War Essay Rough Draft

Gen.   John J. Pershing   , a veteran of the Spanish-American War, commanded the AEF. The U.S. was far from prepared to send an army to the European front

World War I, or “The Great War”, began in 1914 and ended in 1918. The devastation witnessed in those four years alone, caused nearly 9 million people to die and millions more crippled, grief stricken, maimed, or psychologically scarred. Considered by some to be the first man-made catastrophe of the twentieth century, many scholars still debate over the main underlying causes of World War I. Many things contributed to the war, changing the lives of many people, many of them still evident today. Beginning only as a European conflict, gradually it developed into a world war.

War leads to oppression and leaves negative implications on all people and societies by impacting the poor, women, children, and nations as a whole. "War is a state of violent conflict between one or more groups" (Rasenberger 3). Rasenberger defines war as a state of conflict between one group within itself or several groups in combat with each other, what is not mentioned are the after-effects of war. War itself leads to many civilian and military deaths, an estimated 1.5-3.8 million people died during the Vietnam War and an approximate 500,000 people died in the Iraq war. The biggest tragedy of War is that it always results in fatality, but another key, negative, factor to understand is that after the War many adverse implications arise. Post-war ramifications in the nation fall upon the poor, women, and children, making them weaker and less motivated leading to the downfall of a society. Regardless if a nation wins or is defeated in war they have to deal with consequences of war and find solutions to the impacted people and society. It is essential to understand that there is never a true victor in war because regardless of the outcome, fatality and a fall of morale within society on both sides are inevitable. War has often been the solution to situations that required force or violence, but in recent times this has

The Great War , or as it is known now, World War One was a global conflict fought between the Allied Powers ; Great Britain, France, Russia, and the United States along will other smaller nations and the Central Powers ; Germany, Austria – Hungary, Turkey/Ottoman Empire and other small nations from 1914 to 1918. World War One began from a series of tumultuous events, that in turn affected the balance of alliances that had been made between countries at that time in the world.

Government justifies war as a thing of glory for young soldiers to be in, almost as if it was a trend

The four stages of the Thirty Years' War, which was fought mostly in the Holy Roman Empire (modern Germany), involved nearly all of the major powers of Europe, and was a war that used religion as a cover-up for politics. The war caused the demise of the Holy Roman Empire, and the rise of France as the new power in Europe. During the war new technologies also were used. The Thirty Year's War was ended by the peace of Westphalia in 1648.

“A Splendid Little War” was an alternative title to the Spanish American War named by Ambassador John Hay to his good friend Theodore Roosevelt. This war was one of the shortest wars of all time, lasting only about four months. Surprisingly, the main cause of death in this war wasn’t by being shot, but by dying of diseases such as Yellow Fever, Malaria and other diseases. Only 9,413 Spaniards were killed by wounds and combat and 53,540 were killed by many diseases. In this “Splendid Little War” America was able to free Spain's overseas empire which included Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. The United States was also hungry for foreign good that weren’t available to them in the homeland. After an easy victory over Spain, American was able to control islands in the seas such as Cuba, The Philippines and Guam. After this war, Spain was no longer a world power and the United States was on its way to the top.

In the 1940’s a series of propaganda films titled Why We Fight were produced for the purpose of defining the enemies of World War 2 to justify the necessity of America’s involvement in war. Hitler needed to be defeated, Nazism had to be destroyed, and tyranny had to be stopped for the sake of the American way of life by any means necessary. How could society argue against America’s role in the world war when freedom was being threatened? As Martin Luther King Jr. said “Injustice anywhere is a threat to everywhere.” No questions asked, Americans mobilized in the name of liberty and freedom. However the 2005 documentary film Why We Fight directed by Eugene Jarecki is not a sequel or war propaganda. The film informs the audience and questions America 's military industrial complex that has since dictated policy since the victory of World War 2. With the help of narration, soundbites, and credible speakers Jarecki shines light on the pernicious impact of the armed industry on our government, army, and citizens.

As long as man has had the ability to think for himself, there has been conflict and war. Wars are waged by the rich and powerful, but fought by the poor masses who march, inexorably into the meat grinder. The question of “why do soldiers fight?” arises when looking at the study of warfare. What compelled the hoplite from Sparta, the foot soldier in Napoleon’s Grand Army, the American Infantryman on Omaha Beach, or the Army Ranger in Baghdad to willingly enlist and fight for their cause? The most devastating war in American history was by far the Civil War, claiming more American lives in four years than all other American wars (except World War I and II) combined. What is it that made these

The War of 1812 was a military conflict between Great Britain and the United States that was fought from 1812 to 1815. Canada became involved due to the fact that they were a colony of Great Britain at the time and Canada had been invaded on multiple occasions by the United States. The war began because of conflict between Great Britain and the United States when Great Britain adopted economic sanctions that restricted American trade. Britain also infuriated the Americans when the HMS Geurriere attacked an American vessel looking for British born sailors on May 1st 1811 to force them into the Royal Navy. The Americans were already outraged about the sanctions and the attack simply brought it to the next level. On June 18, 1812, United States declared war on

Aristotle once said “we make war that we may live in peace.” That is true. All wars have been fought because people feel that peace has been lost, and they want to obtain it. Whether it be about land, rights, religion, or government; people fight for peace. Edwin Starr’s song lyrics are wrong, because war can be beneficial. The benefits to war are that it frees people from oppression and gives the country and soldiers a unifying ideology and a sense of national pride.

The notion of an American way of war informs how scholars, policymakers, and strategists understand how Americans fight. A way of war—defined as a society’s cultural preferences for waging war—is not static. Change can occur as a result of important cultural events, often in the form of traumatic experiences or major social transformations. A way of war is therefore the malleable product of culturally significant past experiences. Reflecting several underlying cultural ideals, the current American way of war consists of three primary tenets—the desire for moral clarity, the primacy of technology, and the centrality of scientific management systems—which combine to create a preference for decisive, large-scale conventional wars with clear objectives and an aversion to morally ambiguous low-intensity conflicts that is relevant to planners because it helps them address American strategic vulnerabilities.

Following World War I, and into the beginning of World War II, the United States of America was still recuperating from the first war, and therefore did not engage. The focus was reestablishing the military in the form of personnel and equipment. It was becoming evident that the forward shift in technology was forcing

This paper reviews America’s paradoxical love-hate relationship with war and how this relationship influences American warfare through the research and study of the interpretation and analyzation of American military models, policy and goal changes, the use of military technology, “American way of war,” and the relationship with, preparation for, and application of war.

The Reason for Going to War Since the beginning of the war on Iraq, over 8243 civilians, 11000 Iraqi soldiers and 642 Coalition soldiers have died. There has not been one day since a US soldier was killed and since the beginning of the occupation, 39750 bombs have been dropped and $117 billion dollars have been spent. And no weapons of mass destruction have been found.