Christopher Chu, Matthew Lee, Dylan Schlute

Eric Song, Arthur Tran, Samantha Wong

Contemporary Themes , Period 1
Ms.Sutton
March 16, 2015

The Effects of War on Society, Environments, and its People

Over the past several decades, numerous conflicts have left lasting effects on the local
environment, the indigenous people, and those who fought in them. People are left with lasting
impressions of war, what it does, and how it has changed their lives. Conflicts have led to the
deprivation of basic human rights, the death of hundreds (if not thousands), and the trafficking of
humans, among other things.
War has affected societies in a variety of ways. In the numerous ways that war has
affected it, many of the effects have been negative. However, that does not mean there arent any
positive effects; the positive effects just have a less significant impact than the negative effects.
As a war starts, the defending area starts to drain away at resources from the local area in order
to fuel its campaign. The people who live within this area have to endure the effects of living
within a warzone. (Some effects of this are psychological trauma, physical injuries, loss of life,
etc.) As conflict starts, both sides begin to lose lives, and thus lives are needed to replace the
ones that are lost. People either join voluntarily, are paid to join, or are forced into it. An example
of this is the Vietnam War, where thousands (approx. 1,054,000) of young men from ages from
18-23 years old, were pulled into the conflict by the draft. (As well as the Vietnamese people
voluntarily joining the Vietcong to drive the foreigners out of their country).

While the war continued, the U.S. military changed tactics to shoot anything that
moves, as it increased their kill count. At the same time, the employed the use of Agent Orange,
a herbicide that left lasting effects of the Vietnamese and their environment. The heavy usage of
the herbicide left forests devastated and large bodies of water contaminated. However, the
natives stayed in the area, which led to medical problems. At first, people developed illness, but
after, newborns were being born with birth defects. As the young population grew, married, and
reproduced, more and more children were born with defects. After some time, it was confirmed
that Agent Orange was the cause a number of medical issues. Even today, Vietnam still struggles
with the effects of the war, despite medical advances made.
Another way people are affected by the war is psychologically. The psychological effects
of war include combat-related stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, etc. Both
combatants and noncombatants experience these effects, which tend to be higher as more
traumatic events are experienced. The psychological effects of war are long-lasting and
incomparable. Those, who even had access to medical assistance, were more than 80% felt
depressed and had a number of somatic complaints despite good access to medical services.
(Murthy and Lakshminarayana, Mental health consequences of war: a brief review of the
findings). This sample, was taken from Site-2, the largest camp for displaced-Cambodians on the
Thailand-Cambodia border, in 10 years following the rule of the Khmer Rouge. (However,
during this period, Cambodia was also still engaged in war with Vietnam and the Khmer Rouge,
so their presence was still influential. ) The mental conditions among refugees corresponded with
with the criteria of depression and PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) from Western nations.
Last but not least, war dramatically changes societies. Not just minor changes, but tears
societies apart at the seams and puts it back together (or not at all). An example of this would be

Japan. Following the end of World War II, Japanese society was dramatically changed as
America came. The framework of its government was removed and replaced with a new
constitution. The implementation of the constitution had changed the government dramatically,
as power now resided with the people rather than the emperor. In addition, the Constitution also
states that Japan renounces war as a means of settling international conflict; this was to show the
world Japan would never wage aggressive war again. The Constitution guaranteed womens right
as well, such as equality in marriage and the right to vote. With the power residing with the
people, Japanese society changed drastically.
Ultimately, war leads to drastic changes. These changes, while some may be positive,
numerous are negative. War leaves lasting effects on the environment, its people, and the
societies in which those people live. Many are impacted by conflict, but they dont have to be.
These conflicts can be prevented, but only if we all came together. We can come together and
make peace.

Works Cited
Summerfield, Derek. "Effects of War: Moral Knowledge, Revenge, Reconciliation, and
Medicalised Concepts of recovery." BMJ : British Medical Journal. BMJ, n.d. Web. 11
Mar. 2015.
MURTHY, R. SRINIVASA, and Rashmi Lakshminarayana. "Mental Health
Consequences of War: A Brief Review of Research Findings." World Psychiatry. Masson
Italy, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2015.
Mirer, Jeanne, and Majorie Cohn. "The Toxic Effects of Agent Orange Persist 51 Years After the
Vietnam War." Truthout. N.p., 07 Aug. 2012. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.
Holdorf, Dave. "The Military Draft and 1969 Draft Lottery for the Vietnam War." The Military
Draft and 1969 Draft Lottery for the Vietnam War. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.
"Science Museum. Brought to Life: Exploring the History of Medicine." War's Long-term
Effects. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2015.
"Bringing Democracy to Japan." Constitutional Rights Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar.
2015.