War the Concept of War Encompasses Various

¶ … War

The concept of war encompasses various different types of conflict. Wars between sovereign nations involve nation states. Regional and world wars involve multiple sovereign nations. Revolutionary wars of independence involve the populations of nations rebelling against or rejecting the continued control national authorities. Civil wars occur when rival regions or political factions within one nation seek formal separation or complete control. Proxy wars are a means by which nations prosecute their competing interests against one another through smaller conflicts involving other nations as a means of avoiding direct military conflict.

Wars between Nation States

Wars between sovereign nations have occurred throughout recorded history, dating back to Biblical times. Generally, sovereign nations go to war when they each have claims to the same land, or natural resources, or rights of passage that each seeks to own or control exclusively. Throughout the Middle Ages and into the early modern age, the European nations engaged in wars over their competing claims over new territories and trade routes. Sometimes, sovereign nations go to war without any competing claims just because the leadership of one nation decides to take what it wants from another nation by force simply because they believe that they have the power and ability to do so. In the middle of the 20th century, Nazi Germany annexed Austria, demanded parts of Czechoslovakia by threatening war, and eventually invaded Poland just because the Nazis sought additional living space and access to natural resources.

Regional and World Wars

Regional wars involve more than two warring nations and typically involve the initial combatants as well as their respective allies and treaty members. The First World War was initially a conflict just between Austro-Hungary and Serbia but it quickly escalated to a regional war and then to a world war when uninvolved regional and international allies of both sides began to mobilize their respective armed forces. Germany supported Austro-Hungary, and Britain, France, and Russia supported Serbia. The conflict truly became a world war when the United States entered the war in 1917.

Revolutionary Wars of Independence

Revolutionary wars occur when the populations of a nation or colony of a nation decide that they no longer want to be ruled or controlled by the national authorities in power over the nation or who established the colonies in their name and national authority. The American Revolution is a good example because it occurred when the thirteen British colonies originally established on the North American Continent decided that they no longer wanted to be ruled by the British royal crown. They had been living under the authority of the Queen of England and were considered British subjects. When they declared their independence from England, that started the Revolutionary War that eventually resulted in the successful liberation of the American colonies from the British royal crown and the creation of a new nation in North America. The infamous French Revolution at the end of the 18th century and the Communist Revolution in Russia a century later during the last year of the First World War are both examples involving the subjects of national authorities revolting against national government and aristocracy.

Civil Wars

Civil wars occur when different political factions within one nation cannot reach an agreement or reconcile major differences. In some cases, the purpose of a civil war is similar to revolutionary wars because they are the result of one faction's desire or intention to break free from a larger unified nation and to create a new sovereign nation. The American War between the States or Civil War is an example of such a war because the southern states sought to secede from the American nation and to create their own nation where slavery could continue legally as a way of life. The northern states opposed the institution of slavery and had gradually placed more and more pressure on the southern states to give up the practice. In other instances, civil wars occur when one faction seeks to take exclusive power over the nation instead of sharing power or regional control with competing political factions. The Spanish Civil War immediately preceding the Second World War is one such example.

Proxy Wars