From World War II to Syria’s civil war, understand the deadly consequences of war and what that means about the changing nature of conflict. Source: Khalil Ashawi/Reuters
October 03, 2024
In 1861, journalists, politicians, and their families set up picnics to watch the first land battle of the American Civil War. The onlookers expected the fighting to be quick, relatively bloodless, and—perhaps most important—safe to observe.
Those assumptions were not exactly accurate; the ensuing fighting sent soldiers and spectators alike scrambling.
But those assumptions were also not entirely unfounded. Many wars at the time were confined to the battlefield, and, indeed, soldiers—not civilians—would end up composing most of the Civil War’s casualties.
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