History Analysis / WarIsHell

Third, people from societies that promoted war, such as ancient Sparta or Viking-age Scandinavia, [[TheCynic thought that they were living in a]] CrapsackWorld, with the RatedMForManly warriors feeling that [[MartyrdomCulture dying for a good cause]] was better than waiting to die of old age. In Myth/NorseMythology, those who died bravely in combat went to [[WarriorHeaven Valhalla]].

Historically, this trope might be NewerThanTheyThink. [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy There is a long literary tradition of]] [[WarIsGlorious glorifying war]]: [[RatedMForManly bravery, discipline, manliness,]] [[MartyrdomCulture martyrdom]] and [[MightMakesRight the right of the strong]] [[RightMakesMight to defend the weak]], [[SocialDarwinist or even to take from the weak]]. As photographs, film and other forms of mass media from the front became more and more common, the newer trope became more and more mainstream, [[TropeBreaker eventually making said tradition obsolete]] -- it's easier to glorify war when you can't see it up close. And there was one other major contributing factor to the paradigm shift: the increasing ''brutality'' of how war was waged. To wit...

Second, being in constant fear for your life and limb is obviously stressful. Especially in the era of modern industrialized combat, which is more dehumanizing than ancient combat. Back then, if you were a genuine badass with both talent and training, you felt like you were in control of your destiny. Furthermore, war might have actually been fun for those who were actually winning. Modern warfare with its mines, partisans, snipers, machine-guns, grenades, mortars, artillery, gunship-helicopters, ground-attack aircraft, firestorms, poisonous gases, deadly toxins, infectious diseases, killer drones, and massive conventional and nuclear bombs, mean that [[DeathFromAbove death can strike without warning or defense]] - instilling a mindset of paranoia, insignificance, helplessness and nihilistic despair similar to that portrayed by [[CosmicHorrorStory Lovecraftian Fiction]]. Chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons in particular render your actions more-or-less totally meaningless, as your life itself depends entirely upon whether or ''when'' the enemy chooses to use them upon you.

Third, people from societies that promoted war, such as ancient Sparta or Viking-age Scandinavia, [[GrumpyBear thought that they were living in a]] CrapsackWorld, with the RatedMForManly warriors feeling that [[MartyrdomCulture dying for a good cause]] was better than waiting to die of old age. In Myth/NorseMythology, those who died bravely in combat went to [[WarriorHeaven Valhalla]].

This doesn't necessarily discredit war or render it obsolete. If anything, this trope has helped promote justifications of conflict along the lines of it being either a [[NecessarilyEvil necessary evil]] or an undesirable, last-ditch option when more peaceful means fail. In that regard, especially in North America and Britain, UsefulNotes/WorldWarII is the shining example of that considering the despicable [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany nature of]] [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun their enemies]] and the fact that they were the victors with relatively light losses. In addition, paradoxically and in one of the most confounding ironies known to man, it's been argued that war in some sense ''has'' [[http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-the-long-run-wars-make-us-safer-and-richer/2014/04/25/a4207660-c965-11e3-a75e-463587891b57_story.html been good for something]]: namely helping make larger, stable and more peaceful societies possible while reducing the risk of violence over time, and thus ''less'' war.

Historically, this trope might be NewerThanTheyThink. [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy There is a long literary tradition of]] [[WarIsGlorious glorifying war]]: [[RatedMForManly bravery, discipline, manliness,]] [[MartyrdomCulture martyrdom]] and the [[ValuesDissonance right of the]] [[SocialDarwinist strong to take from the weak]]. As photographs, film and other forms of mass media from the front became more and more common, the newer trope became more and more mainstream, [[TropeBreaker eventually making said tradition obsolete]] -- it's easier to glorify war when you can't see it up close. And there was one other major contributing factor to the paradigm shift: the increasing ''brutality'' of how war was waged. To wit....

Though isolated examples of this date back to UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance (in non-fiction), the [[UrExample earliest recognized instance of widespread belief in this trope]] is probably the UsefulNotes/ThirtyYearsWar, which [[UsefulNotes/AllTheLittleGermanies ruined the German states]] and involved such frequent changes of alliances that nobody was really sure why anyone was fighting anybody. The mass armies' constant need to raid the populace for conscripts and food meant that it directly affected a large segment of the population when, before, wars had largely passed the vast majority of the people. As a result, several artists of the period depicted war as a distinctly nasty experience, and popular accounts like sayings seem to confirm a rather gloomy attitude. However, after the Thirty Years' War ended, European militaries grew smaller and wars further from the people (until UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars, at least), and the trope receded.

Third, the societies that promoted war, such as ancient Sparta or Viking-age Scandinavia, are also thought to have been {{Crapsack World}}s, with the warfare-oriented cultures feeling that [[MartyrdomCulture dying for a good cause]] was better than waiting to die of old age. In Myth/NorseMythology, those who died in combat went to [[WarriorHeaven Valhalla]].

Third, the societies that promoted war, such as ancient Sparta or Viking-age Scandinavia, are also thought to have been {{Crapsack World}}s, with the warfare-oriented cultures feeling that a swift death [[MartyrdomCulture knowing they did something meaningful]] was better than waiting to die of old age. In Myth/NorseMythology, those who died in combat went to [[WarriorHeaven Valhalla]].