When the Great War, or World War I, finally came to an end on November 11, 1918, the Allies inflicted most of the punishment upon Germany as if they were to blame for everything. The punishment was rather severe for they were expected to pay for all the war reparations, which resulted in a great depression as most of their money was now worthless. This brought about the necessity of a great leader to drive them out of poverty and back into the powerful nation they once were. Unfortunately, that great leader was none other than Adolph Hitler. He drove them out of poverty, which brought about his fame and popularity, but he then shifted towards fascism, anti-semitism and the “master race”. Then came the concentration and deaths camps of the Jews until it was considered to be mass genocide. It was not long before the power-hungry Hitler declared war against the allies by invading Belgium in order to attack France. 

The Soviet Union (Russia), however, arrived at Paris before Germany could strike. It is understandable that Germany may have wanted to exact revenge on the ones who wronged all those years between the two world wars, but mass genocide for the “master race” is not a just reason to go war. France, on the other hand, had the justification of self-defense. The Soviet Union also had the justification not to stand idly by when a victim state or country is aggressed, unlike the United States who decided to partake in non-intervention. However, their leave of the war also was qualified as being "just" due to civil issues within their own country.

When Great Britain was brought into the war it was through just reasons. Germany tried to gain control over the skies within Great Britain and as stated by Sir Isaac Newton: "for every action,  there is an equal reaction". The Germans when to drastic "unjust" measures by attempting to provoke a war between México and the United States. The United States had just reasons to go to war with that fact let alone that infamous day when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. The United States helped tipped the balance of the stalemate between France and Great Britain versus Germany and Japan. When the war ended between Germany and the Allies, they actually promoted reconstruction rather than just like inflicting punishment on them like the last time.

Then the only problem they had left was the "unsurrendering" army of Japan. The greatest problem the U.S had with the "unsurrendering" part. The U.S then thought it was best to drop the newly developed ultimate nuclear weapon--the atomic bomb. Their reasoning was to save American lives that would have been wasted in further war effort and to make their million dollar project worth its money's worth. They tried to justify their unjust actions which resulted in several casualties as collateral damage. If that was not enough they dropped a second one them to send a message. So although they had just reasons to join the war, they had unjust actions that lead to the end of the war. Just because a war may be classified as "just" does not necessarily mean all their actions are considered as just and vice versa.

WORKS CITED

Brunstetter, Daniel. “Just War?”. Humanities Core. University of California, Irvine, Irvine.14 Nov. 2014. Lecture.

Kennedy, David M., and Lizabeth Cohen. The American Pageant: A History of the American People. 14th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.

Robinson, Lindsay. “Teaching Instruction”. Advanced Placement United States History. Firebaugh High School, Firebaugh. March 2013. Lecture.

War is a time of chaotic violence which ironically wields to certain rules, or ethics, so it could be better classified as a “just” or humane resort towards a resolution. It is true that one must consider if it would be “just” to start a war over a matter of subject such as ethnic cleansing and development of atomic weapons, but it is also critical for us as human beings to procure alternate options to resolve a conflict. When the first strike on major U.S. soil was made on September 11, 2001, President Bush utilized the newfound fear upon the Americans by almost immediately declaring a never-ending war against terrorism. He did not consider whether or not the U.S. should wage war or if it was just—he just reacted. The FBI was actually warned beforehand of a group of terrorists that hijacked airplanes plotting to attack the U.S. Bush “unleashed the dogs of war” to make up for his misjudgment and no intention of not waging war. He was not thinking critically and justifying the war through logic, but rather through emotion to sacrifice some of our rights and tax money on a never-ending war—the War on Terror.

The new president, Barack Obama, has a different approach. He considers alternate options of compromise, but they prove to be inefficient towards a resolution. The fact that the alternate options are inefficient does not justify the means of war tactics just as sending in drones. World War II, for example, was a just war for the Americans as the Germans planned to invoke a war from Mexico and were causing mass genocide within the Jews. Although the war itself may have been considered as just, actions such as that of the atomic bombs on Japan were unjust as they were not last resort and it resulted in many civilian casualties as “collateral damage”. The retribution at the end of the war is the most important to consider for when those who established the first Treaty of Versailles did not think proactively about reconciliation unlike U.S. President Wilson Woodrow--it left tension within Germany which may have invoked the Second World War. Understanding the rhetoric of war is essential in preventing any further tension escalating to war any time soon. 

