Neither the descriptions of war nor its terrible cruelties
and atrocities can stop people from participating in it. One reason for this is
that by viewing the atrocities of war, everyone comes to understand that if
such a terrible thing can exist and be accepted by people then there must be some
reason for its existence.
A witness recounted his experience in the Russian-Japanese
war, when he was on the upper deck of the Variag
battleship during a Japanese attack. It was a terrible sight. Everywhere there was
blood, pieces of flesh, bodies with heads torn away, the smell of blood so
strong it made even the most tough and hardest men dizzy.
The armored cannon tower suffered most of all. A shell exploded
on top of it and killed a young officer who was the chief of the ship’s
artillery. Only one thing was left of the poor man; it was his fist, the hand
which held the instrument.
Two of four sailors who stood next to their commander were
torn into pieces, and the other two had terrible injuries, afterwards both had
their legs amputated, and then the remains of their legs were cut off again
completely. The commander of the battleship had a small injury in his head, in the
temples. Filth, terrible illnesses, hunger, fire, destruction, evil and this is
military glory, this is war.
— Henri Harduin Garduen
War is now more terrible than at any period in human
history.
— Guy De Maupassant
The time has come to
talk about the evils of war. It is not true that the existence of wars proves
their necessity. The history of mankind say that such things should not happen.
