The need to fight part II

Throughout history, human beings have fought, maimed and killed one another for a variety of reasons. From the first territorial skirmishes between prehistoric tribes through thousands of years of warfare as countless empires and civilisations rose and fell, to the distant, mechanical methods of war employed today, history has been shaped by violence.

How differently might history have gone where it not for the likes of Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan and the numerous great Roman conquerors, such as Caesar, Pompey and Marius? If these men had been content to sit at home and while away their lives, dying old and content rather than striving constantly to achieve their grand ambitions, the history of our species would be much different, and much duller.

What is it that drives some of us to push ever onwards, to test mind and body beyond what most could endure, to always look to the next conquest? Alexander the Great, the Lion of Macedon, led his men to India and back in one the most stunning series of military campaigns ever seen. Genghis Khan united disparate tribes that had warred for centuries into a single, powerful nation, through little more than his indomitable will and sheer ruthlessness. The Mongol nation brought the ancient and powerful Chin empire to its knees, before marching east into modern day Iraq and Afghanistan, decimating huge armies and numerous cities along the way. Millions died by the word of the Great Khan.

Let us not forget the human scale of what such warfare means. Death, suffering and misery are the output of conquest. But, as it often is with humankind, one must accept these hard truths to see how vital such things are to our species. In a utopian world, where violence and suffering were but distant memories, where would we see the courage, honour, comradeship and self-sacrifice that are an indelible part of war? In an uncaring universe where all of our history is but the blink of an eye, only those species with the will and power to become ever stronger can hope to prosper. What would happen to us if, in this age of convenience and technological reliance, we lost that primitive, fundamental urge? If we ever do discover sentient, advanced life on another planet, our history indicates that violence sooner or later would be probable. Would we have the strength to prevail?