The tragedy of unnecessary disorder

The Norman Transcript

October 08, 2006 12:38 am

— For The Transcript

The creative accomplishments of humankind are extraordinary. Engineering, architecture, music, literature,
art and science -- natural, biological and social -- immediately come to mind. But the human race has idled
along the path of progress and has often faltered and blundered. The causes of these interruptions are largely
ineptitude among the aged, presumptions among the young and our failure to develop good mental habits that
lead us to consider the consequences of our actions.
War is our worst form of disorder. Its causes are complicated, even obscure. The public rarely thinks through
the problem to a realistic conclusion, an end often deliberately camouflaged. Wars are generally caused by
imperialism, nationalism, quest for economic advantage, struggle for supremacy, politicians seeking personal
gain or a niche in history, or some short-sighted evil such as xenophobia. The Romans and the German tribes
butchered one another for centuries. Later European countries mutilated one another for dominance. After the
defeat of the Nazis the U.S. and the USSR flirted with world destruction as they threatened one another. Now
it seems the U.S. and China are coming to the center of the stage.
All wars are irrational, so understanding them is difficult. World War I is a valuable case study for we are
sufficiently removed to be emotionally disengaged and sufficiently near to appreciate its avoidable
irrationalities. In the 1920s many of us who had relatives returning from the AEF -- American Expeditionary
Force -- or who listened to our elders discuss the subject carried away an oversimplified and tortured
explanation: The bad Germans caused the war. They were a people not to be trusted; they roasted Belgian
babies on bayonets and they starved their enemies. QED. No further discussion is necessary.
Such an explanation is emotionally engendered hyperbole. The real causes require the insights of history,
economics, geography, sociology and psychology. A major underlying condition was the illogical, chaotic
and arbitrary system of national states with each motivated by a blind sense of sovereignty. Each usually
spoke a different language. And their politics tended to be dominated by an aristocracy or a military class or
traditions many of which were irrational. Consider France. By the 20th century the French had developed a
precise and beautiful language, contributed brilliantly to the arts and sciences, evolved a well-organized
school system and constructed an outstanding system of higher learning. But how easily humans can go awry
is illustrated by their worship of Napoleon. That he was a military genius is given; that he initiated valuable
reforms in French society is a fact. But he was an insensitive war-mongering authoritarian as well. His life
and influence show how emotion can smother reason and thereby create problems for the world. His
contributions scarcely justify the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people resulting from his ravages.
Admirals and Generals contributed to the intellectual, social chaos permeating Europe before the Great War.
Field Marshall von Molke wanted to attack Russia before attacking France; General Alfred von Schleiffen
modified plans to strike west first. The British Sea Lords trembled at the thought of a German navy equal to
theirs; the Germans trembled that the High Seas Fleet might not equal the British. Rivalry and fear bred
madness.

Alliances came and went as power politics flourished. The Triple Alliance was formed the year Karl Marx
died. A few decades later fear and anxiety led Britain, France and Russia to counter with the Triple Entente.
And European eyes were focused on the Ottoman Empire -- a fertile hunting ground for imperialists. Africa
was even more so, being totally partitioned and trapped in treaties among the European powers. The Balkan
States were equally entwined with them and caught up with their own ethnic grievances. If we stir into this
disarray the personalities of rulers, autocrats, revolutionaries and kings, especially such a neurotic one as
William II -- self-involved, compulsive and unpredictable -- we have the critical mass for a political
explosion.
By 1914 swaggering states motivated by a presumptive sense of sovereignty turned on one another. The
Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife were murdered by Serbian nationalists on June 28; a
month later Austria declared war on Serbia; Russia mobilized; Germany declared war on Russia Aug. I and on
France two days later; and on Aug. 5 Great Britain declared war on Germany. Turkey joined the Central
powers in November and even little Bulgaria joined the orgy.
That mayhem continued for four years, killed some 7,700,000 people (a figure taken from the talented English
historian Alan Bullock). No fundamental issues were justly settled. Its major contribution was laying the
foundation for Hitler and World War II. That insanity increased the casualties five fold.
Rarely commanding attention in this frenzied and unhinged chapter of human history is the extent to which
both Asia and Latin America got sucked into the vortex of war. By the summer of 1918 Brazil, Costa Rica,
Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and Panama followed the U.S. into war against Germany. On Aug. 14,
1917 China declared war on Germany -- and Austria-Hungary! Earlier, on Aug. 15, 1914, Japan declared war
on Germany. The issue was the German colony in the Chinese Province of Shantung. Evidence that the
Japanese or the Germans were interested in the well-being of the natives of Shantung is elusive.
What is the future of this continuing lunacy? The unfolding human drama may deceive us, but war will likely
end in one of three ways: when we have suffered enough; when we finally see the futility of it; or when we
exterminate ourselves. In a sense it is no doubt true as Dryden said that "war is the trade of kings," or as
Mirabeau said that "war is the national industry of Prussia." But in a sensible world -- one democratic and
humane -- there are no kings and Prussia is a fading chapter in history. Vergil cautioned us that the descent
into hell is easy. Unless we learn what psychologists have been trying to teach us -- get our emotions under
control; or unless we understand what our best religious leaders have been trying to teach us -- the essence of
morality is humane treatment of one another, then we may take Vergil's easy road. The choice is ours -- and
the fires of hell are smoldering.
Lloyd Williams is a retired educator.

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