There are many differing opinions on war and the motivation to fight in it. In Carl von Clausewitz’s famous document, On War, he goes in depth about his specific views on war. Clausewitz says that the ideology that people feel for the war is what motivates them to fight and this motivation is in direct correlation with the violence in the war, but I believe that it is people’s desire for change that motivates them to fight in the war. Though Clausewitz makes good points throughout On War, I believe that he missed this one. When people are not pleased with their current environment or with something that has happened, they want it to change. It is this passion and desire for change that motivates the people to actually take a stand. Just because people feel strongly about issues in the war does not mean that they will be willing to fight for or against something. But when people are passionate for a change in their country, their situation, or in reaction to an event that has taken place; then the people will take a stand and will be motivated to fight for it. Clausewitz says that the stronger that people feel about the war, the more motivated they will be to fight in it. This motivation to fights is what leads to how violent the war is. In On War, Clausewitz says that “the greater and more powerful the motives of a war, the more it affects the whole existence of a people, the more violent the excitement which precedes the war” (von Clausewitz). When there are more powerful motives for the war, the entire nation is more concerned, which makes the tension leading up to war greater. This tension that precedes the war is what is in direct correlation with the violence during the war. On both sides of the war, “the motives towards peace will rise and fall…depending on the probability of future success” (Lindell) War is not something that just happens. There are events leading up to it which prompts the people to fight. Clausewitz believes that war leads to peace. Because of this desire for peace, the people of the nation will be more motivated to fight. Depending on how strong this desire is will depend on how violent the nation will be willing to be. Before the French Revolution, a majority of the people in France lived in extreme poverty. Arthur Young said, “The poor seem poor indeed; the children terribly ragged, if possible worse clad than if with no clothes at all; as to shoes and stockings they are luxuries… One third of what I have seen of this province seems uncultivated, and nearly all of it in misery” (Walters). The country side of France was this way first but then it spread and the urban population of France began to experience this hardship as well. On top of this, the king was in financial crisis, so Louis XVI raised the taxes. Peasants who could hardly
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The people against slavery were called abolitionists. The abolitionists believed that slavery was wrong and evil. The south argued that blacks were similar to children and could not care for themselves. The north argued against slavery and “the voices of Northern abolitionists… became increasingly violent” (“Slavery in the United States” 2014). The south tried to say that slaves were happy, but educated, heartfelt attacks on slavery written by people like escaped-slave Frederick Douglass said otherwise. The treatment of slaves varied depending on the owner, but families of slaves being separated and punishments like whipping was common.
Though the war may have started as a way to preserve the Union which was breaking after the election of an anti-slavery President, Abraham Lincoln, it turned into a war that would decide the fate of slavery (“Slavery in the United States” 2014). The desire for change is what caused the civil war. The people of the northern states recognized that slavery should not be legal while the southern states wanted to expand slavery to the west. This drastic difference in opinion was the motivation for the war. If the abolitionists were not so passionate about a change in slavery, then the Civil war would not have
The people against slavery were called abolitionists. The abolitionists believed that slavery was wrong and evil. The south argued that blacks were similar to children and could not care for themselves. The north argued against slavery and “the voices of Northern abolitionists… became increasingly violent” (“Slavery in the United States” 2014). The south tried to say that slaves were happy, but educated, heartfelt attacks on slavery written by people like escaped-slave Frederick Douglass said otherwise. The treatment of slaves varied depending on the owner, but families of slaves being separated and punishments like whipping was common.
Though the war may have started as a way to preserve the Union which was breaking after the election of an anti-slavery President, Abraham Lincoln, it turned into a war that would decide the fate of slavery (“Slavery in the United States” 2014). The desire for change is what caused the civil war. The people of the northern states recognized that slavery should not be legal while the southern states wanted to expand slavery to the west. This drastic difference in opinion was the motivation for the war. If the abolitionists were not so passionate about a change in slavery, then the Civil war would not have