The Perils of War

Multiple wars were fought in the world, starting from ancient history to medieval to even recent days. We have been taught about various wars in school, starting from Alexander the great, to the Battles of Panipat, Battles of Mysore and many more. Though the World wars have not been taught in great detail (or that is how I remember), they are the most recent, and wars which were waged at a scale never seen before.

World War 1. What started as a conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, quickly escalated as a the great war (it was so called before the world war 2), with a dozen countries stepping in to fight on either sides. Close to 20 Million people lost their lives from the war, and around 50 Million died in the following years due to consequences of the war. This was around 4-5% of the total world population during that time.

World War 2. What started as an ambitious, power hungry campaigns, by Hitler in Europe and the Japanese empire in the East, engulfed the world in a war which changed the course of humanity forever. Close to 100 Million lives were lost, and also led to some of the most barbaric incidents that the world has ever seen, like the Holocaust and the use of atom bombs. The Atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima killed close to 100,000 people in minutes, and another 200,000 to 300,000 in the subsequent few days. This inscription in the Hiroshima peace museum tells a thousand words.

After the World War 2, countries around the world pledged against wars. The United Nations was born in the April of 1945, with 50 countries as its members, in a single mission to maintain world peace. After the catastrophic scale of destruction seen in the World War 2, and the ability of countries to launch modern (and shameful) weapons of destruction, it was clear to everyone that the World cannot afford another war. There are also people/countries who say that the World Wars have accelerated their industrial production. But the fact that there are many countries which have not participated in the war, and are now amongst the developed nations, proves that we do not need a war for industrial development.

The British Empire collapsed and so did the European reign in Africa and across the world. Many European countries announced reparations and privileges for their former colonies, to undo some of the losses from their reign. The world learned that no Countries' greed in great enough to rule the world. But what happened after this. Wars continued. The US and Russia were entangled in Wars across the Globe, apart from the cold war for 45 years. There were wars in Iraq, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Yemen, India-Pakistan and we can keep going. My interest recently was drawn to the events which led to the Vietnam war, and the war itself. The Vietnam war shows the lengths that countries can go to, with no respect to the cost of the war; and also shows that countries can wage wars with no objective at all.

An American Socialist, Historian quotes "Vietnam war was a like a wound that never heals".  Vietnam was a French colony since the 1880's; and with France surrendering to Hitler during WW2, it gave Japan the way to occupy Vietnam. After Japan retreated at the end of WW2 in August of 1945, French reclaimed its territory and recolonised Vietnam. A North Vietnam uprising supported by Russia, led by Ho Chi Minh (Do read about him, one of the most inspiring personalities across the World), began the revolt against the French. The French, already exhausted from the WW2, quickly started moving out of Vietnam. This was the time the US stepped in, with an objective to save Vietnam from becoming a communist state. After the French moved out, the US supported a weak South Vietnam Government, and waged a 20 year long war from mid 1950's to mid 1970's. President after President, from Eisenhower to JFK to Lyndon Johnson to Richard Nixon, have only stepped up the war, inspite of campaigning for ending the war. US resorted to warfare not seen before. Agent Orange (Napalm) was used to destroy all plant life, in an effort to starve North Vietnamese; Napalm later had many many serious health complications on the people of that region. The only way Americans measured the success, during most times of the war, was the body count and kill ratio.

In the clock wise direction, the first image is that of the US Army, during the battle of Dak To, where they conquered Hill 875; US lost close to 500 men, and killed closed to 5 times more this number. (Do read about this to understand the heights of lack of objective, during the war. 

The second photo is where the chief of police of South Vietnam shoots a suspect, in cold blood, on open street. The photo became viral across the US, and fuelled many anti war protests.

The monk who set himself on fire, as the South Vietnam attacked the religious institutions across the country. This was an extra ordinary act, which turned the people of South Vietnam against their own Government. Though the South Vietnamese Government downplayed this, the US knew that this is the beginning of the end for the South Vietnamese regime. 

The last photo, which haunts even the hard hearted, is famously known as the picture of the Napalm girl. The photo was taken in 1972, immediately after the US dropped Napalm on a village in North Vietnam. Children could be seen running away from the bomb, helplessly. The girl in the photo, miraculously survived, and now lives in Canada. 

After two decades of War, the US negotiated a peace deal between the South Vietnam and North Vietnam Governments, and exited the war. Without US, the South Vietnam Government was overthrown in a few months, and the North Vietnam united the country under a single Government. Thus was born the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. US lost close to 60000 men and scores injured, scarred for life; all of this for nothing. Close to 2 Million Vietnamese were killed during these 20 years; and the country completely destroyed. 

Even today, there are wars being fought in Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Syria and many other places. The wars are being fought or supported by some of the mightiest nations like the US, Russia etc. Haunting images like the above have become more common. Like in any war, it is the people who are the most vulnerable. 

Who are we doing these for? In the 21st century, can wars between nations be ever won? When will this stop? I can only say that we the people can also do our bit to stop these wars. Let us not forget the pressure that Americans put on their Governments during the Vietnam war and the war in Iraq. Let us also not forget that Europe, where most of the wars originated, is no more involved in any wars. Let us start talking against it. Let us all say, No to War.