Different Aspects of War: Trigger, Long-Term and Short-Term Effects

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Long term and the immediate causes of a war
Second World War
Major long-term forces that were common in the wars
Forces: post-cold war international system
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

Stoessinger stated, “the black death that ravaged our planet centuries ago today is but a distant memory” (Stoessinger, 251). The main killing element that is fresh in the human mind is the destructive power of war. War is the modern killing machine that uses human life as cannon fodder.

Long term and the immediate causes of a war

The main difference between the long-term and the immediate causes of war is that the long-term causes are the ones that started taking place quite sometime before the actual events of the actual war took place. On the other hand, the short-term or immediate causes of war are the ones that generally take place within a relatively short span of time before the actual events of the war. It has been stated by Stoessinger, “the road to war is paved with numerous ‘objective causes’ but the final step across the threshold is taken by an individual whose character is all-important” (Stoessinger, p. 212).

Like for example, the long term causes of the First World War was nationalism, which was aggressive patriotism among the European countries that believed themselves to be better than others, economic differences and commercial rivalries of the Allies, problems in the colonies that wanted to be independent and the industrial societies, militarism and arms race among Britain and Germany.

These problems developed over time and when a Serb assassinated the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, it immediately triggered the First World War. Russia wanted to protect Serbia, Turkey and Germany supported Austria, and quickly almost all of Europe had joined the war. Thus, we see that the long-term and immediate causes of the war were very different from each other.

Second World War

Both the immediate and long-term causes result in a war and the Second World War was not an exception. The First World War did not conclude with a radical decision and even the League of Nations had failed. Thus, one of the long-term causes of the Second World War is said to be the First World War. Moreover, in order to punish Germany, no peace treaties were signed holding it responsible for the earlier war. Thus, this left Germany embittered and weak, seeking its revenge.

The Fascist Dictators in Germany and Italy became very powerful and fascism became inevitable. Nazi dictators, like Adolph Hitler, took advantage of the bitterness felt by Germany and waged the war. Other long-term causes of the Second World War were anti-communism, military expansion of Germany and Italy since they had lost a lot of land area after First World War, isolation policy adopted by Britain and USA after First World War and nationalism since Fascism was mainly built on it.

There was also racism between the Germans and Slavs since the Nazis assumed the Germans to be the master race and the Slavs were considered inferior. However, the immediate cause of the Second World War was the invasion of Poland by Germany and attack on the Dutch and British colonies, China and Pearl Harbor by Japan (Mingst, & Karns, p. 227).

Among the other important wars fought in the world are the Cold War, the Vietnam War and the Civil war. Both Cold War and the Vietnam War can be traced back to the First World War. Its long-term causes were the occupation of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos by Japan and nationalism brought about by Ho Chi Minh and his Viet Minh. The immediate event that caused the war was the bombing of Haiphong by France and forcibly entering Hanoi.

The long-term causes of the Cold War were the difference in ideas between the USA and the Soviet Union right from the October Revolution. While on one hand, the USA had emerged, as a leading democracy of capitalist liberal the Soviet Union became a primary communist state. Their ideas about shaping the world after the major wars triggered the Cold War.

Major long-term forces that were common in the wars

Whatever be the cause of a war it has always been found that every war has its roots in one of the previous wars. The Second World War has its roots in the First World War; the Vietnam War was fought partly because of the Second World War and Cold War and so on. Nationalism has been one of the long-term forces that have been one of the common factors in all these wars.

Not only the above-discussed wars but even before and after them, the major wars, like the Civil Wars and Iraq War, have been fought partly because of nationalism. These long-term causes of war also have a distressing history of weak shortsightedness and unavoidability in the actions of their leaders. Like in the case of the embittered revenge brought by the First World War on the overpowered Germans was actually responsible for its long-lasting bitterness towards both France and Britain and the harsh economic repairs of Germany along with the depression that had fallen upon it, together with ensuring the victorious and triumphant rise of Adolph Hitler who managed to convince the people that they would definitely win the Second World War.

Among the other long-term causes that were common in them, all are the greed of land, money and valuable resources. Along with nationalism, there was also racism with everyone wanting to establish his or her race as the better one. Adolph Hitler did the same thing. He waged a war against the Jews and Slavs as he considered them inferior to the Germans. The wars were also fought for territorial gains. After the First World War, land held by Austria-Hungary has divided arbitrarily and Hungary was even stripped of some area.

Germany also had lost a lot of land to a number of countries and thus, its dream of Greater Germany was shattered. Even in the Vietnam War when the French returned to take control of their earlier colony of Indochina, which was then occupied by Japan, it led to the War. Thus, we see that revenge was also one of the long-term causes of these wars. Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary and all the other nations that had lost wanted to get back what they had lost in the earlier wars and thus, this lead to another one, which too most of them lost.

Forces: post-cold war international system

Most of the long-term forces that have caused a number of wars in the last century are still at play and still continue to be a problem even in our post-Cold War international era. Nationalism, which has often been one of the major causes of these wars, is widespread and recently even said to be the cause of the Iraq war. With nationalism comes a sense of honor and duty in the people, which sometimes can be used against them by a deceiving leader resulting in a war. Earlier there was nationalism, racism but now people have even added their religion to it, and often we find that there are disputes between nations based on their religious issues, like the wars between India and Pakistan.

Every nation holds its religion above others along with its race and looks down upon others. Even in our modern times, people still fight over their religion and race. The arms race between Germany and Britain, which is one of the reasons for the Second World War, is still on. We have even added nuclear power to the list of arms. Thus, we have countries competing with each other to decide who has better resources for producing the most deadly of weapons today. Earlier the Civil War was considered the bloodiest of wars but the later wars proved to be even bloodier. Similarly, the arms race, which is going on today, will result in weapons, which can wipe civilization off the face of the earth within minutes.

Just like Germany fought to be one of the powerful nations of the world, even today nations are fighting against each other for privileges, power, status, control and greed for all sorts of resources, whether it be land, oil, or money. Earlier, power was not concentrated only in the hands of one nation and we had two superpowers – the USA and the Soviet Union. However, after the Second World War and the break up of the Soviet Union, the USA has emerged as the only superpower.

Conclusion

Thus, in conclusion, it can be stated that just as Hitler considered all but his country to be above all, even today the world has a high probability of facing that situation again since huge economic differences are taking place all over the world. Global power is one of the major causes making nations envy and fight each other. It can be stated in accordance with Stoessinger, “the human element is the crucial link in the fateful chain that leads to war” (Stoessinger, 212).

Works Cited

Mingst, Karen A. & Margaret P. Karns. The United Nations in the post-Cold War era. London: Westview Press, 2000.
Stoessinger, John G. Why Nations Go to War. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2000.

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