to conquer foreign lands. For example, Genghis Khan and Napoleon have tried to. Once in a while, humanity is faced with an opponent that has a vision to triumph over all the nations of the world; a cause of war that is all too disastrous. Prejudice is a hatred that is so strong that genocide can be thought as a sound’ practice. As the rise of fascism steadily increased throughout the 20th century, Hitler and Mussolini’s dictatorship of their respective countries allowed them to rally the population and make them believe that the world was theirs for the taking (Durand, 78). War was imminent with such attitudes, and like the past World War, mankind would not stand for such prejudice and eradication of innocent lives. War had been achieved all because the wants of a few men persuaded a populous into believing that they were the almighty race. Prejudice is a powerful tool in persuasion and has caused many wars in the past and present.

To conclude, the causes of war are numerous and can fit into philosophical categories for easier analysation. This essay set out to demonstrate that wars are caused by greed and a surplus of power. War is not an option that we as humanity can afford any longer. Death and destruction are byproducts of war, neither can be prevented when dealing with it. The arms race process was illustrated vividly in the U.S. Soviet nuclear arms race, which, at one point in time, created arsenals of tens of thousands of nuclear weapons on each side. The Earth would have been devastated and humans would have had nuclear winter the likes that we couldn’t even imagine. With the tight integration of the world economy and the high cost of military actions, the use of force is seldom justified by the stakes of any given economic issue. Even those that might save a country from economic ruin should not create or fancy war. The costs of territorial disputes appear to outweigh the economic benefits that the territory in question could provide. It would seem that war has diverged from territoriality issues to those of power and control. Nothing generates more power than controlling the entire globe. Some may protest that countries should not meddle with the affairs of others, and that diplomacy is not a factor when helping another state. However within the U.N. charter, which was created on October 24, 1945, it states that the “UN human rights bodies are involved in early-warning and conflict prevention as well as in efforts to address root causes of conflict” and most countries agree with the U.N. (UN Charter).

References and Bibliography

Les causes cach es de la Deuxi me Guerre Mondiale. Paris, France: Henry Coston, May 1975.

United Nations [Database]. (2000). Geneva, Switzerland.

Atkinson, Rick. Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf. Houghton Mifflin Co., October 1994.

Brown, L. Carl. Religion and State: The Muslim Approach to Politics. Columbia Univ. Pr., 2000.

Denis, Ernest, +mile Durkheim. Qui a voulu la Guerre?. Paris, France: +ditions Kim , 1996.

Durand, Yves. Les causes de la Deuxi me Guerre Mondiale. Paris, France: Armand Colin +diteur, 1992.

Lejeune, Dominique. Les causes de la Premi re Guerre Mondiale. Paris, France: Armand Colin +diteur, 1992.

Martin, Mich le. Communication and Mass Media: Culture, Domination and Opposition. Scarborough, Canada: Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., 1997.

Williamson Jr., Samuel R. Austria-Hungary and the Origins of the First World War. London, England: MacMillan, 1991.