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Civilization and the Reality of War

Victoria Becker
UWRT 1103
October 2014
Civilization and the Reality of War
Introduction/ Background

Simply imagine yourself in a world filled with enemies, given the option to engage them
with any selection of tools and technology. As the years have passed so has the human capacity
for war, as well as our technological capability to do so. Everything from the simplicities of the
ever so common rock, to the complexities of advanced satellite and computer based weapon
systems. Or my personal favorite good old fashion exterior ballistics of a 105 mm sabo round
from an A4 M1 Abrams completely obliterating all of those who stand against you. So it is time
for you to choose, which era of warfare suits you the best. All of this can be seen when playing
Civilization.
In the game Civilization, you have an empire and get into wars throughout history. As long as
you win the wars, you can stay in the game. The thing is though, is that in order to be able to win
the wars, you have to keep up technologically and politically as well. And the way it is, you can
see how war advances and what is does when you have more advanced technologies. With each
way the empire advances, the way the wars are fought change.
Now, before I go into further detail about how advanced technologies and whatnot
change war, I feel that I should point out my own views about this topic. For one, I clearly
believe that war has indeed changed. But as for what I think changes it the most, I think that
technology is the main culprit for how wars are fought. Now, politics does have a role in what is
done, but overall, it is all still associated to technology. The reason I am so interested in this is
due to how much I like this game, but more than that, I enjoy history and how different aspects
in human advancements affect wars.

Review of Relevant Literature

Just like it does in Civilization, war in the real world also advances and changes in
various ways. One such way is when it comes to technology. Obviously, the technology we use
today has changed a lot from what it once was. This is thoroughly described by Max Boot, who
not only talks about how technology has changed, but how technology changes warfare.
Specifically, one technology that there is that has changed the way war is fought would be the
invention of the aircraft (Frisbee). Clearly, the invention of such a tool would change how a lot
happens. Because of the aircraft, not only can military units move farther faster, but they can do

Civilization and the Reality of War

a lot more damage from far away and can carry more advanced, more deadly weapons (Fish).
Overall, this all plays a lot into the nature of war itself.
Besides the advancement in technology, Cockburn, Levy and Thompson believe that war
has changed the most by the nature of it. They talk about how war is not as personal as it once
was. What with long range weapons such as bombs and missiles as well as aircraft simply flying
overheard, there are fewer people having to participate in hand to hand combat which was the
norm is previous years of warfare. Cockburn goes on to talk about how not only has war become
impersonal, but about the size and brutality of war. He explains how wars are smaller in size, but
are just as, if not more vicious.
Part of the reason war is not as personal as it once was, is because of politics. In his
article about how war has changed, Haddick explains in part the political side of war. The things
about war that were once open to the public are now hidden from view. In part, this is the fault of
the media. The media tells whatever side about the reasons/ happenings of war that they want in
order to boost their own ratings with their viewers. Not only that, but the government is a lot
more secretive about what it is doing now (Hanson). In todays world, government officials care
a lot more about what their people think about them than they used to. Therefore, they now say
something different from what they are actually doing. Not only are that, but a lot of conflicts
that they get into or do not get into is based a lot off of what the citizens want. And what the
citizens do or do not want is based a lot off of what they know about what is really going on.
Entering the Conversation
When it comes to video games, there are a lot of different viewpoints. For example, most
parents do not like them because they believe that video games rot their childrens minds. But
is that true? I suppose it could be. However, in the grand scheme of things, it really depends on
the game that is being played. While yes, there are many games out there that do no good and are
complete nonsense, there are many others that are actually good. Meaning, they can teach the
young generation certain things that they would not be able to learn in any other safe way. This
applies to not only academically educational things, but to more dangerous things such as war as
well.
One way games are used to teach is within the military. Recruiters have turned to video
games to try and recruit new members. They do this by allowing prospective recruits to play a
war based game, Call of Duty, so that they may see what kind of stuff they would be doing if
they were to join the military. Obviously, just by playing the game, the recruits do not get the full
experience, such as the true fear and whatnot of being in a combat zone is like, however, they do
get the gist of what goes on. They are able to use certain tools to hide and fight, as well as take
out enemies. In doing so, they can learn how to properly do certain tasks in a timely manner.
And if they cannot do it without stressing our or being frightened, they should probably rethink
joining the military. Or prepare for a tough time in boot camp. Because the real thing is

