Progressive impacts of   Militarism and War

War is total madness, a barbaric exercise an absolutely undesirable  event. As for militarism, it

Diverts limited and essential resources from productive activities and puts them to destructive

uses like  weapons  procurement and  the  like, militarist  ideology  is  based  on  chauvinism,jingoism,

and   expansionism. However, when studied carefully, one would find that war and militarism also 

 gave boost  to  certain progressive  developments . A key  aspect of  militarism is  compulsory conscription  France  was  one of  the   the  first  countries  in  Europe  to

 have  adopted compulsory  conscription for  all  able  bodied adult  males

(This  development  followed  the  French   revolution)- it  became  the  duty  for all  to  fight  for  the  state. Now, if   the state was expecting everybody to  fight  and  die  for   it  ,it  also had  to  grant  certain  rights  to  the citizens in  exchange  for  the   national  duties ,hence  in  the  bargain  the French  got    several  rights   which  they  had  never 

experienced  earlier   .Ancient  Rome  too  had  a  citizen  army  based  on  compulsory  conscription  of all  free able bodied adult  men, the   citizen  army had  to  bring  their  own  weapons .As long  as  Ancient  Rome  had  the  voluntary  citizen  army, democracy   survived ,once  it  became  a  professional  standing  army ,where the  soldiers  were supplied  the   weapons and  payed   salaries by    the   state, jurisdiction of   the  state  over  the  army  was  complete ,army  was completely  loyal  to  the  state , it  could  now  be  used  for  subjugating  the  masses. This  key  development, i.e. : development  of  a professional  army  in  place  of  a citizen   army   paved   the  way  for end  of  democracy  in  Rome  and  beginning  of  despotism. War has  given much  impetus to development of  science  and   technology  ,of  infrastructure   and lead  to  industrial   development, and   also  helped  in   bringing  certain  positive    changes in   society. In  order  to    have  the

Military  edge  the   belligerent  countries  had  made  huge  investments  in  scientific  research   and  technological   developments  ,Nazi  Germany   during   the  second   world   war  conducted   immense   amounts   of  research  in the  field  of    rocket   technology,-  later   this   technology   was   to  help in  space  exploration .The  US  - during the  second  world  war  ,along   with   other  countries set  about  to  develop   the  atom   bomb, in   the process  making   huge  progress in  nuclear    physics. Internet was  initially developed    in  the US  especially  for confidential  military  communication . Infrastructure  development  and  industrialization   too have  got  a  boost  during  war  years  ,for  example  France  during   the  first  world  war  made   huge investments  in   heavy  industries  and  infrastructure   this  had  prompted  James  Joll  to  say   that industrialization  of  France  had  been  completed  during  the  first  world  war.Similar  developments  in  infrastructure  and  industry  was   seen  in  the Soviet Union during   the  second  world war.  Second  world  War  was  to  indirectly  play  a  key  role  in  women’s  liberation  in  Europe,as  the men    were  away  at   the  fronts  it   were  the  women  who   were  employed  in   large   numbers  in  offices,  in  factories and  so   on   to  meet    the deficit  in  labour. This  went a long in  bringing  about  economic  and  social  liberation   of   women.