War—Why?
HAVE you ever wondered why nations go to war? If we discover the answer to that question, we may also discover the key to peace.
Maybe you react somewhat like John Stoessinger, professor of political science: “I read that wars were caused by nationalism, militarism, alliance systems, economic factors, or by some other bloodless abstraction that I could not understand. . . . I wondered if this could be true. . . . After all, wars were begun by men. Yet this personality [human] dimension was seldom given its due weight in traditional books on war.” (Italics ours.) Obviously, the human element in war cannot be ignored.
In his book The Evolution of War, Professor Otterbein comes to a similar conclusion, saying that “wars are caused by the decisions of men as members of organizations, whether they are military organizations or governing bodies.” But what are the motives for war? According to his study, they are basically: political control, territory, plunder, prestige, defense, and revenge.
War—In Our Genes?
Many theories are offered to explain the causes of war. For example, those who believe in evolution see man only as a higher form of animal life that still retains the aggressive and defensive reflexes of the animal world. They argue that aggression is innate in man, that it is in his genes. Zoologist Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt wrote in The Biology of Peace and War: “Our closest relatives, the great apes, have considerable aggressive potential and are also territorial. . . . This strongly suggests that our human aggressivity may be an ancient primate heritage.”
Konrad Lorenz, Austrian founder of modern ethology (the study of animal behavior) asserts that man has an aggressive drive that is his “most powerfully motivating instinct [that] makes him go to war.”—On Aggression.
On the other hand, Sue Mansfield, a professor of history, challenges that conclusion, saying: “Though the majority of cultures in historic times have engaged in war, the majority of human beings have not been participants.” The fact that governments have to resort to obligatory conscription into the armed forces would also suggest that aggression and killing are not necessarily viewed with great enthusiasm by people in general, nor can they be seen as reflex reactions. Professor Mansfield adds: “Indeed, the historical record suggests that warfare has usually been a minority experience.”
In recent times that minority has been highly trained and preconditioned. In addition, with the advent of artillery, bombs, and missiles, war and killing have also become more impersonal. In contrast with wars of past ages, the specialized minority can kill without actually seeing, let alone knowing, their victims. But if they do not know the enemy, how can people be motivated to fight?
The Role of Propaganda
Sometimes neighbors quarrel. But seldom does it lead to bloodshed. In the first place, the law of the land prohibits assault and murder against fellow citizens. But in time of war, that prohibition does not apply to citizens of an opposing country, even though people in general really do not know their “enemies.” All that they know about the enemy is what they have been led to believe by the spoon-feeding of their politically controlled media.
This is a fact of life in every nation. As Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt wrote: “Public opinion is formed by interest groups (politicians, arms manufacturers, the military) that deceive the electorate by giving them false or one-sided information.” In a similar vein, historian H. E. Barnes wrote: “Since the wars of the French Revolution . . . copious and compelling propaganda [has] been continued and greatly increased to protect warfare against popular dissent, opposition, and factual analysis of issues.”
As a consequence, “practically anybody can be persuaded and manipulated in such a way that he will more or less voluntarily enter a situation wherein he must kill and perhaps die.” (War, by Gwynne Dyer) Thus, by reason of their political and economic power, the “elite” can control the media in order to prepare the masses for the bloodbath.
Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels, leaders of the ruling Nazi elite, were well aware of the importance of mind control and deception of the masses. On August 24, 1939, Hitler explained to a group of high officers his plans for the invasion of Poland: “I shall give a propagandist cause for starting the war. Never mind whether it is plausible or not. . . . In starting and waging a war, it is not Right that matters but Victory.”
Thus it is clear that a motivation has to be generated to make a nation rise up against another. But what are the key elements in generating war fever?
Who Make the Decisions?
Austrian economist Schumpeter wrote: “The orientation toward war is mainly fostered by the domestic interests of ruling classes but also by the influence of all those who stand to gain individually from a war policy, whether economically or socially.” These ruling classes have been defined as “elites [that] are at all times involved in trying to manipulate other elements of the population, or the public mood itself, so as to perpetuate themselves in power.”—Why War? by Professors Nelson and Olin.
Every nation has its ruling class, even though that group may be divided into different political factions. However, many observe that the power of the military elite in every nation should not be underestimated. Former U.S. Ambassador John K. Galbraith describes the military establishment as “by far the most powerful of the autonomous processes of government.” He continues: “The power of the military embraces not only the significant sources of power but . . . all the instruments of its enforcement. . . . More than any other exercise of power in our time it is the subject of grave public unease.”
Galbraith illustrates his point by reference to the United States military institution, which has property resources that “far exceed any similar source of power; they embrace not only what is available to the armed services and the civilian military establishment but what flows out to the weapons industries.” A like situation no doubt exists in the Soviet Union and many other countries. And therein lies a danger that could lead to a war of mutual annihilation—that the power of the military establishment comes to exceed that of the political.