Civilization and the Reality of War

definitely harder than it is in some game. But overall, the games are simply used to initially
expose people to what goes on.
Another war based game that is out there is Civilization. This game is extremely
educational when it comes to not only the aspects of war, but also economics and how the world
actually works. In Civilization, the player has to create an empire that lasts through time. Heres
the thing, all throughout history, war has been a constant. At no point in time has there been a
long period of time where some group was not trying to take out another group. And a problem
is that people do not realize that. However, when playing Civilization, you learn that no matter
what time period you are in, war will happen.
Since the game is set at the beginning of time, the player has to create an empire and keep
it going as long as possible before another empire destroys it. And the longer you play the game,
the more time goes by (in the game). At one point, the game will be in the BC, but it gradually
goes into the AD years. So, obviously, as time goes by, things change and stuff advances. Also,
as cities grow, there are more people (units in the game) to worry about. Therefore, economics is
a big part of the game and the player has to learn how to keep the people happy, as well as learn
the different ways to keep money flow and whatnot.
The game also advances in many other ways. Over the years in the game, not only does
the population of the players empire increase, but so do other things. One such thing is the
technology. As the game progresses, the weapons and technology used also advance and
upgrade. Bowmen turn into composite bowmen which in turn upgrade to crossbowmen and so
on. Then warriors go to swordsmen which go to musket men and so on. So the game teaches
players how things change and how war changed throughout history. Not only with technology,
but also with the nature of war. It also teaches how people react to it. For example, when the
cities are smaller and do not have much, they do not get too upset. However, when the
population is larger and there are trade routes, the population will actually get upset when other
cities are destroyed and they have the ability to riot. So yes, although some games are not
educational. Others are. Especially ones like Civilization that teaches the player things such as
how war changes over time and about what happens to the economy during times of war.
Conclusion
Once again, my reason for writing this paper is due to my interest when it comes to
warfare and my love for gaming. Especially games that portray the real world in such an
advanced and realistic way. The paper explains this and also goes into some detail of the various
ways that war has actually developed throughout history which is described extremely well in the
game Civilization. In review, some ways in which war has changed involves the advancement of
technologies, specifically, the discovery of the aircraft as well as other long range weapons.
Another way in which war has changed is the nature of it, mostly the fact that it is not as
personal today as it once was, and lastly, war has changed in political ways as well. The political

Civilization and the Reality of War

changes are due to the fact that governments nowadays in modern times care more about what
the people think about the conflicts that the country is involved in. Therefore, the government
hides a lot of information that one day would have been available to the public. Of course
though, this is all pretty known. Especially since there are informational/ realistic games such as
civilization out there. Although people have different views on how games portray certain
aspects of war, no one can say that the games teach nothing of value at all. Because that would
not be true, just like Civilization, there are games out there that explain/ portray what goes on in
times of war very well. Games like Civilization being somewhat realistic is important because it
teaches people different aspects of war and in a sense, what goes on on the battlefield as well as
how citizens react to different things that are done to other people in times of war. I think that
this is all extremely important because people should realize that games can be educational in
some ways and I believe that they should be more open-minded and participate in games more.
Perhaps then they would understand the world a little better and realize that not all games are bad
and will rot their minds. Overall, this all really does matter. Whether we like it or not, whether
we believe that things can be resolved peacefully or need to be figured out on the battlefield, war
is an important part of everyday life. Throughout history, there has never been a time period
where some major war has not taken place. It is unfortunate, but that is the reality of things.
Unfortunately, it is kind of just human nature. People are naturally violent, and therefore, war
will always be around. Sure, the ways it is fought and peoples views on it may change, bit it will
always be there. It is because of this, I think, that war based informational games such as
Civilization are important. Not everyone can go into the military and experience war firsthand,
so games such as Civilization are good to have around because they are the next best thing for
people to learn how the inner workings of war work. So, are games like Civilization really that
important? Do they actually portray war as realistically as they should for people to understand
what is going on? There is research going on that supports both these questions, and there is
some that does not. However, in the end, I believe that it really depends on people individually
based on what they themselves take away from what they learn in games.

Civilization and the Reality of War

Works Cited
Becker, Victoria. Assignment One. 2014. Microsoft Word File.
Boot, Max. War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today.
New York: Gotham, 2006.
Frisbee, William. "Evolution of Warfare." Evolution of Warfare. Web. 8 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.military-sf.com/Evolutionofwar.htm>.
Gray, Colin S. War, Peace and International Relations: An Introduction to Strategic History.
London: Routledge, 2007. Print.
Hanson, Victor. "Victor Davis Hanson - Has War Really Changed?" National Review Online. 10
Dec. 2009. Web. 8 Oct. 2014. <http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/228765/has-warreally-changed/victor-davis-hanson>.
"How Has Warfare Changed over the Last 100 Years? This Is for an Essay and I Have to Write
to Pages and I Need Info ASAP! - Homework Help - ENotes.com." Enotes.com.
Enotes.com, 13 May 2009. Web. 8 Oct. 2014. <http://www.enotes.com/homeworkhelp/how-has-warfare-changed-over-last-100-years-82719>.
Levy, Jack S., and William R. Thompson. The Arc of War: Origins, Escalation, and
Transformation. Chicago: U of Chicago, 2011. Print.
"RealClearWorld - How War Has Changed." RealClearWorld - How War Has Changed. 10 Sept.
2011. Web. 8 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.realclearworld.com/2011/09/10/how_war_has_changed_127570.html>.
"The Nature of War Has Changed." CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names.
3 Mar. 2014. Web. 8 Oct. 2014. <http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/03/03/the-natureof-war-has-changed/>.

Civilization and the Reality of War