Civil wars
• Different groups in the same society may compete for
scarce resources or may compete for political power.
Different ethnic groups or religious groups in the same
society may also fight with one another. One ethnic
groups may want to eliminate another. Or believers of
one religion may want to convert, remove or
exterminate those holding different religious beliefs.
• Examples : American Civil War
American Civil War
• The causes of the Civil War were complex and have been
controversial since the war began. The issue has been further
complicated by historical revisionists, who have tried to offer a variety
of reasons for the war. Slavery was the central source of escalating
political tension in the 1850s. The Republican Party was determined
to prevent any spread of slavery, and many Southern leaders had
threatened secession if the Republican candidate, Lincoln, won
the 1860 election. After Lincoln had won without carrying a single
Southern state, many Southern whites felt that disunion had become
their only option, because they felt as if they were losing
representation, which hampered their ability to promote pro-slavery
acts and policies
Genocide
• If a dominant group tries to completely eliminate a religious group or
ethnic groups, this is known as a genocide – the mass murder of a
people.
• Example During WW2, Nazi German Leaders tried to murder the jews
of Europe in the Holocaust 6million Jews were shipped in railroad
carts Nazi concentration camps. They were brutally murdered in gas
chambers.
• In the 1990s the Hutu tribe of Rwanda tried to exterminate the Tutsi
Tribe, killing nearly 50% of them before the intervention of the Tutsi
rebel army.
International Conflicts
• Countries sometimes enter into conflict with one another. Thay may
disagree over borders or have other disputes. The laeaders of one
country may simply feel they can defeat and conquer another
country. They might go to war to take away some of its land or
resources.
• Competition for wealth in the 19th and 18th centuries, European powers
fought against one another to establish colonies in the Americas, Asia, and
Africa. They also fought native peoples who resisted colonization. Wars
between colonial powers and native inhabitants continued throughout the
19th century.
Examples
Sepoy Rebelion, Mexican Cession, Spanish American War, WW1 + WW2
The Impact of Conflict
• All of these different conflicts lead to the cultural change. War can
disrupt a society, breaking it apart. It can lead to the conquest of one
society by another or cause a government to collapse. The need for
better ways of fighting can promote new weapons and other
technological innovations, which can have peacetime uses.
• Conflict over ideals, countries also go to war against each other over IDEAS.
The late 18th century countries fought over the French Revolution,
• Cold war was another example of Idea war far between United States and the
Soviet Union.
• Terrorism – sometimes a group does not feel strong enough to challenge a
government openly. Instead, its members commit acts of violence like a
suicide bombing in order attract attention and crate a sense of terror among
the citizens of its enemy.
Positive Effects of War
• 1. advances in military technology can benefit civilians. For instance, the
Roman army was into creating roads. Their knowledge of engineer was used by
civilians afterwards to create road systems throughout Europe. Developments
in electronics aid civilians as well. In the US during the War of 1812, the
military did not have communications abilities to let officers know that the war
was actually over before the Battle of New Orleans. The US won this battle but
at a great cost. The result was the creation of telegraph usage. Computers that
were developed for ballistics and artillery in WWII were later the models used
for civilian computers.
2. Advances in medicine. War creates carnage. Military doctors have always
come up with ways to treat battlefield injuries. Many advances in emergency
medicine have been made as a result of lessons learned on the battlefield.
Also, the need for medicines in the military has lead to the development of
medicines used in the civilian world. I believe that blood transfusions were
developed by military docs. The military also helped develop the use of
antibiotics. Field ambulances were copied by civilians as well