How Does Religion Influence War?
Even though religion is on the wane in many countries, the clergy can be included in the elite decision-making group. Furthermore, religion has been and still is the motivating force behind some wars. One clear example is Shi‘ite Muslim Iran that is waging war with Sunni Muslim Iraq.
A similar situation exists in the conflict between India and Pakistan. Professor Stoessinger states: “The most savage religious war in history was neither the Christian Crusades against Islam nor the Thirty Years’ War that pitted Catholic against Protestant. It was the war of Hindu against Moslem in the twentieth century.” What provoked that ongoing enmity? The partitioning of India and Pakistan that took place in 1947. The first effect was “a gigantic population exchange, probably the most massive in history. Over 7 million Hindus, fearful of persecution in Pakistan, frantically sought refuge in India, and a similar number of Moslems fled from India to safety on Pakistani soil. A vast amount of violence and bloodshed generated by religious hatred accompanied this population exchange.”—Why Nations Go to War.
Down through history the priestly class has been the willing accomplice of the ruling elite. In time of war, religious leaders have piously blessed weapons and armies on both sides in the name of God, while often professing the same religion. This blasphemy has turned many people away from religion and God.
Nationalism—The “Sacred Egoism” That Divides
Sometimes the people are not in favor of a war. On what basis, then, can the rulers most easily persuade the population to support their aims? This was the problem that faced the United States in Vietnam. So, what did the ruling elite do? Galbraith answers: “The Vietnam War produced in the United States one of the most comprehensive efforts in social conditioning [adjusting of public opinion] in modern times. Nothing was spared in the attempt to make the war seem necessary and acceptable to the American public.” And that points to the handiest tool for softening up a nation for war. What is it?
Professor Galbraith again supplies the answer: “Schools in all countries inculcate the principles of patriotism. . . . The conditioning that requires all to rally around the flag is of particular importance in winning subordination to military and foreign policy.” This systematic conditioning prevails in communist countries as it does in Western nations.
Charles Yost, a veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service and State Department, expressed it thus: “The primary cause of the insecurity of nations persists, the very attribute on which nations pride themselves most—their sovereign independence, their ‘sacred egoism,’ their insubordination to any interest broader or higher than their own.” This “sacred egoism” is summed up in divisive nationalism, in the pernicious teaching that any one nation is superior to all others.
Historian Arnold Toynbee wrote: “The spirit of nationality is a sour ferment of the new wine of democracy in the old bottles of tribalism.” In Power and Immortality, Dr. Lopez-Reyes wrote: “Sovereignty is a major cause of contemporary war; . . . unless altered, the system of sovereign nation-states will trigger World War III.” The emphasis on nationalism and sovereignty denies the basic concept that we all belong to the same human family, regardless of linguistic or cultural differences. And that denial leads to wars.
Yes, the experts can come up with all kinds of explanations of why man systematically sets out to destroy those of his own kind. Yet there is one primary factor that most commentators ignore.
The Hidden Cause of War
The history of war and its causes should not be considered without taking into account a much greater conflict that has deeply affected mankind. It is clearly identified in the Bible. This ancient book shows that a powerful spirit creature, driven by selfish ambition, raised himself up in opposition to God. (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7) He initiated a rebellion in heaven and on earth and, along with that, introduced disobedience, imperfection, sin, and death to the human family. (Genesis 3:1-7) Thus, Jesus when on earth could identify his religious enemies by saying: “You are from your father the Devil . . . That one was a manslayer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth is not in him. . . . He is a liar and the father of the lie.”—John 8:44.
This rebel spirit creature, Satan (meaning, Adversary) the Devil (meaning, Accuser, Slanderer), has ruled and divided the nations for thousands of years. He has achieved invisible control over the nations by means of political power. What basis do we have for such an assertion? The fact that when he tempted Christ he could show him “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” and then say: “All these things I will give you if you fall down and do an act of worship to me.” Christ did not deny Satan’s control over “all the kingdoms of the world.” He rejected the temptation, saying: “It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.”—Matthew 4:1, 8-10.
By every possible political ruse and diversion, Satan has turned mankind away from the only true way to peace. The vast majority of humankind are loyal to political systems that are, by definition, antagonistic. They will not and cannot establish true peace for the human race because they are under the influence of the wrong god—the god who “is misleading the entire inhabited earth”—Satan. Consequently, explicitly or implicitly, they reject the only true way to peace.—Revelation 12:9; 2 Corinthians 4:4.
But, you might ask, ‘What is the true way to make peace a reality? What will bring about such a transformation? And what must I do to inherit that peace?’ The following article will consider those questions.
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Joseph Goebbels, minister for propaganda and national enlightenment, “master propagandist of the Nazi Regime”
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U.S. Library of Congress
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Religion still causes wars, as the Iran-Iraq conflict illustrates
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I. Shateri/Gamma-Liaison