War is one of the most terrible things a person can imagine. It entails hundreds of troubles and deaths, not only from shells and bullets, but also from hunger. It is all the more incomprehensible why people, knowing how terrible the consequences of armed conflicts can be, continue to fight.
This question was asked by hundreds of thinkers and scientists throughout the history of mankind, but they did not come to a consensus.
Nature laws
There is a hypothesis that war is one of the natural mechanisms that regulate the human population. There is a certain logic in this statement, because humanity has long learned to effectively defend itself against predators and many other natural disasters. Therefore, as the well-known Internet character Mr Freeman said in one of his speeches, we are getting a little too much.
Overpopulation
Based on the previous theory, we can deduce the following: due to the fact that the population of the planet is increasing every year, and the territories suitable for life, the reserves of food, water and minerals, on the contrary, are rapidly decreasing, military conflicts become inevitable.
Thomas Malthus believed that war is the inevitable result of population growth in conditions of limited access to resources.
The ambitions of kings
Unfortunately, often the civilian population decides little in the political games of the "big bosses". Thus, peoples sometimes become only pawns, satisfying the mania of power to seize new territories and spheres of influence on the world stage.
Ancient instincts
Some researchers believe that humans strive to fight because of invincible animal instincts. That is, not because he really needs a given territory or resource, but because of an irresistible urge to defend “his own”, even if it is not.
Politics and nothing else
Many sociologists agree that the roots and causes of military conflicts should not be sought in psychology and biology; rather, they are sure, this is just one of the political maneuvers that have nothing to do with human nature. War in this case is not much different from other instruments in political relations between countries.
Dan Reuter wrote that war should not be perceived as a rejection of diplomacy, it is the continuation of trade relations by other means.
Origins in religion
If you look into the history textbook, you can trace an interesting pattern: all wars, in one way or another, are associated with the religious preferences of people. For example, the Vikings believed that only a warrior could enter the desired afterlife. Christians and Muslims waged wars with "infidels", wanting to impose their faith on other peoples. And even in recent history, we can see the manipulation of people through pressure on their religious feelings.
Whatever the real reasons for the emergence of military conflicts, a modern person is obliged to understand their consequences and try to avoid instigating new wars.
