By: Dr. Jerry Bergman
Montpelier, Ohio
Historians have documented that most wars involving America, back to the late 1700s, could have been negotiated by compromise without war.
The 1783 American War of Independence, involving Christians against Christians, could easily have been solved without war. Other countries, including Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa, became independent without going to war.
The basic cause was the disagreement over British authority and taxation without representation. Following the Seven Years’ War, Britain imposed taxes (Stamp Act, Tea Act) and restrictive laws (Coercive/Intolerable Acts) to control the colonies, sparking widespread colonial protest and resistance which a compromise could have solved.
The War’s cost was 25,000 American deaths (6,800 killed in action and over 17,000 dying from disease), and 24,000 British casualties. Then add massive civilian losses included 100,000 smallpox deaths.
The War of 1812 with Britain was characterized as an unnecessary conflict that achieved few of its original objectives. The war resulted from the British attempt to limit American trade with Europe and impressment, the Royal Navy’s practice of taking seamen from merchant vessels, including some from American ships, to fill its crews in its undermanned warships.
U.S. Deaths: ~15,000 (roughly 2,200 in battle, 5,200+ from disease). British/Canadian Deaths: ~8,600 total (battle and disease). U.S. Wounded: ~4,500 and 20,000 Americans were captured.
Native Americans suffered significant casualties and loss of territory. Most U.S. soldiers died from infections and disease, the common cause of death in 19th-century wars. Surely, two Christian nations could have worked out their differences.
The Civil War (1861–1865) was the deadliest conflict in U.S. history. Up to 750,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed. Diseases (diarrhea and typhoid) caused about two-thirds of the fatalities.
The main issue was slavery, particularly its expansion into western territories and the ideological and economic divisions between Northern and Southern states.
Although the slaves were released as a result of the war, Blacks were not free Americans until the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s. The Christian South and Christian North could have worked out their differences.
Historians agree that even without the civil wars, slavery would have ended in a few years due to the Industrial Revolution and international pressure.
Slavery was abolished without civil war through legislative action, royal decrees, or gradual emancipation in the British Empire (1833), Brazil (1888), and across Latin American nations during the 1820s-1850s.
Freedom often involved compensating slave owners, implementing mandatory “apprenticeship” periods to help the slaves gain skills to support them and their families. We could have done the same here without war.
Spanish-American War (1898): Viewed by some as an unjustified imperialist expansion that marked the beginning of U.S. interventionism in foreign affairs. The war was caused by U.S. sympathy for the Cuban struggle for independence and the desire to protect U.S. business interests in Cuba.
Philippine-American War (1899–1902): Often criticized for its high human cost and the suppression of Filipino independence. over 4,200 American soldiers died and massive civilian casualties—largely due to disease, famine, and violence—estimated to be as many as 1,000,000 died.
World Wars I and II: Rather than being an inevitable consequence of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the war resulted because leaders in Germany and Austria-Hungary caused the situation to escalate.
British intervention was unnecessary for British self-defense converting a limited, continental, Austro-Serbian/Russian conflict into a total global war. Involvement by the U.S. removed Britain’s and France’s incentive to negotiate a peace with Germany, prolonging a war that was already stalemated and causing an enormous number of deaths.
Involvement was also driven by American bankers and manufacturers, who had provided massive loans to the Allies. U.S. intervention was a central element that laid the groundwork for World War II.
The “war to end all wars” did not achieve lasting peace, and the severe terms imposed on Germany contributed to the rise of totalitarian regimes and WWII. Hitler’s major argument was the unjust Treaty of Versailles.
Justifications for the war, such as “fighting for democracy” are post-hoc justifications for conflicts fueled by alliance politics, nationalism, and imperialism. World War I and II were the deadliest conflicts in history, with a combined death toll estimated at between 95 and 110 million.
Korean War (1950–1953): Critics view this as an unjustified intervention in a foreign civil war. The result was that it ended in a stalemate, with the border between North and South Korea remaining near the same place it was at the War’s start.
Over one million military deaths and an estimated up to three million civilian deaths resulted.
The Vietnam War (1965–1975) failed to prevent the fall of South Vietnam and resulted in a massive loss of life estimated at over 3 million.
Over 58,200 U.S. military members died, alongside roughly 1.1 million North Vietnamese/Viet Cong fighters and up to 300,000 South Vietnamese soldiers. Civilian deaths estimated at 2 million.
Vietnam was labeled a communist nation, but is now a thriving capitalist nation described as a “socialist-oriented market economy.”
Although a one-party political structure, its capitalist market-driven economy allows private ownership, foreign investment, and has a greater support for capitalism than Western nations.
In 2024 alone, Vietnam’s exports to the United States reached $138.5 billion. The U.S. remains Vietnam’s largest export market, generating a significant trade surplus for Vietnam.
Top exported goods include computers, telephones, electrical machinery, apparel, textiles, footwear, furniture, agricultural products, and seafood.
Iraq War (2003–2011): Often labeled a “war of choice,” 4,431 deaths it was based on flawed intelligence about weapons of mass destruction, which did not exist, leading to prolonged regional instability.
The Afghanistan War (2001–2021): While initially a direct response to 9/11, its 20-year duration earned it the title of a “forever war” with little long-term, nation-building success. 241,000 people died as a direct result of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan
Gulf War (1990–1991): While widely seen as justified by international law, some modern critics argue the U.S. should have remained uninvolved in this and other regional territorial disputes. 292-382 total U.S. deaths and 776 wounded. Iraqi military casualties estimated as up to 100,000 deaths.
Libyan Intervention (2011): Cited as another example where U.S. and NATO intervention led to a state collapse and ongoing chaos still existing today.
The Iranian War (1978 to 2026): This war may turn out to be one of the few fully justified wars in American history. Iran is open about their goal of destroying the great Satan, America, and the little Satan, Israel.
They have been actively preparing for this goal by developing one of the world’s largest arsenals of missiles and drones, estimated at over 1,500 ballistic missiles and hundreds of launchers.
Their arsenal focuses on long-range, precision-guided ballistic missiles, land-attack cruise missiles, and thousands of attack drones. Their open goal includes building atomic bombs. In contrast to the other wars, it is a defensive war and may be the most justified war in American history.
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Dr. Bergman is a multi-award-winning professor and author. He has 9 degrees and has taught at both the graduate and undergraduate level for over 40 years. His over 2,100 publications are in both scholarly and popular journals. Dr. Bergman’s work has been translated into 15 languages. He has spoken over 2,000 times to college, university and church groups in America, Canada, Europe, the South Sea Islands, and Africa. He lives in Montpelier and is available to present in churches and schools. Jerry can be reached at JerryBergman30@yahoo.com