Why Do People Fight Wars; History Video #6

Today we talked about a sad -- but necessary -- topic: the reasons that humans fight wars.

We started by discussing the unnecessary reason for Darius's invasion of Greece during the Persian Wars: his desire to take revenge against city-states that had supported the rebellion against Persia, even though the rebelling city-states had already been re-conquered.

We came up with the following list of the most common reasons that humans have fought wars throughout history.

1. People are trying to take resources (land, minerals, water, oil, etc.) from other people.

2. People disagree about their religious beliefs (or they are trying to force other people to accept their interpretation of religious truth).

3. People fight in self-defense.

4. People are trying to obtain independence from another group of people.

5. People want to help or protect other people who have less power.

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On the lighter side: Students suggested the following strategies that Darius could have used to calm himself down instead of retaliating against the Greeks (these strategies have been learned as methods of responding to sibling provocations):

Becca: Scream, and if that doesn't work, then watch You Tube.

Riley: Slam the bedroom door, really loudly.

Zach: Retreat to the bedroom, then counterattack (be careful Zach -- this sounds a bit too much like Darius's strategy, which did not work out very well!).

Sophie: Scream into a pillow, and then give yourself a timeout (this gets the award for the most creative, surprising strategy).

Ellie: Sit in a dark room until a calm attitude returns.

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Now, here's History Video #6: