Human history is a long story of recurring wars and inconsistent periods of peace. Our existence has been profoundly shaped by these wars at various levels and of various kinds, and the aspiration of a peaceful existence has been at the core of our endeavours.
(Pic1- Black soldiers fighting in World War-I. US Army image )
Wars have produced great suffering, caused humongous destruction, killed millions, and damaged various civilizations. They have, nevertheless, sown seeds of lasting progress, innovations, and lessons for sustaining peace. Peace, on the other hand, has allowed mankind to build a world worth living in and nurture civilizations; however, it has been fragile and threatened easily.
Due to our collective memory of world wars, the first image that comes to mind when hearing the word "war" is of soldiers on a battlefield, fighting to kill or be killed. It is a paradox that the invention of the most powerful weapons was aimed at ensuring lasting peace based on the logic of deterrence. While the use of ‘Fat Man’ and ‘Little Boy’ in 1945 ended the great war, it shook the conscious of all humanity, prompting Mahatma Gandhi to call nuclear weapons the "most diabolic use of science"
However, there are wars that are fought at many other levels and on many other grounds. The root cause of the majority of wars in the world has been power politics, guided by the Machiavellian notion of national interest. The two great wars were said to be wars between "good and evil" between "democracy and dictatorship" and between "liberty and tyranny". Allied powers were supported even by the colonies, which they looted. India had contributed to a large extent in the support of Allied forces despite having no territorial interests in both world wars. It is said that it was aimed at preserving "peace.".
It is argued that one can enjoy true liberty only when there is peace. The greatest of the revolutions occurred to bring this peace. The American Revolution and the French Revolution brought to the fore the notions of "liberty, equality, and fraternity." The Bolsevik revolution in the USSR aimed at bringing socialist order, where each was equal to the other. It certainly was a radical shift from the Tsarist autocracy. However, Stalin’s love for power culminated in a curb on the liberties of the people. One cannot hope for peace when "love of power" overtakes "love for liberty."
This love for liberty is well illustrated by Ravindranath Tagore in his poem "Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high". The idea of peace and liberty is innate in it when Tagore says "Where the world is not fragmented by boundaries". But looking around us at every individual, we find each one is battling a war, and rarely is there peace. There are wars at every level: blacks fighting racism, Dalits fighting untouchability, women in all societies fighting discrimination, LGBTQI fighting for human existence, and amidst all this, politicians fuel the fire by igniting various conflicts in the name of religion, race, caste, ethnicity, and identity.
There is hardly any peace even in resource-rich regions like the Middle East, which is the most hostile region and a place of great power games. If prosperity could bring peace, this region would be a paragon of peaceful coexistence. On the other hand, civil wars and refugee crises in Africa remind us that poverty and a lack of development destroy peace. If the Middle East suffers a crisis due to a lack of liberty and democracy and Africa suffers a crisis due to a lack of prosperity, the Ukraine-Russia crisis presents before us a crisis caused by power-hungry statesmen. As long as the argument of power overtakes the power of argument, there is hardly any peace or liberty.
Having explored how war destroys peace, it is pertinent that we examine when and how wars are necessary for bringing peace. The concept of just war has been in statesmen’s lexicon since the dawn of civilization. In the Bhagawat Gita, Krishna explains to Arjun why it is the duty of a Kshtriya to fight a just war and even die doing so, if need be. Evil has to be destroyed by the use of power and sometimes war.
While Gandhi's non-violence might have worked with a few individuals, it would have needed a war to destroy Hitler's Nazi regime that killed millions. However, the reality of the world is that Hitler was not punished for killing a million Jews, but only in retaliation for his attacks on western powers. There are multiple instances in world history where a state has sponsored mass genocide of its own people, like the Rawandan Genocide. The UNSC-led peacekeeping missions in Africa are steps in preserving and protecting peace in regions that have seen protracted wars.
In the social sphere, it took protests, revolutions, and civil wars to undo the unjust practises of inequalities. Aristotle pointed out that "inequality is the cause of revolutions". If you call those revolutions "wars, they are wars worth fighting. The blacks in the USA wouldn’t have realised their equal rights had it not been for movements led by Martin Luther King, who dreamed of a day when children of whites and blacks would sit together. The battle in the legal sphere was won; blacks were given franchises and equal rights. However, in other spheres of existence, the movement of #BlackLivesMatter shows that it’s a protracted war for peace.
The national movement in India from 1857 to 1947 was a series of battles in a long war for freedom. It fought not just with British imperialism but with social evils like Sati, casteism, and untouchability and for rights like freedom of the press, widow remarriage, age of consent, etc. There is no denial that it was mental torture and an act of courage by social reformers like Ishwar Chandra Vishyasagar to tell their whole society that it was wrong to marry a young girl. Gandhi faced criticism from conservative sections of society for his acts of embracing untouchables. Ambedkar experienced the inhuman treatment meted out to Dalits and fought against it in the legal sphere, and he won to a large extent when he led the constituent assembly to give equal rights to all.
The peace of mind with which I can write this piece , the liberty to have access to knowledge for it, and being able to even think about peace and war in all these spheres are the result of many wars in various spheres at various times. And all these wars have been worth fighting for the sake of peace, for liberty, and for human life with dignity.
The relationship between war and peace is conflictual when the wars are fought not for peace but for power, for narrow selfish interests. When wars are fought not for giving liberty to someone but for snatching the liberty of others, Every era of human history is a mute spectator of such grave human tragedies, wherein millions of innocents died as a result of such wars. These are enemies of peace.
But every effort towards human emancipation, against injustice, against discrimination, and for equality, liberty, and justice is a step in the direction of bringing peace. Even if such an act leads to battles at multiple levels and wars between fellow beings, it is worth it. Every era of human history is witness to such glorious events that restored dignity to human existence and broke the chains of tyranny. These wars are needed for peace.
- D Ram
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