CONFLICT IS MORE ILLUMINATING TO A HISTORIAN THAN PEACE. Camelia Lequeux

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1 1 The idea that conflict is more enlightening is easily conceived, as during conflict tensions are at a zenith meaning events are more decisive and therefore more comprehendible. However, conflict and peace are part of a dialectics 1 process, providing equally illuminating information. Our society is shaped around conflict, as it is in human nature for a dispute to occur when all tensions which have built up come together and implode. Despite conflict and peace often being represented as dichotomies, the lines between them are blurred. Conflict is a turning point, creating change, yet the resolution of it creates peace, and the breaking of peace results in disputes. The relations between countries are like a weighing scale, at times of peace the balance is equal, yet nonetheless precarious with a small change in weight on one side threatening to throw the scale out of balance. Conflict is when the scale is not equal and instead has the potential to radically oscillate with huge repercussions, both these stages are fascinating to study due to the potential consequences and the affect they have on society. Due to the milieu of war the risks are often far greater than in times of peace; affecting a huge audience as the scale is often blown up beyond borders, this means that conflict has a more decisive nature which makes it easier to study. Clashes reveal the relationships between countries and how they work under pressure. It shows the real motives of the leaders and their strengths or weaknesses. For example, the Nazi Soviet pact which was signed on the 23 rd August 1939, where Germany and the USSR agreed to invade and divide countries in Eastern Europe and Poland, reveals the relations and cunningness of the different countries when faced with the threat of conflict or the opportunity to gain in conflict. Hitler knew that it gave Germany the opportunity to invade Poland, whilst the USSR realised that Britain and France weren t strong enough allies and needed time to build up forces. The threat of conflict meant countries desperately tried to make allies and build up their defences. This is a gem to historians since international relations at the time of the events are laid bare. Furthermore the impact of this pact is often instrumental and enthralling to uncover. The Nazi Soviet pact was crucial in causing World War Two as it ended Britain s hopes of an alliance with Russia to contain Nazi Germany and showed the people in Britain that nothing would stop Hitler from achieving his aims of building a greater Germany, defeating communism, overthrowing the treaty of Versailles and gaining Lebensraum other than war. This all reveals crucial events which helped lead to World War Two, a conflict where the risks are enormous and the potential power involved is unimaginable. 1 Dialectics (from Ancient Greek) a method of argument for resolving disagreement that has been central to European and Indian philosophy since antiquity

2 2 Both conflict and peace share the integral theme of power, conflict is the bid to gain power, whilst peace is the management of it. Yet it is not power that corrupts but the fear of the loss of it 2 ; conflict incites these conditions of terror and trepidation, manifesting itself into a power struggle. This reveals to historians the true intentions of countries, leaders and what a country wants, reveals what they are missing. For example, in September 1931 Japan invaded Manchuria as it offered nearly 200,000 square kilometres of land, a solution for their problem of overcrowding. Furthermore Japan wanted the rich agricultural land and abundant resource of minerals and forestry which Manchuria offered; thus revealing to historians the domestic issues facing Japan at that time. We commemorate times of war and not times of peace because often so much is lost and gained in them and the repercussions of them are huge, affecting the widest audience base on the largest scale. Conflict creates open power struggles and the studying of it is highly revealing of the international relations of the time and the domestic problems facing a country, as Every fight is on some level a fight between differing angles of vision illuminating the same truth. 3 Conflict reveals peoples true characters: decisions are made under pressure, which is exacerbated by the consequences often having huge repercussions. Leaders have to deal with extreme emotions, which often come along with war, such as anger and betrayal. These extreme emotions are far more powerful than feelings such as satisfaction and contentment, therefore people often make slip ups and crumble under the stress. Hence blundering decisions made by leaders usually occur during war and these leaders are often far more notorious and remembered. For example General Sir Douglas Haig who oversaw the greatest single day of loss of British lives in history. 60,000 troops, 20% of the British army were killed or wounded on the morning of July 1 st 1916 and yet this offensive failed to achieve any one of its objectives. Yet under this pressure Haig remained an optimist which ironically in these circumstances was his downfall. He failed to face reality and in his diary the day after this offensive he even wrote the total casualties cannot be considered severe in view of the number engaged, and the length of front attacked. Furthermore, General Sir Douglas Haig was allowed to keep his position after the attack, showing misjudgement on behalf of his superiors; this is made axiomatic by the fact that under his auspicious leadership some 800,000 British soldiers would ultimately die. The deleterious and reckless choices made by leaders in conflicts are fascinating for historians as the consequences have the potential to affect the lives of so many. The most enlightening periods are the outbreak of disputes and the resolution of them to create peace, as these particular events break the borders between conflicts and peace making the transitions between them a mercurial process. A crucial feature of peace making is how it opens up opportunities for communications, so that countries can discuss 2 Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese opposition politician and chairperson of the National League for Democracy in Burma. 3 Mahatma Ghandi,

