Comments | the_ref: War & Clarity of Purpose

the_ref

War & Clarity of Purpose

Mar 12, 2006 20:05

It has been noted many times that WWI was a great tragedy. Not only did untold numbers of people die in the trenches, but ultimately there was no purpose, no goal to the war. Even the sides in the war were in many ways unclear -- if the war had been held ten or even five years earlier, Britain would have sided with Germany against France. This ( Read more... )

Comments 3

rhymeswbytch March 13 2006, 16:15:27 UTC

You know that I love you my friend, but I cannot agree that a war which left 10 million people dead, collapsed 4 empires, redrew the map of Europe, and fundamentally changed the face of modern warfare was of no consequence ( ... )

the_ref March 13 2006, 18:42:24 UTC

WWI of no consequence? No, that's not what I intend to say. What I DO say is that it was an utterly pointless, meaningless conflict, one that caused great harm but achieved no good, one that had no goal, only destruction. Yes, it set up further conflicts, but that is all. Without a goal or a reason for a war, why start a war? War is so awful, so terrible, so devastating that starting one should be very carefully considered, not simply jumped into. None of the nations involved in WWI had a clear goal. War was started for no good reason, and this came from highly civilized nations ( ... )

rhymeswbytch March 14 2006, 09:12:17 UTC

I think that there is a clear reason and a clear goal, but it is not any administration's or any politician's goal - it's mine. So, I don't expect you to share it but I would be happy to debate you any time.
I think that the scholarship that is suggesting we lump WWI together with WWII brings up some interesting thoughts, though. Was the rise of fascism inevitable or was it a natural result of the power vacuum created in the post-WWI era? Are we perhaps right now continuing an extended struggle between totalitarianism vs. self-determination, or secularism vs. religious rule. Or, as some Muslim scholars have said, we are just sticking our noses into what is primarily an internal struggle in the Muslim world, a civil war that reaches beyond country borders and extends to tribal ties and inter-cultural struggle?