English for Students

Evils of Wars

Evils of Wars :




There is no doubt that war is an evil one. It is the greatest catastrophe that can befall human beings. It brings death and destruction, merciless slaughter and butchery, disease and starvation, poverty and ruin in its wake. One has only to think of the havoc that was wrought in various countries not many years ago, in order to estimate the destructive effects of war. A particularly disturbing side of modern wars is that they tend to become global so that they may engulf the entire world. There are, doubtless, people who consider war as something grand and heroic and regard it as something that brings out the best man. But this does not in any way alter the fact that war is a terrible dreadful calamity and this is especially true of an atomic war.


But though war is an evil, we must recognize the fact that it is a necessary, inescapable evil. A glance at the past history of the world will show war has been a recurrent phenomenon in the history of nations. No period in world history has been free from the devastating effects of war. We have had wars of all types--- wars lasting for a year or so and a war lasting for hundred years. In view of this it seems futile to talk of permanent, everlasting peace or to make plans of the establishment of eternal peace. We have had advocates of non-violence and the theory of The brotherhood of mankind and fraternity of god. But in spite of preachers of love and non- violence, weapons have always been used, military force has always been employed. Clashes of arms have always occurred. In a world war has ways been waged. War has indeed, been such a marked feature of every age and period This has come to be regarded as part of The normal life of nations.


Poet and prophets have dreamt of a millennium - an utopia in which war will not exist and eternal peace will reign on earth, but these dreams have not been fulfilled. After the great war of 1914-18 it was tough that there would be no war for a long time to come and institutions called the league of nations was founded as a safeguard agent against the outbreak of war. The occurrence the Second World War however, conclusively proved that to think of an unbroken peace’s to be unrealistic and that no institution or assembly can ever ensure the presence of peace. League of nations was collapsed completely under the tension and stresses created by Hitler. The Uniter Nations Organisation, with all the good work that it has seen doing, is not proving as effective as was desired. A large number of wars, The most recent ones behind the one in Vietnam, the other between India and Pakistan, or Ind-China war, Iran-Iraq war or Arab Isreal war.


The fact of the matter is that, fighting is a natural instinct in peace. It is, indeed, too much to exact so many nations to live in a state of eternal peace. Besides, there will always be wide differences of option between various nations, different angle of looking at matters that have an international importance, radical difference in policy and ideology and they cannot be settled by mere discussion so that resort to war becomes very necessary in these cases. Before the outbreak of World War II, for instance, the spread of communism in Russia created distrust and suspicions in Europe. Democracy was an eyesore to Nazi Germany. British conservatism were apprehensive of the possibility of Britain being communized. In short, the political ideology of one country being abhorrent to another, the state of affairs as certainly not conducive to the continuance of peace.


Adding to all this is the traditional enmity between national and international disharmony that have their root in past history. For examples, Germany wished to avenge the humiliating terms imposed upon her at the conclusion often war of 1914-18, and desired, in additions, to smash the British empire and establish an empire of her own. Past wounds in fact do not perfectly heal up and are constant goals to an effort at vengeance. Now the ideology clash between communist Russia and The western democracies may plunge the world into war any day. A feverish arms race is going on between the hostile nations in anticipation of such an eventuality, that disarmament efforts proving futile. The Indo-Pakistani war was fought over the Kashmir issue.


It also appears that if peace were to continue for along period, people would become sick of the monotony of peace and seek war for change. Man is a highly dynamic creature and it seems that he cannot remain contented merely with works of peace - the cultivations of arts, The development of Modern comforts, the extension of knowledge, the means and appliances of a happy life. He wants something thrilling and full of excitement and he fights in order to get an outlet for his accumulated energy. It must be admitted to that war has its good side. It spurs men to heriosm and self- sacrifice. It is an incentive to scientific research and development. War is obviously an escape form the lethargy of peace.