3 3 options in order to progress towards harmony. For example, during the troubles in Northern Ireland between , this was a violent thirty year conflict framed by a civil rights march in Londonderry on 5th October 1968 and the Good Friday Agreement on 10th April At the heart of this conflict lay the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. Attempts at peace such as The Anglo Irish Agreement in 1985 was an attempt to achieve a political accord that resolved the Irish question by giving the Irish government an advisory role in the affairs of Northern Ireland and determined there would be no change in Northern Irelands constitutional status no Irish unification without the consent of its people. However, the treaty broadly alienated the unionist community, which opposed Irish involvement and rejected the proposal for a devolved power sharing government. Although the Anglo Irish agreement was unsuccessful at creating peace, it meant that Northern Ireland and England communicated, which eventually helped lead to cross party peace talks in 1996 that concluded in The Good Friday agreement. The resolution of conflict provides opportunities to address multiple perspectives on meaningful issues in order to find out the most effective ways of reaching the telos and this resolution process allows historians to assess how victorious leaders were in achieving their goals at different stages. Peace making is an extremely complex procedure as one might as well try to ride tow horses moving in different directions, as to try to maintain in equal force two opposing or contradictory sets of desires 4, making it very illuminating to study the tentative equilibrium between conflict and peace. Arguably conflict has some characteristics which appear to make it a more useful resource; it is on a far larger scale, having various outcomes affecting individuals, villages, town, cities, countries and international relations. Its utility is further exacerbated by the decisive nature of conflict which makes it easier to understand. Whilst in peace there is often a propensity to overlook different alternatives as it is more comfortable for relations to remain as they are if all is harmonious. Alternatives which could make a country more efficient or the cogs of how everything functions run smoother are avoided as ideas often spark disputes. During the 1930s as the League of Nations crumbled Britain and France followed a policy of appeasement giving Hitler what he wanted in order to maintain a precarious peace. By the end of World War One nearly every family in England had been affected, everyone had a brother or father or cousin or uncle who had fought or died in the war. This was based on the idea that if Hitler s demands were reasonable they would be agreed to and when his demands had been satisfied he would stop. Although appeasement had some benefits such as buying time for Britain to prepare for war and creating a strong Germany to provide as a barrier against expansion by communist Russia this precarious peace was only temporary. In March 1936 Hitler marched troops into the Rhineland remilitarizing it, this went against the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, and however there was no action taken over this re 4 Robert Collier, American author of Self Help and new though Metaphysical books in the 20 th century.

4 4 occupation. This infatuation with peace blinded the politicians and eventually helped lead to the outbreak of war as Germany invaded Poland on the 1 st September 1939 and Britain and France declared war on Germany 3 rd September. Chamberlin and other politicians were screened from the truth in a bid to create peace, in fact the policy of appeasement revealed Britain s weakness; they would avoid war at all costs and gave Hitler confidence. In 1938 Hitler invaded the Sudetenland which he had gained permission to do at the Munich agreement in September The Czechs were furious, Hitler was jubilant, and Chamberlin was even welcomed back into Britain as a hero who had gained peace. People even admired Hitler shown as in 1938 the American magazine Time declared him Man of the Year, people refused to see the truth due to their obsession with peace. The policy of appeasement is interesting to study as although it may appear not to reveal people s true characters as leaders are often very precarious and careful in making decisions in a bid to avoid conflict. In reality it reveals how leaders act under intense historical pressures. Since Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of creative alternatives for responding to conflict alternatives to passive or aggressive responsive, alternatives to violence. 5 So, in conclusion although disagreements are more decisive and therefore easier to study, both conflict and peace are equally illuminating to historians. They overlap, revealing power plays and international relations at the time. The dialectic nature of both events is incredibly useful, the outbreak of conflict and the management and resolution of it, to create peace are the most enlightening. Similar to diamond formed at high pressure and develop over thousands of years, conflict incites pressure due to the huge risks involved; creating the equivalent of a diamond for historians to study, even years after the conflict has been resolved. It is not power that corrupts but the fear of the loss of it, conflict tempts leaders with the thought of power causing them to make these reckless decisions. Both conflict and peace are different forms of power plays, despite the fact that conflicts stymie development within a country, they reveal how people deal with situations under pressure and expose the multiple perspectives which are considered to address and solve problems. Conflict is always at work, yet during peacetime it is harder to read. The true motives of leaders are masked and this makes historical worker harder but also provides a more thought provoking perspective to consider. Resolution reveals the most effective ways of moving projects towards successful ends and a conclusion. Historians can study the different strands of a conflict and discover how they are all culminated and whether a resolution can be reached which is futile or optimal. 5 Dorothy Thompson, American journalist and radio broadcaster,

5 5 BIBLIOGRAPHY: pitagorsky/conflict is useful don t avoid it.html rev2.shtml peace northern ireland english/coming terms past northern ireland

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