Shaw and WWI

Shaw argues that Darwin’s theories on evolution brought on WWI through his insights on species, race, and the struggle to survive. This connection seems odd however as Darwin theorised the gradual change of nature. Wars had already been going on for centuries. If anything, Darwin was describing the inevitable. As groups of people around the world bonded together into stronger societies and nations, tensions for resources, land and power grew. An unfortunate next step was that these nations would fight. The reason this war did not take place decades or centuries before was that nations lacked the technology and national organisation to commit such extensive damage around the world. During the 1000’s to 1300’s European men went on Crusades to overtake the East. Although they had religious intentions, they were still human beings who fought and killed in order to take over the other. The human species does not have a peaceful history before Darwin’s theory became well known, and the idea that his theory became a root cause of WWI is a reductionist point of view on an event that is linked to many intricate circumstances.