Hunger games world war

Despite their extreme training, however, even the Spartans sometimes panicked in combat. In The Hunger Games some of the children make a calculated decision to retreat into the woods and hide as part of their strategy, and in the film one child screams and seems to freeze in fear before being killed. But unlike the children in The Hunger Games — who always seem to be in complete control of their mental faculties in combat 16 — the Spartans retreated on numerous occasions even when they outnumbered their opponents due to uncontrollable terror.

During the Battle of Thermopylae when three hundred Spartans and their allies defended a narrow pass against an invading Persian army, the Spartans did not retreat and died to the last man.

But this is extremely rare and one reason why the Battle of Thermopylae is so greatly admired and celebrated around the world.

Less than one percent of battles in history ended with the losing side dying to the last man. Usually the battle ended when one side panicked and retreated. At the height of their military power, the Spartans retreated in three battles against Thebes — a rival Greek city-state.

In the Battle of Tegyra in BC, the Greek historian Plutarch tells us that a Spartan army numbering between and soldiers attacked a small Theban army of only three hundred. When you try to stab people to death it tends to freak them out. Where our fight-or-flight response is concerned, the vast majority of people prefer to run when a sword is wielded against them, a spear is thrust in their direction, a bullet flies over their head, or a bomb explodes in their vicinity.

People often compare chess to war, but there is a major difference. Imagine playing chess and seeing your pieces run off the board. Imagine your pawns moving backwards and your knights being so filled with fear they refuse to do what you tell them. Then chess would more accurately reflect the reality of war.

Many mythological stories are metaphorical interpretations of reality, and the reality of war is reflected in the story of Ares — the Greek god of war. According to Greek mythology, Ares was a destroyer of cities who went into battle with his brutal sons Deimos and Phobos standing beside him. Phobos was the god of panic and retreat. Deimos and Phobos were ruthless twins who could break the strongest battle formations by causing the bravest soldiers to panic and flee in fear.

Ares and his twin sons are metaphors for the reality of war, and the Greek poet Hesiod described these metaphors in vivid detail. Even modern astronomy acknowledges the inseparable link between war, fear, and panic. The god of war Ares played a major role in Roman mythology, but the Romans called him Mars.

The planet Mars has two moons, which the American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered in Following the advice of scientist Henry Madan, he named the moons Deimos and Phobos. As mere mortals, not even the Spartans were immune to the power of Deimos and Phobos, succumbing numerous times to the fear and panic these mythological gods represented. After making the Spartans retreat during the Battle of Tegyra, the Thebans also made the Spartans retreat during the Battle of Leuctra in BC, even though the Spartan army again outnumbered the Thebans.

And the Spartans retreated yet again during the Battle of Mantinea in BC, when the Theban politician and general Epaminondas, who was now fifty-six years old, charged the Spartan army with a small group of his best soldiers.

To that end taking a choice band of the most able men he had with him, and, drawing them up in close order, he forthwith charged at the head of them, and was the first that cast his javelin, and killed the [Spartan] general, and then broke into the midst of his enemies… The fame of Epaminondas, and the strength of [the soldiers] he then had with him, struck such a terror into the [Spartans], that they turned their backs, and began to make way.

What happened next reveals how ferociously people will fight to protect a wounded comrade. As Epaminondas and his soldiers pursued the retreating Spartans, he was seriously wounded when a javelin struck him in the chest.

The Spartans tried to capture him, but the Theban soldiers fought furiously to protect him, again forcing the Spartans to retreat. The Thebans pulled Epaminondas to safety, and he died from his chest wound soon after the battle ended. When Epaminondas and his soldiers defeated the Spartans, they demonstrated the power of having reliable comrades willing to die for each other, reliable leaders willing to sacrifice for their subordinates, and reliable and realistic training. Military history shows that sane soldiers are never completely immune to fear, panic, or the mental breakdowns that can result from combat, but the more we can trust our comrades, leaders, and training, the less likely we are to suffer the wrath of Deimos and Phobos.

