Diplomacy Over Force
A common ideal taught to children is to use words over violence to dissolve conflicts. If someone makes someone else upset, resolving disagreement through diplomacy and not force is almost common sense to most people. In most countries, using force is an action that is looked down upon, if not prohibited. Yet, responsible men who are powerful enough to lead countries often seem to start wars to resolve national disputes. Initially known as the Great War, World War I is one such war, which was initiated as the consequence of a conflict between the nations of Austria-Hungary and Serbia. And as the allies of the two countries got dragged into the conflict, it quickly escalated into a total war that was fought on a global scale …show more content…
During the middle of the conflict from 1915 to 1917, the war displays detrimental effects on the lives of soldiers and civilians alike. The soldiers become fed up of the torturous lives in the trenches. One French soldier complains about the conditions of the trenches on July 23, 1915, in a letter written home. He finds “conditions are unbearable… [His] only comfort is knowing that the Germans suffer from the same horrible conditions. With any luck [he] should be home soon.” (Jean-Paul). The soldier clearly expresses his discontent about his life in the trenches in his letter, and looks forwards to returning home and retiring from the conflict, a very different approach from the promotive demeanor that most soldiers carry at the beginning of the war. The horrors of new technologies of war such as poison gas, tanks, and machine guns scar soldiers and they no longer feel the need for vengeance. Although negative sentiment about countries’ enemies remains stagnant, public opinion about the war shifts as the soldiers experience the brutal life on the front lines and return with their traumatic experiences. Returning soldiers influence civilians from every country as they learn more of the atrocities of war. A propogandic poster that was distributed in the United States urges citizens to eat less wheat to support the defeat of the Germans (Brostowitz, “Wartime Propaganda”). In order to …show more content…
The outcome of the Great War was to be expected because of the evidence presented by the disparities of the war experiences during its different stages. After its commencement, the opinions about the war quickly change as conflicts produce a backlash and hatred grows between nations. War, composed by the tendencies of human nature, consists mostly of the primordial instincts that humanity has long since desired to transcend - hatred, greed, and pride. Between the political, civilian, and human dimensions of the war, the same underlying cause of shorter-term conflicts accumulate to produce the wars that have occurred time and time again throughout history. Outstripping these immature behaviors will enable humankind to resolve disputes using diplomacy. From war, we can observe that force is an ineffective way to resolve any conflict that one may have. The most efficient way to conclude a conflict is to use diplomacy over
A common ideal taught to children is to use words over violence to dissolve conflicts. If someone makes someone else upset, resolving disagreement through diplomacy and not force is almost common sense to most people. In most countries, using force is an action that is looked down upon, if not prohibited. Yet, responsible men who are powerful enough to lead countries often seem to start wars to resolve national disputes. Initially known as the Great War, World War I is one such war, which was initiated as the consequence of a conflict between the nations of Austria-Hungary and Serbia. And as the allies of the two countries got dragged into the conflict, it quickly escalated into a total war that was fought on a global scale …show more content…
During the middle of the conflict from 1915 to 1917, the war displays detrimental effects on the lives of soldiers and civilians alike. The soldiers become fed up of the torturous lives in the trenches. One French soldier complains about the conditions of the trenches on July 23, 1915, in a letter written home. He finds “conditions are unbearable… [His] only comfort is knowing that the Germans suffer from the same horrible conditions. With any luck [he] should be home soon.” (Jean-Paul). The soldier clearly expresses his discontent about his life in the trenches in his letter, and looks forwards to returning home and retiring from the conflict, a very different approach from the promotive demeanor that most soldiers carry at the beginning of the war. The horrors of new technologies of war such as poison gas, tanks, and machine guns scar soldiers and they no longer feel the need for vengeance. Although negative sentiment about countries’ enemies remains stagnant, public opinion about the war shifts as the soldiers experience the brutal life on the front lines and return with their traumatic experiences. Returning soldiers influence civilians from every country as they learn more of the atrocities of war. A propogandic poster that was distributed in the United States urges citizens to eat less wheat to support the defeat of the Germans (Brostowitz, “Wartime Propaganda”). In order to …show more content…
The outcome of the Great War was to be expected because of the evidence presented by the disparities of the war experiences during its different stages. After its commencement, the opinions about the war quickly change as conflicts produce a backlash and hatred grows between nations. War, composed by the tendencies of human nature, consists mostly of the primordial instincts that humanity has long since desired to transcend - hatred, greed, and pride. Between the political, civilian, and human dimensions of the war, the same underlying cause of shorter-term conflicts accumulate to produce the wars that have occurred time and time again throughout history. Outstripping these immature behaviors will enable humankind to resolve disputes using diplomacy. From war, we can observe that force is an ineffective way to resolve any conflict that one may have. The most efficient way to conclude a conflict is to use diplomacy over