To put things into perspective, let’s use post-World War I Germany as an example. Following the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was deemed guilty for initiating the war, and harsh consequences were imposed on them, including territory loss, large reparations payments, and demilitarization. To protest and in retaliation for the harsh treatment Germany had experienced in the wake of World War I, the German forces under Adolf Hitler rearmed the country's fragile political and economic situation.

 

By targeting their own undoing under the Jews (who were blamed for Germany’s economic misery during the depression as well as the claim that the Jews had betrayed Germany during World War I and were responsible for its defeat), Hitler was able to influence the German public by taking advantage of the results of these events and once again be a force to reckon with. Hitler was able to rally the nation's support behind him and the Nazi party by exploiting the populace's rage through convenient scapegoats such as a pledge to restore Germany's former greatness.

 

Although the prejudices about the role of the Jews in the war were false, Hitler argued for an "antisemitism of the mind." He stated that the influence of the Jews would never disappear without removing its cause from our midst. (Why Did Hitler Hate the Jews?, 2022) These radical ideas paved the way for the mass murder of the Jews in the 1940s. What happened next infamously changed the course of history, as Germany used this sense of "nationalistic pride" to take over various European nations, effectively starting World War II.

This example demonstrates how quickly a conflict may arise and how a course of action that was initially intended to restore a country’s former glory instead served as the fuel for yet another major conflict, which just goes to show the inevitability of conflict in our society. 

 

Take the effects of the Second World War on our country, the Philippines, as an example. Our country was in a serious recession following the war. For starters, our country's economy has been steadily declining as Filipinos' earnings have plummeted and their means of subsistence have been drastically diminished. Apart from that, poverty was rampant as a result of two factors: one, slow production due to a lack of capital to finance the rehabilitation of destroyed or partially destroyed machineries, which contributed to the depreciation of the Philippine peso, and two, widespread destruction of property (caused by both the Japanese and the Americans), which was estimated to cost 582,500,000 pesos.

 

Despite seeming negative, our country's post-war economic situation resulted in much-needed aid from the United States, which aided in our country's resurgence under the new republic. The United States was able to provide immediate help to all of the people of Manila and other provinces liberated from Japanese domination through the PCAU (the Philippine Civil Affairs Unit) by providing much-needed employment to laborers. Aside from that, the United States provided us with $100 million in aid for rehabilitation and repair of the devastation caused by the Second World War. In addition, pre-war trade contacts between the Philippines and the US were maintained for a period of 3–5 years, strengthening both nations' relationships.

 

This helped spark a conversation about our nation's becoming truly independent (as a result of the guidance given by the US). The New Phillipines Republic was established on July 4, 1946, under the administration of Manuel Roxas, with the goal of rebuilding the country, implementing industrialization, maintaining close ties with the United States, and finally restoring the role of law and government in the country.

 

Although the world has undergone many changes over time, it should be noted that there are many similarities between the wars that happened in the past and the wars the world is currently experiencing. One could make the argument that the Cold War (during the late 1970s and early 1980s) was similar to the Russia-Ukraine War.

 

The Cold War was an ideological battle between the United States and Russia, in which both parties supported two contrasting beliefs (the United States supported the more democratic approach, and Russia favored the more communist approach). As a result, tensions between the two superpowers increased. Although there was never a direct confrontation, there were numerous occasions when the United States and Russia would disagree on a variety of issues, such as aid to their allies, technical superiority, and more. In a more modern sense, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is more of a continuation of the Cold War in terms of philosophies, as Putin sought to reestablish the Russian world, which NATO obstructed because of its expansion into other countries and its opposition to democratic values (Nye, 2022).

 

From these two examples, we can observe a consistent tendency in terms of the cause of wars: conflict is produced by opposing perspectives and differing ideologies on the world. In addition to this, the two wars are similar in the sense that they both inflicted damage on populations, economies, territories, and natural resources, among other things.

 

 

Another example of this takes place during the Cold War, when the United States and the Soviet Union (along with their respective allies) engaged in an intense political rivalry in which they sought to disseminate their beliefs throughout the world (the US spreading capitalism while the USSR spreading communism). Despite the fact that there was no armed combat between the two nations throughout the Cold War, they were able to make enormous advances in human progress and technology. This contest of one-upmanship between the two countries ended suddenly in the early 1980s due to the Soviet economy's inability to cope with the ever-increasing costs of the arms race. With nowhere to go, the Soviet Union disintegrated into its constituent nations, effectively ending the Cold War. In December 1987, US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed the INF Treaty, in which both superpowers agreed to a nuclear and conventional missile ceasefire, effectively ending the Cold War.

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Logevall, F. (2020, August 5). How Hitler Took the World Into War. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/books/review/the-nazi-menace-benjamin-carter-hett.html

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