War of the WorldsPre-Reading

Scientific Influences1610-Galileo observes Mars’ phases.

1666-Giovanni Cassini identifies polar ice caps on Mars.

1878—Giovanni Schiaparelli observes geological features he calls “canali” (Italian for channels), which was mistranslated at canals into English, which leads many people to hypothesize life on the planet.

1895—Percival Lowell speculates about a dying landscape on Mars, where inhabitants are forced to irrigate water from the polar ice caps.

Scientific InfluencesInvasive species—a non-native species

which, when introduced, out-competes native species and causes catastrophic destructionRabbits and prickly pear in AustraliaKudzu plant in the United StatesJapanese knotweed in the United KingdomInvasive species could be a weapon.

Total WarComplete mobilization of resources and population

Almost no distinction between combatants and civilians

First theorized by Carl Von Clausewitz

General Curtis LeMay updates the concept in 1949, proposing that total war would involve deploying the entire nuclear arsenal in one, overwhelming blow, effectively “killing a nation.”

Total War“War is an act of force, and there is no logical limit to the application of that force. Each side, therefore, compels its opponent to follow suit; a reciprocal is started which much lead, in theory, to extremes.”

“To introduce the principle of moderation into the theory of war itself would always lead to logical absurdity.”

"The fact that slaughter is a horrifying spectacle must make us take war more seriously, but not provide an excuse for gradually blunting our swords in the name of humanity. Sooner or later someone will come along with a sharp sword and hack off our arms."

Total War-ExampleDuring the French Revolutionary Wars

and Napoleonic Wars, the new republic was so threatened that it poured all its resources.

Levee en masse- one of the largest drafts in history; French forces grow above a million for the first time in world history

Total War-ExampleConvention of 1793—

“From this moment until such time as its enemies shall have been driven from the soil of the Republic all Frenchmen are in permanent requisition for the services of the armies. The young men shall fight; the married men shall forge arms and the women shall make tents and clothes and shall serve in the hospitals; the children shall turn linen into lint; the old men shall betake themselves to the public squares in order to arouse the courage of the warriors and preach hatred of kings and the unity of the Republic.”

Total War-ExampleOver five million people die over the next

two decades.At least half of the dead are civilians.

DarwinismNatural selection – the process by which genetic traits become more or less common in a population

Genetic variation causes some organisms to succeed more than others.They become more likely to survive and pass on their traits to othersSurvival of the fittest

Wells was a student of Thomas Henry Huxley, who was known as “Darwin’s bulldog” because he so vigorously defended Darwinism.

Wells hypothesized that human brains might evolve more quickly than their bodies, necessitating the invention of machines for tools.

ColonialismColonialism - the conquering and controlling of foreign lands

At the time the novel was published, British colonialism is at the height of its aggression.

Colonialism

Much of Britain’s success is due to technological superiority.

Wells was interested in making British readers see colonialism from the other side of things.

Colonialism

ColonialismFrom the novel: “And before we judge them [the Martians] too harshly, we must remember what ruthless and utter destruction our own species has wrought, not only upon animals, such as the vanished the bison and the dodo, but on its inferior races? Tasmanians, in spite of their human likeness, were entirely swept out of existence in a war of extermination waged by European immigrants, in the space of fifty years. Are we such apostles of mercy as to complain if the Martians warred in the same spirit?”

Colonialism

Colonialism