A History of War Part IV – Defence: Is There a “Good Reaction” to War?

Interintellect founder Anna Gát continues her series A History of War with a look at the famous sieges of history, from Masada to Leningrad, from Málaga to Sarajevo, to explore the stages of how civilian life breaks down, but also human resilience, resourcefulness, and perseverance when under attack. We will touch upon deterrence and preemptive offensives as part of the activities of defence, as well.

In the April and May episodes of this series we discussed attack: aggressive impulses and careful planning, types of justification for war and miracles of industrial production to create the means with which to overcome the enemy. Throughout those two salons, we dealt with the sometimes implicit, sometimes explicit question of free will, and the fact that from time to time a nation or group one-sidedly decides to go and change someone else’s destiny forever.

Now we’re moving our attention to the issue of defence. We will look at another type of intentionality: what do we humans do when an external force attacks us? We will talk about hiding and fleeing, city partizans and black markets, flowerbeds repurposed for potatoes and tunnels dug under front lines. We will look at military defence and the wellbeing of the civilian population – food, medicine, shelter. The buildings of law and worship, and the roles (and various demises) of the local elites…

We will ask whether the ancient evils that bring about such catastrophes are still at play in the world, and if so, what we can do to live more safely and peacefully as a global community.

We hope you can join us!

Readings:

• https://www.ushmm.org/collections/the-museums-collections/collections-highlights/julien-bryan/siege-of-warsaw-poland-1939-1/aftermath-of-german-military-air-raids-on-warsaw
• https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/4/19/how-the-siege-of-sarajevo-changed-journalism
• https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/theater/review-state-of-siege-camus.html
• https://www.history.com/news/7-brutal-sieges
• https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/siege-era-syria-ends
• https://metropolitiques.eu/The-Boys-of-Sarajevo-s-War-Tunnel.html
• https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/the-masada-siege/

You might be interested: Jamie Lombardi’s Interintellect salon on Camus’s The State of Siege in July!

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The Salon series carries a 18+ age restriction.

During the series we will read, watch and discuss things that some attendees might find distressing. Participant discretion is advised.

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Image source: Al Jazeera

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