At least since the 1970s, people around the world have been crying themselves hoarse trying to educate the masses that war isn’t the answer to the world’s problems. Btu going to war has become something of a human instinct and we have virtually never had a period of recorded history that wasn’t marked by a war or two. We explore the reasons that make people go to war.
To defend their country
The noblest sentiment that people associate with the motivation behind going to war is for the defense of their motherland. This is more of a forced situation when an invader or a neighbor threatens the independent of country and they have no choice left but to go to war to defend their borders and sovereignty.
To loot another country’s resources
They say the spoils of war go to the victor. This saying didn’t come into existence because kings that won a war tried to compensate the loser with gold from their own treasuries. In fact, looting has been one of the biggest motivators for war through all ages of history. It was the basis for the expansion of great empires like the Greeks, the Romans, the Turks, and the Mughals and in more modern times, the Spanish and the British.
To counter evil dictators
It may sound eerily familiar and too much of an excuse to invade another country but there have been times, in the past, mind you, where evil dictators tyrannically ruled over their countries. They robbed people of their civil liberties and generally made life hell for citizens of their countries. Some of them, like one Herr Hitler, even carried out systemic genocide just because he was an evil dictator and he could. To counter such oppressive regimes, going to war serves as a good countermeasure.
