Germany and the Next War - Literature review Example

GERMANY AND THE NEXT WAR Friedrich von Bernhardi’s book Germany and the Next War was about the importance of war to the survival and expansion of a great nation, and supported war as a timeless method of ensuring that the strongest groups continue to grow and expand in a way that is similar to Darwin’s theory of natural selection. The excerpt given in this article covers the most important points of his very popular book. Bernhardi insists throughout his writing that might makes right. He talks about war as being “the father of all things” and explains how it is the reason that advanced civilization exists and continues to flourish.

He specifically seems to be talking about Germany and other colonial powers, and he justifies all wars of expansion because they benefit growing nations by providing new land and resources that sustain a growing population, which leads to other nations having a downturn as a result of their weakness. He says that war is a universal law of nature and is universally recognized, and that it happens because civilization continues to advance and needs war in order to reach greater heights. He explains that having a great civilization with great numbers implies a right to annexation and expansion through war, and that war is the only option.

He says that war satisfies all disputes, and is also just in a biological way. He concludes by insisting that war is important in international relations and that any attempts to mark it as a poor option should not be tolerated. Historians can learn from this article that war has had strong supporters in history, and that in the early 20th Century war was seen as a part of every generation’s necessary activity. Historians will note that Germany had already seen a period of war before the publication of this book, and it explains how to more powerful nations such as Germany embraced the benefits of war and therefore praised it as just and as a natural right.

This sort of attitude may also explain for historians why the 20th Century developed into a more chaotic atmosphere, especially in Europe, that today is defined by the beginning and end of wars, especially World War I and World War II. The fact that Bernhardi’s book was very popular indicates that German people had a warlike perspective, and were in no way seeking to avoid the destruction that would come in World War I. The war began not just because of conflicts in other parts of Europe, but because people wanted war and believed it would help their country succeed and climb to the top rather than leading to devastation and death that would cripple their country.

Historians overall should notice that some of the largest wars in history such as those involving Germany were conflicts that occurred simply over disagreements, but were planned campaigns were deep-seated social support and were very popular. This shows a contrast to modern thinking where war is not viewed very positively, and is usually used as a way to solve conflicts and look for a means of ending violence. People of Bernhardi’s time had little concept of war as being terrible, costly, and harmful, but instead read books like this one and worshipped war as a way of achieving status.

Also, this article shows historians that people were rarely thinking of alternative solutions for feeding growing populations and avoiding running out of resources and land, but instead quickly took the easiest route. This article basically allows historians to understand the mindset of people in the early 1900s and the motivation behind warfare at this time.