The legendary war within The Iliad, the Trojan War, could be considered as unjust war as it only affected the one in power, Menelaus. The war resulted in a decade of fighting over the ownership of just one woman, Helen, the king of Achea's wife. Within that span of time of war, there has been specific tensions that have caused there the characters to make certain justifications. Agamemnon justified that if he was to give up his prized woman that he should take Achilles' as compensation. This angered Achilles,  but decided it was best just to do what he asked, however, he removed himself from battle as he saw this as disrespect and chose to no longer fight for him. However, when the death of his brother-in-arms Patroclus was upon him he sought to avenge him He ended up killing the admirable Prince Hector, but also decided to disrespect his lifeless corpse by dragging it behind his chariot. This was even seen as unjust by the gods, but it was Hector's father, King Priam, to leave the body to him. 

There has been many wars since the birth of mankind that have been unjust with unjust actions, just with unjust actions, just with just actions and unjust with just actions. The Thirty Years' War is one which still appall people today as to what were the justifications for  a series of wars which eventually became categorized into one big war-- the Thirty Years' War. There, however, has been many injustifications that allowed the war to "feed itself" through the use of mercenary of soldiers and their leeching off of villages to compensate for payment towards the war effort. These unjust resulted in depopulation over major regions within the country as it caused many of the villagers to starve to death. Acknowledging these unjust actions have allowed mankind to limit the wartime dramatically from three decades to half a decade or less. Whether wars or unjust the actions made during that time should be critically analyzed as an just or unjust action in order to prevent in severe consequences to the human population. 

WORKS CITED

Brunstetter, Daniel. "Just War?". Humanities Core. University of California, Irvine, Irvine.14 Nov. 2014. Lecture.

"For More Information, See “Ten Years After: The FBI Since 9/11“." FBI. FBI, 21 May 2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2014. <http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/9-11-investigation>.

There is no war more devastating than the notorious Thirty Year's War. The series of wars that occurred simultaneously in Central Europe, most notably Germany, from 1618 to 1648 between Catholics, Saxons, and Lutherans. Though it is unknown as to what was the main cause of the "war", it has been narrowed down to three reasons: religion, constitution, and European state-building. The matter of fact is, though, that soldiers themselves did not fight for those reasons, but rather a entirely different motive--money.

As gruesome as it could be for three decades long,  the "war" affected not only the soldiers, but the civilians as well. Actually, especially the civilians.This war in particular was known to "feed itself" for the soldier's only motivation was money and as long as the money kept coming in they will continue fighting for the war effort.

The war grew to be a strong force when those in charge of the mercenaries decided to allow the soldiers to leech off of every village they came in contact with to compensate for the lack of money they requested for their services. What started off as a few small subsequent wars then became to be escalated into one big war named the Thirty Years' War. There was dispute over religion such as that of the Roman Catholics and the Protestants, but as mentioned before, the ones' who fought cared little about why they were hired. The war affected those who wished not to partake in the war, the civilians, the most for they were the victims that were left to starve after the soldiers are done passing through their villages.

Those who saw "the war from above" saw it as neat and nicely organized game compared to those who saw "the war from below" and saw it for it really was, and it's brutality amongst those involved. Grimmelshausen's Der Abentheuerliche Simplicissimus Teutsch is a satirical picaresque which finely demonstrates all the wrong brought upon the common people, or simpletons, through absolute ignorance. This work of literature is the "underbelly" of an epic for it does not follow a protagonist that is heroic or powerful, but rather ignorant fool and his adventures that are meant to send an ironic message.

The infamous Thirty Year's War was remembered for nearly depopulating the general regions of not only where the war took place, but also of where those villagers were left to starve. The reason why the war is remembered for the way it is because it a reminder for when our human nature was as its most dark moment and to prevent that from ever happening again. However, the silver lining of it all is the treaty of Westphalia, which took four years and 109 signatory parties to complete, as it was the founding movement of the modern international system of sovereign states. A huge milestone in the history of international law and the beginning of political modernity which made the war not a complete disaster for did war of constitution. 

