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News Gram™ March 2003

March 2003 - Vol. 9, No. 8

By the time you read this we likely will be at war. No one knows what the outcome will be, though most people believe the United States will prevail militarily. This is a good time to take a look at some of the historical bases for war, since there may be many similarities between conflicts of the past and those of today.

History of War — The earliest wars occurred between animals, though they don't often use weapons. Monkeys occasionally throw stones at each other when things get really hot. Why war? Females, usually. Male animals fight furiously to possess their mates, to protect their nests and for leadership in the group. The good news is that such wars are rarely lethal. If you're an ape at war, you can get pretty badly beaten up, but you'll live to see another day.

Primitive human beings were organized into clans, villages or tribes. Warriors used stones, clubs, spears and the bow and arrow for attack. Animal skins served as defensive shields. Some anthropologists have argued that primitive man was peaceful and war was only introduced with the advent of civilization. When hostilities did break out between opposing groups, the reason was not economic gain or political conquest. Instead, it was to defend some basic belief or practice that had been offended by the other group, usually through witch-doctoring or wife-stealing. Recall that the kidnapping of Helen of Troy was the cause of the Trojan War.

With the introduction of agriculture, herding and a written language, productivity was so greatly increased that it was possible for a political organization to emerge. Similarly, war became an institution conducted by a specialized group of individuals who were devoted to plunder, expansion, acquisition and political enhancement. With the growth of civilization, more sophisticated weapons and strategies were introduced. Alliances between states became common and wars became broader in their scope.

The Eight Great Wars — In the 2000 years of Western civilization there have been eight massive conflicts that have shaped the lives we lead today.

1. Alexander the Great of Macedonia (Northern Greece) in the fourth century B.C., utilized his own version of the Greek phalanx and Hellenized a short-lived empire that extended from Greece, Egypt and Persia to the Indus River in what is today India.
   
   
2. Rome spent three centuries conquering most of the western world and northern Africa. During the century of the Caesars, it controlled the lives of 150 million people and kept the peace for nearly 100 years.
   
   
3. Attila the Hun overran much of the Roman Empire but was defeated at the Battle of Chalons in 451. In his wake were numerous hordes of barbarians that eventually prevailed and assumed control in 476.
   
   
4. Muhammad and his successors starting in about 622 extended the empire of Islam into Arabia, Persia, India, eastern Anatolia, Egypt, north Africa and Spain. Charles Martel halted their expansion in the Battle of Tours in 732.
   
   
5. Charlemagne built a feudal army of knights on horseback as well as militia in the eighth century and cobbled together a brief empire in France, Germany and Italy. This was the foundation of the Holy Roman Empire.
   
   
6. Norsemen in Viking ships invaded northern Europe, Italy, Greenland and America between the ninth and eleventh centuries. By the time they left, they had established permanent governments in Normandy, England and Iceland.
   
   
7. The crusades took place between 1095 to 1270, were instigated by the papacy and targeted at Islam. They founded a short-lived kingdom in Palestine and also fortified the internal solidarity of Christendom, which led to a considerable decrease in bellicosity during the Pax Ecclesiae of the 13th century.
   
   
8. The Hundred Years' War from 1337 to 1453 was an attempt by England to conquer France. The longbow was an important weapon in that war and Joan of Arc rose above all others to rally her countrymen against the English. This series of conflicts led to an increased sense of national identity in each country, especially in France.

Most of these wars were ideological in one way or another. The conflict of belief systems was prominent in the expansion of Islam, the conquests of Charlemagne, the crusades, in Alexander's devotion to Hellenism and in the emerging nationalistic awareness in England and France during the Hundred Years' War.

There were economic factors related to these wars as well. The Huns engaged in massive plundering, as did the Vikings and Romans. There was also the search for greater sources of food. The system of primogeniture in Europe provided considerable stimulus for those who were not first-born to seek their fortune through one or another crusade.

Added to these factors was the political one of seeking a lasting peace, greater glory and enhanced security. The expansion of empire was viewed as the way to achieve such goals.

Wars have been with us since civilization began. The perennial question is how to find solutions to human problems without resorting to such destructive means. So far, no one has come up with an answer.

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