Away from the fighting lines of the contending sides, conditions that
prevail are rendered more severe in many ways than in times of peace.
Poverty becomes rife, and sanitation and medical treatment are commonly
sacrificed under the strain. During a war, that mitigation of the action
of natural selection which is so common now among civilized nations, is
somewhat less effective than in times of peace. The scourge of typhus in
Serbia is a recent and graphic illustration.
After a war has been concluded, certain new agencies of inter-group
selection arise. The result depends largely on whether the vanquished
have had a superior culture brought to them, as in the case of the
Philippines, or whether, on the contrary, certain diseases have been
introduced, as to the natives of the New World by the Spanish conquerors
and explorers, or crushing tribute has been levied, or grievous
oppression such as has befallen Belgium.
Sometimes the conquerors themselves have suffered severely as the result
of excessive spoliation, which has produced vicious idleness and
luxurious indulgence, with the ultimate effect of diminishing the
birth-rate.
Within the nation there may be various results. Sometimes, by the
reduction of overcrowding, natural selection will be less severe.
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