WORKS CITED

Newman, Jane O. "Exemplary Wars and (Post) War Stories/ 'Transformations'." Humanities Core. University of California, Irvine, Irvine. 27 Oct. 2014. Lecture.

Newman, Jane O. "Reading (Hi)story." Humanities Core. University of California, Irvine, Irvine. 29 Oct. 2014. Lecture.

Von Grimmelshausen, Hans Jakob Christoph, and George Behrend. The Adventures of Simplicius Simplicissimus. 2nd, Rev. ed. Columbia: Camden House, 1993. Print.

During what is dubbed as the Homeric age, the people of Ancient Greece lived by certain values in their everyday lives as what is now called shame culture. This shame culture differs from modern-time's guilt culture, which justifies actions by judging whether a course of events is right or wrong. Shame culture, on the other hand, justifies actions by judging whether it will bring honor or shame upon their reputation. The value of honor was placed above all else and was deeply flawed in the sense that lead all to believe that all fighting equated as being "heroic". The valiant as well as the coward will fight to death for there is a sense of honor that is received, whether through success or death, that retreating or surrendering lacks. Such as the brilliant Hector, who turns a blind eye on family values due to the shame he is to receive if he chose to retreat from battle. He fought until his last breath for he would rather risk life for either kudos or kleos than to risk living a life of shame. 

Shame culture then lead to many prolonged disputations for neither side would surrender due to the lack of honor it would display upon them. This is probably the reason why the Trojan War lasted ten years fighting over what might have been just over a girl, Helen, before it finally came to an end. Humanity took a step forward as it converted into the modern guilt culture. No longer was society to be constituted by the judgement dependent on outside forces constructed by society, but rather by what comes from within human consciousness and critical thinking. However, early attempts of this new culture within the Americas deemed to be unsuccessful as it lead to the infamous Salem WItch Trials. People were accused of witches and led fight a war between them and their neighbors. This lead there to be a hostile environment in which no one could be trusted for they had it backwards. It was not until much later that the U.S. Constitution proclaimed that the accused is innocent until proven guilty rather than guilty until proven innocent. 

The evolution of shame culture to guilt culture ultimately lead to the dismay of prolonged warfare for honor is no longer placed above all else, but rather by moral and logical justifications concluded by sound reasoning.A sense of human agency and individuality is essentially what corrected honorable band wagon culture. 

WORKS CITED

Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Classics, 1991. Print.

Izenberg, Oren. “Aristos Akhaiôn (Best of the Achaeans): Value and Cultural Contradiction in The Iliad.” Humanities Core. University of California, Irvine. Irvine, CA. 13 October 2014. Class lecture. 

Miller, Arthur. "The Crucible". New York: Penguin Books, 1976. Print.

Mankind has over the years developed a wide variety of different types of ways to interpret their surroundings. These interpretations vary in several different ways. The geographic aspects of this planet divided the human species causing them to form their own thoughts and opinions towards the world around them. Religious views and cultures were then formed around the interpretations they have formulated as a group. Studying the humanities means finding out about how human interactions are linked to their interpretations of their surroundings. 

It is important to learn about the humanities because it is essential to know about our past for as it is said "those unaware of their past are condemned to repeat it." It is also important to acknowledge the differences in our views within our species to prevent any types of conflicts to escalate into a war. Wars are usually formed because of a lack of agreement or because of another factor that may lead to a conflict. "All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal" for when they cannot come into agreement through an intellectual debate they resort to physical violence driven by instinctual emotions such as rage. "Animals have never had a war. Who are the real animals?" Humans have the ability to establish strategies and tactics making it a far worse outcome than any conflict between any other species of animals on this earth. Studying the humanities help to make connections and to get a better understanding of the thoughts that were going around in people's heads in certain periods of time. The past is sometimes is interwoven with the present and even more in the future, so it is critical compare the interpretations then with the interpretations now. It is practically in the name "HUMANities". Why would it not be important to study about own race?

WORK CITED