War

Two U.S. taxpayer-supported Ukrainian soldiers, the one on the left wearing Nazi SS Galicia Division insignia, and on the right Nazi SS Totenkopfverbände insignia.

War is a prolonged state of violent conflict between two or more states. War has been conducted for many purposes, such as the acquisition of goods, seizing enemy territory, to satisfy the honor of the sovereign, eliminating a threat to the homeland, stamping out rival religious sects (see Religious war), or exporting political ideologies. Warfare between factions within a single state is called civil war.

Wars have often been periods of great technological innovation as each side finds itself faced with the necessity of creating new methods of offense and defense to ensure national survival.

The American Civil War, coming shortly after the Industrial revolution in the United States, introduced mechanized warfare to the world with accurate rifles, metal warships, railroad transportation of forces and material, and instant communication via the telegraph.

World War I (1914-1918) introduced air combat, chemical warfare, submarine and tank warfare, and the large scale deployment of the machine gun.

World War II (1939-1945) refined tank tactics in the form of the Blitzkrieg, and introduced large-scale strategic bombing of enemy cities. The aircraft carrier took mastery of the seas. It ended with the first (and only) use of nuclear weapons.

When the Cold War began in 1947, there have been a few international wars and many civil wars with outside actors, such as the Vietnam War and the Korean War.

World War I, World War II and Darwinism

Historically, the most prominent and vocal defenders of the theory of evolution which employs methodological naturalism have been atheists or agnostics.

The founder of Darwinism, Charles Darwin, was an agnostic/weak atheist (see: Religious views of Charles Darwin).

There is historical evidence indicating that Darwinism was a causal factor for WWI and WWII (see: Irreligion/religion and war and World War I and Darwinism).

Academic studies consistently challenge link between religion and war

See also: Irreligion/religion and war

Academic studies and other research consistently challenge the link between religion and war. See: Irreligion/religion and war

Further reading

• Dupuy, R. Ernest, and Trevor N. Dupuy. The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History: From 3500 B.C. to the Present (1993)

Quotes

• God created war so Americans would learn geography. - Mark Twain

See also

• Military History
• War crimes
• Bombing a civilian population
• Nuclear target structures
• List of American Wars