Hange of effects of warfare on combatants due to new technological Essay

Hange of effects of warfare on combatants due to new technological advancements since Second Industrial revolution - Essay Example These changes are multidimensional and complicated. Most of the ideas and opinions have been propounded by the means of an example-based approach. Dependable sources for reference purpose have bee carefully selected and utilized. Research Question How have the effects of warfare on combatants changed as a result of new technologies of warfare since the Second Industrial Revolution (c. 1850)? Thesis Statement The changes in the effects of warfare on the combatants due to the utilization of post Second Industrial Revolution weapons technology have made them more impersonal, lethal, cruel, and confident. Armed Conflict Becomes More Impersonal and Lethal The effect: Since the Second Industrial Revolution warfare has become increasingly dependent on technology. This dependence has caused armed conflict to become progressively more impersonal and lethal. Discussion: The modification in the nature of armed conflicts is due to the fact that the combatants are becoming more impervious and als o they are lethally very much enabled. In the ancient and medieval ages, combatants used to fight each other in battlefields that generally did not cover the civilian areas. One-to-one battles were not unknown between the warriors and that used to be a matter of glory. Weapons like swords and spears could kill only one combatant at a time. But mass killing by using incendiary bombing, as had been seen in Germany and Japan, testify the fact that the new technologies have made the combatants extremely lethal (Grossman, 1995). Before the Second Industrial Revolution, a warrior has a glorious appeal. He/ she could be a crusader, a protector, or a savior. This appealing warlike personality cult motivated the youth during the post Second Industrial Revolution wars as well. The World War I is a good example of this. But with the advent of new technologies, the appeal of valor culminated at dangerous impersonal missions (Dennis, 2001). According to Smith (1983), â€Å"The introduction of t he gun will serve in the future to make war more rational and less the product of purely personal enmity.† In ancient warfare, we find personalities like Hector and Achilles who fought for personal glory. However, generals like Trotsky led the masses for almost completely impersonal movements. Rapid fire and faster and widespread communication actually impersonalized warfare (American Political Science Association, 1983). As for lethality once again, World War I provides a good example. Infamous chemical warfare during this period had made the ground reality similar to â€Å"Dying like so many rats in a trap† (Cook, 2002: 47). Such situation never came up in the wars of the ancient civilizations. Increased Cruelty The Effect: Second Industrial Revolution has begot such war techniques that cannot be limited among the combatants only. In modern warfare, the degree of civilian casualty is very high and this fact testifies for the increased cruelty of the combatants. Discus sion: Atrocities committed by the ancient and medieval combatants were less terrific and had lower psychological effect. In technology-based modern warfare, things are different; especially, psychological effects are too profound. Siege warfare is an important sub-discipline in this regard. During the siege of the cities in the pre 1850 environment, less prominent terror techniques were generally used. Examples of medieval siege warfare like the Siege of Calais (France) by British forces show that human values prevailed to at least some extent in the war. Although siege of Peking by the

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Assignment Example Some of these programs have shown great success, while others have not. The purpose of this paper is to examine specific population issues in China, India, and Japan and to determine what practices are currently working, and what still remains to be done. China China is now well over a population of 1.4 billion people and it continues to grow. This amounts to a staggering figure of twenty percent of the global population. Because of this China, is now facing serious social and economic problems as a result of this burgeoning population. Population strain has lead to a depletion of land and natural resources, caused severe pollution problems, and had lead to deplorable living conditions amongst the poorest of the Chinese people (Qu, Cui, Yan, Peng, & Zhang, 2011, p. 2077). One can say, however, that the Chinese government saw these problems coming and have worked feverishly to do something about it. In 1979, China implemented the famous one-child policy. Beyond one child, families wou ld be taxed up to 50% of their income or possibly lose their employment, making it unlikely that many would violate the policy. In the end, families who agreed to have only one child would receive certain benefits. Women who got pregnant without authorization or by accident were encouraged to terminate their pregnancy. The result of this program has been mixed. Fearing punishment, many government official falsified population reports, leading to estimates that the number of births reported in China may be off by as many as twenty-seven percent. In the end, population growth has slowed somewhat, but at great costs. There have been political consequences, as many Western countries have criticized China for the policy, particularly their views on birth control and the rampant termination of pregnancies. China has, however, seen tremendous economic growth in recent years, but many fear that there will soon be an imbalance of males and females in the country. This is a result of many Chi nese families working to have a male as their only child, causing an imbalance in the ratio of males to females (Fischer, Winiwarter, Cao, & Ermolieva, 2012, p. 246). If this continues, there will be a reversal in population growth as time goes on, making it difficult for the younger generation to support a growing and sizeable elderly population. India Like China, overpopulation in India a serious concern and one that needs to be addressed. Unlike China, however, India has been able to do little to reverse the trend. India still has the majority of its population living in abject poverty. Add to this the fact that India has not progressed much in the way of feminine rights in recent decades, and one can easily see why the population has gotten out of control (Bloom, et. al., 2010, p. 18). The government has attempted through the years to reduce population growth, but most have not succeeded to any great extent. The ironic part of this problem is that India has sufficient land size and a lot of agricultural potential to support the over one billion that live there. The reality is, however, that the resources are not equally distributed and that a majority of the people of India is not having their basic needs being met. Indian, being faced with the reality that they simply cannot handle the population growth that is occurring, has attempted to