War and The Holocaust essays

War and The Holocaust essays As the old saying goes, there are always two sides to every story. This rings true for war and the Holocaust. There were individuals who were in support of war, albeit their knowledge of its destructive powers, and there were some people who saw its disadvantages through their own eyes, and were therefore vehemently against it. One side saw war and the Holocaust as a positive step towards progress and development, while another side saw unjust destruction and death. Both Bernhardi and Mussolini saw benefits of war for European culture, but Remarque, Monks and Graebe saw, through their own actual experiences, that the benefits acquired through war did not outweigh the disadvantages that it unleashed. In his essay, General Friedrich Von Bernhardi defended the act of war, saying that humankind cannot escape it. He says that, ...the struggle between nations is inevitable... (Bernhardi 177). Furthermore, he says that the development of a country could be, for the most part, attributed to battle. Bernhardi mentions that although war has its setbacks, it is also a creative and purifying power (Bernhardi 177), and a life-giving principle (Bernhardi 178). In addition, Bernhardi admits that war temporarily disturbs industrial life, interrupts quiet economic development...and emphasizes the primitive brutality of man. (Bernhardi 177), but says that war is a need that man has to heed, a biological necessity of the first importance (Bernhardi 177) that cannot be taken away from society. He further upholds his argument by defining the search for peace and the abolishment of war as a journey for the weak and cowardly. According to Bernhardi, ...this desire for peace has rendered most civiliz ed nations anaemic... (Bernhardi 177). Moreover, Bernhardi argues that war has greater benefits. According to Bernhardi, war will furnish...a nation with favourable vital conditions.....