European War

It is hard to believe that 100 years after the start of World War 1 and 70 years after the D-Day landings , Europe is still at war.

There is the potential for the Ukraine to descend into a full civil war. We Europeans still organise our politics at the point of the gun. Civilians still have to suffer as a direct result of the conflict or because their loved ones choose to fight. There is no need for the killing of either soldiers or civilians a negotiated solution can still be found for the Ukraine. The superpowers have a responsibility to organise this.

Of course there is a lot of discussion about the justification for World War 1 and whether the sacrifice was worthwhile.

From a purely nationalistic point of view, Britain and France and their allies had to fight to defend themselves and their neighbours. Many brave men died or were injured under the most dire of circumstances. Many brave men from the US fought and died for the freedom of France, Belgium and Britain. Russia fought in vain.

My own family lost uncles in the British Army and the Royal Navy. Most families in Britain and France were touched by the War. We must not forget that most families in Germany and Austria were also touched.

Millions of young men from both sides died fighting for their countries.

From a supranational point of view World War 1 was a disaster. The "colonies" of Britain and France were expected to contribute both men and material. Thousands of Australians and Canadians died to defend colonialism.

War became industrialised and mass slaughter became institutionalised. We also saw the beginning of the institutionalised killing of civilians. This led to the industrialised murder of civilians in World War 2.

World War 1 did little to resolve European conflict and this led directly to World War 2 where the carnage was even greater.

The human species has shown itself to be unable control the direction of its ingenuity. We do not have the emotional ability to either stop the killing or limit the means by which we conduct war. Killing has now descended into a type of push button frenzy. We can kill millions by the use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and we can kill  individuals by using a drone. We cannot avoid mistakes so civilians and non-combatants have to suffer too.

From a nationalistic point of view war has winners and losers and can be justified from the standpoint of defending the homeland. I ask all readers, however, to look at a bigger picture. From the point of view of our species in general war runs the risk of being a complete disaster which could destroy all of us.  We should make every effort to prevent war wherever it might arise - in the Ukraine, in Syria, in Afghanistan, the Sudan, Central Africa, Nigeria .......