Mechanized Warfare in Science Fiction and Literature

Science fiction, thats what!

Fiction needs conflict to drive the plot. Conflict between troops of opposing sides. Conflict between soldiers and superiors. Inner conflicts regarding courage and moral struggle... Sf deals in the extraordinary, in the wondrous, the terrifying, and the strange. The conditions of war are like an alien world. War presents troubling moral and philosophical questions.

Tales of war go all the back to the origins of Western literature with the Iiad and the Old Testament.

Why do we fight wars?

War happens because one group of people has something another group wants, and organized violence is the most expedient way to get it. War is a way for nations to get what they want. War is armed robbery inflicted by one nation upon another.

World War One and Mechanized Warfare

H.G. Welles The War of the Worlds (1898) was the first depiction of mechanized warfare.

The War of the Worlds, was not about a war, however, but an alien invasion. Welles later novel The War in the Air (1908) depicted a war taking place in the 1910s anticipating many of the elements of 20th century wars: Worldwide conflict Mechanized warfare, especially air power Weapons of mass destruction

Before World War I (1914-18), war was thought to be good for nations and for individuals. World War I was the first mechanized war: tanks, planes, machine guns, barbed wire, poison gas. The resulting horrors made it no longer possible to glamourize war. Instead, a glamour developed around the war machines themselves: planes, tanks, etc.

A standoff between the Communist Bloc nations (mainly the USSR) and the Western nations (primarily the US), wherein each side was afraid to attack the other because of nuclear weapons. Instead they jockeyed for advantage through an arms race, espionage, and proxy wars such as Korea and Vietnam. Here the US backs one side of the conflict and Russia or China backs the other side but officially neither of these nations is at war with the other. The Cold War gave us apocalyptic SF. And a terror of nuclear radiation and mutations, which you see in Canticle, Only a Mother, John Wyndham s The Chrysalids, etc.

David Weber: "For me, military science-fiction is science-fiction which is written about a military situation with a fundamental understanding of how military lifestyles and characters differ from civilian lifestyles and characters. It is science-fiction which attempts to realistically portray the military within a science-fiction context. It is not 'bug shoots'. It is about human beings, and members of other species, caught up in warfare and carnage. It isn't an excuse for simplistic solutions to problems.

THE FOREVER WAR STARSHIP TROOPERS Depicts an interstellar war between humans and aliens. Narrated in first person. Protagonist is ordinary soldier. Soldiers fight using Iron Man-style powered armor. Aliens possess a hive mind. Pro-military. Written by a non-combat veteran. Depicts an interstellar war between humans and aliens. Narrated in first person. Protagonist is ordinary soldier. Soldiers fight using Iron Man-style powered armor. Aliens possess a hive mind. Anti-military. Written by a combat veteran.

North Vietnam (supported by China and Russia) vs South Vietnam (supported by US). Haldeman was drafted in 1967. War seemed to drag on forever. Soldiers didn t understand their enemy or why they were there. First televised war. US government systematically deceived its citizens about the war.

First war that US definitively lost. First war where Americans did not see themselves as the good guys. Threatened US identity. Fostered a mistrust of the government that lasts to this day.

Because of relativity, in FW centuries go by on Earth while the combatants experience only a few years. Mandella is drafted in 1997, and when the war ends in 3142, only four years have passed for him.

The universe has a speed limit, which is the speed at which light travels: 300,000km/s Although this is very fast, stars are so far apart that it can take many years for light to travel between them. So even the fastest possible spaceships also take many years to travel between stars. As you approach the speed of light, time moves more slowly for you.

Quoting the directions for your next essay: You MUST use at least ONE scholarly secondary source book, book chapter, or journal article to support your argument. This critical work may be about one of the authors you have chosen, and/or about the subject, technique, or theme you are discussing, or about the theoretical approach you are using. Please note: A BOOK OR FILM REVIEW, ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLE, or WEB or MAGAZINE INTERVIEW (even a scholarly one) DOES NOT COUNT AS A CRITICAL SOURCE.

An article in a scholarly journal or book published by an university press or academic press. A single book chapter can count as a source if it can function as a standalone work. For the purposes of this assignment, a book review or author interview is not a scholarly source, even if published in an academic journal.

Scholarly articles, while accessed through the internet, are usually available only to subscribers. York subscribes to many academic journals, which gives you access through the library home page: http://www.library.yorku.ca/web/ Click eResources and login using your Passport York account. Here you can find searchable databases of academic books and articles.

Secondary sources are a resource. Possibly lots of stuff has been written on your topic already. Taking advantage of it makes sense. Allows you to avoid saying things that many have said before you. Also lets you avoid common mistakes/misconceptions.

Secondary sources are resources for: Factual information (e.g. Joe Haldeman served in the Vietnam War) Arguments and interpretations Quotations

ALWAYS insert a citation when you use information from a secondary source, whether it is a quotation or not. The majority of the essay should be your own words. As a general rule, no more than 20% of your word count should be quotes. If your quote is four or more lines long, use a block quote, indented on both sides, without quotation marks.

An example of a block quote is this: As science explains more and more of the natural world including, especially, the origin and development of life there remains less and less room for God. Science perhaps leaves room for an impersonal agency behind the origin of the universe, but the idea of a personal, caring God who takes an interest in the affairs of humanity is simply no longer as compelling as it once was (Keeping 44).