WARS OF THE WORLD. The story of the wars of the world, if told in anything like its entirety, would be practically a history of the human race, for wherever nations have risen to greatness and have bred men capable of performing great deeds the records of these acts of heroism have almost invariably been made on those fields of battle upon which the supremacy of tire nation itself has been accom plished. In the record of the warts of die world the student may read the tale of htnnati progress—the story of the advance of civiliza tion— for it cannot be denied that man's high place in the world tc is largely a reward bestowed upon him ie return for the brutalit) and bloodshed of the battlefields upon which his ancestors fought. That there have been wars that have.been tInnecessary is a fact that cannot be questioned, any more than one would deny that warfare has often been unnecessarily brutal, and yet, trom a logical point of view,, these are merely incidents which reflect upon but do not detract from the integrity of the original propositions: that war is the means by which superior nations have attained their superiority; that most wars 'have brought about scam good to humanity as a whole; that by war civilization was extended and that in the winnowing process afforded by such interna tional conflicts the fittest alone have survived and all that which was opposed to human progress or contrary to tire best interests of civilization has been cast aside, to be lost and, eventually, forgotten by all save the historian who does not deign to record the most ignoble things in the life and customs of the earth's peoples.
Early Unfortunately it is im possible to state, even approximately, when the first battle of the world was fought. In the early ages, of course, primitive man had all he could do to maintain a bare 'existence and preserve himself against the fury of the wild beasts so eager to attack him; but even tradition furnishes no c.lue to enable the student to discover at what period men first turned against other men to do battle with the crude instruments that had been devised only as a means of protecting themselves from the savage animals in the forests. Probably there were wars many thousands of years be fore recorded history. All we Icnow is that Osymandyas of Egypt, supposed by some to be the Osiris of the priests, is the first warlike Icing mentioned by history. Ht passed into Asia and conquered. Bactria, about the year 2100 n.c. If Osymandyas was the first warlike Idng, however, he was not the last, for in 1900 it was estimated that since his time no less than 6,860,000,000 men have lost their lives on fields of battle and the millions slain in the Great World War are yet uncounted; but, in spite of this grewsome record, men have fought and will probably continue to conduct wars against each other, while all nations will be compelled to arm themselves with the latest fighting inventions, for, with the history of tire past to guide them, they realize °sly too well the Power that is not always prepared to protect its rights and properties with the sword may not unlikely find itself with very little except its honor to defend. Probably the first
wars originated in nomad life and these con flicts were undoubtedly occasioned by the disputes which arose between the various tribes in regard to their rights of possession in favorable pasturage. When all tribes devoted themselves to the flocks and herds there was little to discriminate between them, but, grad ually, certain tribes began to assume different characteristics. Om became attached to the art of agriculture; another devoted its time to hunting and fishing, while a third class still remained shepherds of the flocks. It was this difference of occupation. which finally. became the natural source of hostilities, for it estab lished a series of classes, the stronger of which began to prey upon tire weaker. Naturally, those who devoted themselves to the hunt be came the victors in war, and, by reducing their victims to a condition of slavery, threw the manual labor, which they despised, upon the shoulders of others. In fact, there is a tradi tion in western Asia, that Nimrod, who is mentioned in the Bible as (ca mighty hunter before the Lord? was the first person to en gage upon an extensive system of warfare for the express purpose of obtaining slaves and that it was he who introduced the practice of requiring conquered nations to pay an annual tribute, or, in other words, a ransom for their release. However true this may be we find that the ancient Old Testament days were full of such warfare, in which the outcome was either tribute or slavery. History began on the banks of the Nile and along the Tigris and the Euphrates; for these valleys, like two great oases, were practically the only habitabie spots in the g-reat desert. Fitted with all known conveniences for travel, with roads suitable for the passage of vast armies, these two centres of habitation finally became grmt rivals. In fact, whenever any particularly energetic ruler appeared in either spot he at once set out, as if moved by an irresistible impulse, to conquer his rival and so control western Asia. It may truthfully be said, there fore, that the history of this time is little more than one continuous record of struggles be tween Egypt and Mesopotamia, a condition which existed until Europe. entered the lists and became the conqueror. In Egypt, -during this age, the military class held such a prominent position in society that fully one third of the land was in the possession of the 410,000 men who composed the army.