Rockridge High School
Taylor Ridge, Illinois
Teacher: Mrs. Downey
War and Peace
By Michelle Pressly
12th grade
For thousands of years the world has engaged in war. From the Roman wars to World War II, changes have come about due to the results of war. Throwing stones, sword fights, gun powder, and nuclear power are all types of weapons that have been used over the centuries. Although the weapons may have changed, the reasons for fighting have not. Some of these reasons for fighting are religion, freedom, and politics. War has been the basis of our society, while we try to establish world peace. Many people have different views about war and its effects on society.
With the development of technology, scientists have been able to create new and more powerful weapons. One of the world’s greatest scientists, Albert Einstein, helped create one of the most destructive weapons, the atomic bomb. Einstein did not work on the project himself, and after finding out the capacity of its power, he became a strong believer in the disarmament of nuclear warfare.
Albert Einstein once said, “I don’t know what kind of weapons will be in the third world war, assuming there will be a third world war. But I can tell you what the fourth world war will be fought with-stone clubs.” The next world war weapons will be so destructive because of the atomic bomb that everything will be destroyed, and the only way to develop new weapons is to start over again with weapons like the stone club. Now that more countries have access to atomic bombs, when a world war breaks out, many bombs could be used causing massive destruction to the world. The atomic bomb was created to help the end of World War II, but this invention could cause the end of our society, and many people regret developing it.
Another scientist, Alfred Nobel, also invented a very destructive weapon. He developed a safe way to handle nitroglycerin, and he produced explosives called dynamite. Nobel created many factories to manufacture the explosives, and with the money he created from the factories, he established the yearly Nobel prizes for merit.
Nobel believed that with his dynamite, he would create world peace. He stated, “My dynamite will sooner lead to peace than a thousand world conventions. As soon as men will find out that in one instant whole armies can be utterly destroyed, they surely will abide by golden peace.” He thought that the fear of destruction and death would scare people into peace. But history shows that people are willing to fight in spite of death. For example, the kamikaze air fighters of Japan would go to battle knowing they were going to die. The same goes for the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The hijackers knew they were going on a suicide mission, but it did not stop them. Weapons are not the way to bring about world peace, because people are willing to die for something they believe in.
Cicero, a scholar and writer of his times, wrote many books and political treatises. He believed in the Roman Republic, and he tried to uphold its principles during the Roman Civil War. In a letter he wrote, “I prefer the most unjust peace to the justest war that was ever waged.” He believed that peace was far better than any war no matter what the cause. Although it may seem that fighting is the only way to get a point across, there are other alternatives to war such as treaties and negotiating. Talking through problems is a peaceful way to express an opinion, but this does not always work, so the world is faced with war.
Arnold Toynbee was a professor at the University of London. After analyzing the development and decline of twenty-six civilizations, he came up with an idea. He believed that, “History teaches us that when a barbarian race confronts a sleeping culture the barbarian always wins.” Some barbarian races such as the Philistines were not successful in winning. They were attacked by the Israelites and initially absorbed into the Israel kingdom under King David. Hitler and his Nazi followers are barbarians of recent times with the idea of ethnic cleansing and creating a “perfect” race. Millions were brutally killed because of their ethnicity, and the world was now fighting World War II. At first, when Hitler launched his blitzkrieg warfare, he took control over much of Europe. Eventually he was stopped and his power was brought to an end.
While it may be hard to understand the reasons for fighting or why the world can not come to peace, it is easy to learn about others’ feelings and theories on war. Having world peace is far from near. There are many problems that have not been dealt with that still exist in the world today. By studying the past and learning from others’ accomplishments and mistakes, we can stop problems before they start. Perhaps someday we will have world peace.
Bibliography
“Cicero” On-line. Internet. 4 Jan. 2002. Available at WWW: http://education.yahoo.com/search/be?lb=t&p=url%3Ac/cicero_marcus_tallius
“Einstein, Albert” On-line. Internet. 4 Jan. 2002. Available at WWW: http://education.yahoo.com/search/be?lb=t&p=url%3Ae/einstein_albert
“Nobel, Alfred Bernard” On-line. Internet. 4 Jan. 2002. Available at WWW: http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/nobel.htm
“Toynbee, Arnold” On-line. Internet. 4 Jan. 2002. Available at WWW:
http://education.yahoo.com/search/be?lb=t&p=url%3At/toynbee_arnold