The end of war

The Second World War was coming to an end in 1945. For it to end, the Japanese had to surrender; however, the Japanese did not have surrender as part of their philosophy in life. Consequently, the allies (Americans, French, English, besides others) faced a long and bloody war before the end finally came.

Upon becoming US President, Harry Truman learned of a secret scientific project to create an atomic bomb. After successful tests, Truman issued the Potsdam Declaration demanding the unconditional surrender of the Japanese government. After receiving no reply for 11 days, he dispatched the Enola Gay on August 6, 1945, carrying ‘Little Boy’, an atomic bomb. At 8:15 am Hiroshima time, ‘Little Boy’ was dropped. The result was about 80 000 deaths in the first few minutes, followed by thousands more who died from exposure to the radiation. This was followed by another bomber on August 9 heading for Nagasaki with ‘Fat Man’, another atomic bomb. Within a minute of dropping ‘Fat Man’, 39 000 people were killed, while 25 000 more were injured. Both cities were levelled, and this forced Japan to surrender. The war was finally over.

Following the end of the war, the US conducted more than 1 000 thermonuclear tests. The tests were done in interesting areas, Bikini Island being one of them.

One of the matters that became increasingly evident (although no one is sure if the US will admit this) is that the strength of the nuclear weapons was far higher than required. An atomic bomb is roughly 1 000 times more powerful than anything dropped by a battleship. Thus, the use of an atomic bomb, or even a hydrogen bomb, has a limit, insofar as it is far more powerful than desired. Any commander can rapidly see that all they can use the atomic bomb for is as a terminal weapon after which the war will come to an end.

Thus, it becomes a very undesirable weapon, because it has to be carefully guarded and carefully maintained. At the same time, it may never be used, thus causing a cost, which is undesirable. It raises itself like the ancient maritime question: What if you had a war and nobody came, because everybody would lose?

It must have seemed to many sailors and soldiers after the end of the Second World War that they had found something which everybody desired – a device which would bring an end to war. Nobody thought of what would happen if a device was produced that was so powerful that it would put an end to most wars except the smaller ones. It does raise the most interesting question: Have we, in fact, brought an end to all wars?

The only way we can judge this is by seeing how many wars are still being fought. The number of wars still being fought is relatively small indeed, and the wars are mostly between two or three countries. There don’t seem to be any large conflicts such as those which happened in World War I or World War II. By large conflicts one implies the total number of people involved as a percentage of the whole and those people injured, killed, et cetera. Nobody believes that war should exist, and everybody would be happier if wars became less frequent and it does seem as if this is occurring.

The ultimate reason for wars is to gain something from somebody else, be it some land or control or access to the sea or resources. Such transfers of ownership have been happening since time immemorial and can hardly be described or thought of as being war per se. Thus, there is the question: Have all wars finished by virtue of their magnitude? There are those who would say no because conflicts still exist. To hope for such a result is unrealistic.

As we have quietly slipped past the hundredth anniversary of World War I, we can see that the anniversary of World War II is on the horizon, and it’s quite possible that there will be no World War III.