Under a cloak of terror: violence and armed conflict in Europe

Abstract

As it is impossible to prove that human nature is intrinsically violent and warlike, history does not allow us to deny that war is one of the most present elements at different times. As an omnipresent phenomenon, it can also be considered a total social fact due to the multiple implications it entails. Furthermore, due to its implications, it becomes an object of historical study that is interpreted in different ways by either testimonies, participants, observers, or victims, thus building a multiple and never univocal interpretative basis. Not only can war be the stage of the worst crimes, but it can also be where expected or unlikely heroes arise and human greatness is externalized in unforeseen initiatives or positions. Examples such as the Holocaust or even the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 not only serve as an identification of heroes and evidence of the greatness of some basic humanitarian principles but also as the example of the greatest genocides. This text seeks to reflect on the way in which war and peace played a fundamental role in the way Europe was designed over the centuries. In this regard, the chronological scope goes back to the beginning of the first civilizations, trying to understand how war has always played a leading role in the definition of societies, borders, the exercise of power, the exploitation of man by man, and how this main role continues to be assumed as a process of change and continuity until the present day. When the questions are more than the answers, we believe we are going on the right path.