Nothing is probably more horrible than the scene of war. It is not the death of millions of lives but it is their manner of dying which strikes terror into the heart and creates disgust in the very soul of humanity. When people die on millions on the battlefield, it is but natural that many children are rendered homeless, many women are made widows and many parents are deprived of their sons. The very separation between husbands and wives, between brothers and sisters, between parents and children is a painful sight. These are the after-effects of every war.
But warfare in modern days is a more horrible affair than it used to be in the days of yore when people used to fight only with the bow and arrow, the sword and the battle-ax, the lance and the javelin. But now there is the machine gun, the torpedo, the submarine, the depth charge, the mustard gas, the air-bomber, the tank and so many other latest destructive inventions of science. There is no escape from destruction in the land, water, or air.
Look at the work of the submarines, the mines, and the torpedoes in the eyeless and depthless waters. It is not merely the merchant or passenger ships, but also the battlecruisers which are taken by surprise and made to sink in the bottomless sea hy a sudden charge from the submarine or the torpedo or the mines.
When the battle rages on land there are so many ways of killing the army. The guns and the cannons are the first to operate when the opposing armies are in a sight or at a near distance. Next, the charge of the bayonets when there is an occasion for a hand-to-hand fight. But all the while, the tank, the bomber. the mustard gas does play an important role in the raid to carry on the devastation of the enemy on the largest scale possible.[the_ad id=”17141″]
Sometimes, the soldiers. are completely cut off from food supply or reinforcements with the result that they are bound to surrender themselves to the enemy with the best of arms at their back and the greatest courage in their hearts. There have been innumerable cases of the merciless massacre of soldiers and civilians even in spite of their forced surrender for the mere feeding of revenge or fun.
How many beautiful cities with valuable works of art and science have been ruined and depopulated, how many millions of innocent souls have been killed and butchered, how many resourceful countries have been impoverished in the course of the Great War.
War settles nothing. It is a fact that seeds of World War II were sown when the peace treaty for the first one was written at Versailles. Since very disgraceful conditions were imposed on the Germans and the Turks, it was sure to cause the reaction, which it did. Although strict limits for armament were imposed on Germany, yet Chamberlain was shocked to know Germany was a hundred times better prepared for war than she was in 1914. It is quite obvious that the Great War I had led to the second, as the second will naturally draw the world into a third. Thus we come to the conclusion that war settles nothing.
If force is met with force and the only way for settling disputes is to settle them through warfare, we cannot achieve anything substantial for the betterment of humanity. War creates an atmosphere of doubt, fear, and suspicion which leads to a race for .armaments and an endless vicious circle which is recurring in its nature and thus seems to break nowhere.
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