R1 HISTORY TOURNAMENT Resolved: War is a net negative

I hope that a tournament similar to this could be expanded upon in the near future due to debates such as these. As this debate is part of the history tournament, I will arrange my argument in such a way so that I utilize historical events to back up my hypotheses. I hope that my opponent adopts a similar strategy. My opening argument will be split into two fundamental ideas, with smaller points integrated within them. These will be: D1: Prehistoric and Early positive impacts of war D2: Modern positive impacts of war Let’s get started! D1: Prehistoric and Early positive impacts of war D1.1: Trans-cultural diffusion Trans-cultural diffusion is defined as “. .. the spread of cultural items—such as ideas, styles, religions, technologies,languages etc. —between individuals, whether within a single culture or from one culture to another. It is distinct from the diffusion of innovations within a specific culture” [1]. This diffusion is a primary instrument for the global advancement of cultures. Some examples include the spread of the war chariot out of Ancient Egypt and iron smelting out of Turkey and China [2][3]. While trans-cultural diffusion is certainly a highly effective mechanism, the fact remains that prehistoric and early civilizations are generally isolationist and reluctant to interact with hostile neighbors. Therefore out of the three forms of trans-cultural diffusion, Direct, Forced, and Indirect diffusion, the most common form is Forced. Forced diffusion is defined as the enforcement of ones culture through conquering and dominating the other culture, generally through warfare. There are countless examples of how warfare benefited from, and itself improved technology around the world. One would be China’s spread of ideas to Japan and South-East Asia. Due to the violent, war-focused ideology and culture of the Chinese people during the medieval and early time periods, Forced diffusion was not uncommon. Through wars against Korea, Dai Viet, Japan, and others China spread their highly advanced technology throughout Eastern Asia. These included advances in medicine due to injuries during wars, naval doctrine and construction, paper, gunpowder, etc [4][5][6]. Another example would be the spread of Islam throughout the Middle East and North Africa and the ideas that came with it. Islamic expansion began after the death of Muhammad in the early 630’s AD. The primary idea that came with the spread of Islam was that of religious tolerance, which is ironic and confusing granted the current state of the religion. Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab ordered his armies: “He [Umar] has given them an assurance of safety for themselves, for their property, their churches, their crosses, the sick and healthy of the city…Their churches will not be inhabited by Muslims and will not be destroyed…They will not be forcibly converted. ” [7]. This coincidentally, led to a decrease in violence and an increase of stability in the Muslim world which the European one lacked. Islam spread through military conquests throughout North Africa and nearly all throughout Spain. In all these regions the people benefited from the ingenious advances from the Muslim empire, headed by the famous House of Wisdom in Baghdad [8][9]. A final example of cultural diffusion via warfare is the infamous Catholic Crusades. The Crusades preyed upon the advances of the Arabian Empire nearly half a millenia ago and brought all of the Muslim ideas back to Europe. The effect was unprecedented. Never before had such a seemingly terrible event lead to such prosperity (until the World Wars, but I’ll get to that later). It is argued that the Crusades effectively pulled Europe out of the Medieval era and into the Renaissance of which they are so famous for. For example, the Crusades greatly undermined the terrifyingly powerful grasp that Feudalism had on Europe. This is due to many nobles selling off their land to go off to fight, and potentially never returning. Therefore new candidates, and more importantly “underqualified” candidates took their places and thus drastically changed the atmosphere in Feudal Europe. The Crusades also opened up vast trade networks all the way to Damascus, Baghdad, and Kabul [10]. While this in itself is a great technological advance, the real impact came from the abrupt increase in cultural diversity for the Europeans. This rapidly sped up the process of trans-cultural diffusion and as a result the Europeans advanced into the Renaissance. D2: Modern positive impacts of war D2.1 Rapid development of military technology during WWI and WWII The World Wars are often considered the worst events in human history. The fact remains that the wars were indeed horrible due the enormous destruction of life, however in a colder sense the world wars shaped modern day human life. The technological gap between World War I and World War II is enormous. Never before in the history of warfare has there been such a rapid alteration to technology and doctrine in such a short time. For example the first tanks were pioneered during the First World War. A common tanks, such as the British Mark V, was considered one of the most efficient and advanced tanks used during the war. It had the greatest fuel capacity of any previous British model at 94 gallons per tank allowing the tank to run for ten hours on rugged terrain and had a 45 km maximum mission range. It had a superior clutch system with five different gears so that it could run in any terrain. And they could also move at an inspiring 8 km/hr [11]. However, just twenty years later the UK was producing something out of a science fiction movie, in comparison to the Mark V. The UK’s Churchill design is considered by many to be the best British tank that they produced. The Churchill had a maximum mission range of 90 km, doubled than that of the Mark V. The tank could work effectively on any terrain, whether it be France, Egypt, or India. And it could fly at 24 km/hr, triple that of the Mark V [12]. While there were certainly many superior tank models to the Churchill (such as the Soviet T-34, considered the best tank in the war) but the emphasis is more on advancement from WWI to WWII and less on comparison. The change between the Mark V and the Churchill is enormous and is a perfect example of how necessity of war can cause huge shifts in technology, generally for the better. Tanks were not the only examples of military technological advancement. Examples could be the improved aircrafts, mechanized infantry, abandonment of cavalry, etc. Not to mention the invention of several other military concepts such as flamethrowers, rocket artillery, and nuclear weapons. D2.2 Other technological advancements as a result of WWI and WWII Military was not the only aspect of abundant technological expansion during the world wars. Due to the catastrophic number of injuries and casualties during WWII, medical advancements were necessary. One perfect example would be penicillin. While not invested during the war (officially released in 1928) the USA was the first country to mass produce the medicine as a result of the war. The penicillin greatly improved the medical care of wounded soldiers and is still used today [13]. Other medical advancements would be the advance of the DDT pesticide which kills mosquitos. This pesticide was essential for preventing the rapid spread of malaria in the African theatres. Another advancement would be the refining and perfection of blood transfusions so that pilots could fly at high altitudes for long hours. While these medical advancements were originally used for military purposes, they are now instrumental aspects of medical care today and they wouldn’t have existed had it not been for WWII. Outside of medicine, there were still a huge number of advances that came as a result of the war. For example, plastic became a heavily relied upon resource for the construction of military machinery. Today plastic is one of the most heavily used material in the world. Or the advancements of nutritional food could be another example. Scientists during WWII found ways to increase nutrition in the soldiers food immensely so that they could be healthy on the battlefield. Nowadays the food industry has learned a great deal from these advances. Even outside of technology, there were still more great advances as a result of the war. Such as the establishment of the United Nations, the founding of Israel, Increased national unity worldwide, and the dissolution of Fascism. Conclusion While war in the simplest terms is a terrible idea with countless deaths and suffering always involved, the concept is still a necessity for human advancement. Without war cultures would have remained isolated for much longer due to their lack of need to expand outwards and interact with other cultures. Due to the war cultures were able to interact, spread ideas and technology, and rapidly improve human life. Wars, especially modern ones, cause a requirement for countries to advance upon their own technology, military or otherwise. This too causes great improvements of human life. In essence, while war may appear to be brutal and hurt the human existence, it is ironically a necessity for the improvement of human life. As I don't have enough chararcters, all sources will be provided in the comments. Back over to you, Pro!