{mosimage}Throughout history, mankind has resorted to armed conflict to resolve cultural, religious, humanitarian, sovereign and economical differences. These conflicts have taken the form of civil, revolutionary, guerrilla and world war. Back in the days of King Solomon, when ‘war machines’ were chariots and armaments were swords and shields, one of the greatest signs of war was the amassing of horses, the fastest transportation of the day.

Civil wars have been the result of internal strife, when a nation finds itself sharply divided. This type of war typically takes the greatest toll on a country. For example, the American Civil War, 1860-1865, fought over the abolition of slavery, was the single largest wartime loss of life in United States history.
Some of the signs of civil war include resistance and underground group formation. This was certainly evident for the cause of freeing slaves. The Northern states formed a resistance group call the Underground Railroad. Slaves were transported secretly through a vast network of peoples’ homes and delivered into Canada. Southern plantation owners sent hired guns to get their human ‘property’ returned. The conflict began to heat up when Abraham Lincoln, a strong opponent of slavery, was elected President.
When political debate and established governmental process cannot resolve internal differences, the obvious follows. Unlike many civil wars, the American Civil War did not spawn subsequent civil wars. Issues of prejudice remained for generations afterward, and were addressed through legislative change and peaceful activists, such as Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. A phase of rioting took place in the 1960s, when a new generation attempted a more violent approach to addressing the prejudice.

Revolutionary wars present many of the same signs as civil wars, a discontented group that becomes more and more vocal and demonstrative about their discontent. They often circulate written propaganda to insight others to join the cause. Resistance groups form, and work to get sympathizers within the current regime.

World Wars often have a very visible build-up. For World War II, Hitler’s reconstruction of the machines of war, tanks, airplanes, and their strategic placement along borders of peaceful countries, made it all clear. Not reading the scope of Hitler’s intentions with this armament, the appeasement process, conceding of some countries without retaliation, was a first reaction and an ill-conceived one. Truly, had the world acknowledged the scope of the war machine that Germany had constructed, perhaps they would have reacted differently. Or maybe the world was still weary of war from the First World War, under the faulty assumption that it had been the ‘War to End All Wars.’

Today, we look at nuclear enrichment as the most imposing sign of war. While so called third world countries seem to be obtaining materials for this type of build-up, more troubling is the source of these materials, often a modern country. Is the motive of profit or fear of retribution more daunting than the thought of a volatile government having nuclear weapons capabilities?
Truly the statement that if we do not learn from history we are doomed to repeat its mistakes, applies here. The question is, with all of this history staring us in the face, what makes us ignore its lessons? That is perhaps the most troubling thought of all.