Does war ever settle anything?

Question

Did it make us a country?Did it stop Hitler?Did it stop Japan?

Answer 1

Yes to all three.

Or haven't you heard of the American WAR of Independence? Without it America would still be a British colony and the whole history of the World would be very different. This war settled the Independence of the American people.

If the countries of Europe, most notably the United Kingdom hadn't stood up to Hitler and gone to war with Germany then all of Europe would probably still be dominated by Nazism, with millions in concentration camps and labouring as slaves. This war settled the freedom of European democracies.

The war with Japan stopped and reversed the Japanese expansion which threatened to dominate all of the Far East, including Australia, China and India. This would have resulted in the enslavement of countless millions and the humiliation of the USA if it had not responded by going to war after Pearl Harbour. The war with Japan settled the freedom of the Far East and along with the European war established the USA as a World superpower, without which the World may well have ended up being dominated by Nazism, Japanese fascism and/or Russian Communism.

The fact that you have the right to freedom of speech to ask questions like this is a direct result of war.

Answer 2

Yes war did defeat Hitler and Japan. Now because both countries were completely defeated they are peaceful members of the world community. It would have been better if those oppossing Hitler and Imperial Japan had gone to war sooner. You are glad Hitler and Nazism don't rule Europe aren't you?

War also defeated the Confederate South in the American Civil War and ended slavery.

Answer 3

This is actually an excellent question, Locutus.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am very much in the anti-war camp. I am very much a fan of how Ghandi liberated India from British rule without ever raising an army. I think the American colonies could have secured their independence through non-violence also instead of war. And it is a crying shame that the palestinians don't use Ghandi's style of non-violence in order to secure a nation-state for themselves.

That said, I am not willing to say that non-violence methods would work in every case. It's hard to imagine fighting the Nazis that way. We would have to allow the Nazis to take over and then apply non-violence principles to the max to pull that off. In that case, it might very well be more tolerable to resist through military means.

As far as the current war on terror, there is no way to apply non-violence principles to al Qaea other than to remove American troops from the Middle East and stop our overwhelming funding of Israel's military machinery. Then the Islamists would lose interest in us and resume fighting amongst themselves.

Answer 4

Yes it stopped Hitler. Yes it stopped Japan.

Answer 5

Yes - it stopped Hitler and Japan.

Answer 6

war doesnt do a damn thing but make things worse and kill innocent ppl...but if it is to save millions of lives..its worth it. yea i know my answer doesnt seem like it makes much sense but it kinda does...i mean think of the wars that are going on now...its not about saving ppl...its about gatting money and taking land....if ppl had a say in what we do...there would be know wars and im quoting "if u go up to random ppl and ask if they want world peace, almost 100% of them will say yes" im a 14 year old girl and i understand very little but im able to give the best answer i can think of for this subject matter.

Answer 7

Yes, yes, yes and yes. However, it is not always the best answer. And it is certainly not the first answer to any problem. Sometimes a war only quiets things down until the next war.

Answer 8

It made us a country, it stopped Hitler, and it stopped japan.

sarcasm?

Answer 9

Yes to all your questions. And if we don't go to war with terrorists, we will be destroyed by them.

Answer 10

it gave U2 an album title