It might seem unrealistic for a fifty-six-year-old man such as Epaminondas to fight on the front lines in war, or for the Spartan soldiers to serve in the military until age sixty, but it is far more realistic than twelve and thirteen-year-old children fighting with bladed weapons in The Hunger Games. Tragically, child soldiers have become common during the age of rifles and machine guns, but ancient armies did not use child soldiers because it would have been completely impractical.

Children do not have the upper body strength necessary to effectively wield a sword and shield, let alone carry heavy armor.

A man in his fifties if he was well trained and in good shape could wield a bladed weapon with the strength necessary to kill an armored opponent. Lack of upper body strength is also a reason women were not recruited to fight in ancient armies, unlike today, when a woman can use a seven-pound rifle to kill a much larger and stronger man.

I met countless women in the army who possess a strong warrior spirit. And when we look at the many women serving in modern militaries around the world today, we realize that lack of upper body strength, not lack of a strong warrior spirit, was one reason 23 women did not fight in ancient wars. Although the children in The Hunger Games do not have to wear heavy armor, in a sword fight a muscular eighteen-year-old boy weighing over two hundred pounds is going to have a significant advantage over a twelve-year-old boy or girl weighing less than ninety pounds.

The Hunger Games character Cato, a very athletic older boy who has been training in combat since his early childhood, would also be much faster than the younger children. So the truth is that some of the children would have much less than a four percent chance of surviving, yet despite the near certainty of a violent death none of them are shown having mental breakdowns.

In addition to the high probability of dying alone away from loved ones, along with their lack of reliable comrades, lack of reliable leadership, and lack of reliable and realistic training, many of the children in The Hunger Games would have had mental breakdowns because of other reasons.

One reason is because close-range fighting with bladed weapons is the most terrifying form of combat. Another reason is because the human brain does not fully develop until we are in our twenties, making children more vulnerable to trauma and psychological stress than adults. The average age of an American soldier in World War II was twenty-six, whereas the children chosen to fight to the death in The Hunger Games are from the ages of twelve to eighteen.

Although a small percentage of people are afraid of snakes, spiders, and heights, around ninety-eight percent will have a phobic-level reaction to human aggression. Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman calls this the universal human phobia. What if the worst-case scenario happens and the audience shouts at us angrily or laughs cruelly at our expense? In Greek mythology Phobos is a metaphor for the universal human phobia; the ancient Greeks knew that nothing fills us with more panic than an aggressive human being trying desperately to hurt us.

Fear of human aggression can be even more terrifying than fear of death. For example, every year hundreds of thousands die from the effects of smoking, but every day millions of people smoke without worrying. Every year tens of thousands die in car accidents, but every day millions of people drive casually to work. But a few murders by a serial killer will cause a city to go on alert, striking terror in many of its citizens.

One terrorist attack in America created so much fear that our country has never been the same since. What makes terrorism so dangerous is not the terrorist act itself, but our reaction to it. If Osama bin Laden had asked us to betray our democratic ideals by sanctioning torture, spying on U.

Why is the universal human phobia so frightening? Why is our reaction to terrorism often more dangerous than the terrorist act?

Grossman asks us to consider two scenarios. Imagine that a tornado knocks down your house, destroys everything you own, and causes injuries severe enough to put you and your family in the hospital.

Next imagine that a gang breaks into your house, beats you and your family so badly that you all end up in the hospital, and then burns down your house.

In both cases the result — your house and possessions being destroyed and your family being in the hospital — is the same, but which scenario is more traumatic? Is it more traumatic to fall off a bicycle and break your leg, or for a group of attackers to hold you down and break your leg with a baseball bat? In both cases the result — a broken leg — is the same, but which scenario is more traumatic? Obviously, when people hurt us the trauma is much more severe.

But why? The ultimate fear and horror in most modern lives is to be raped or beaten, to be physically degraded in front of our loved ones, to have our family harmed and the sanctity of our homes invaded by aggressive and hateful intruders.

Death and debilitation by disease or accident are statistically far more likely to occur than death and debilitation by malicious action, but the statistics do not calm our basically irrational fears… In rape the psychological harm usually far exceeds the physical injury… far more damaging is the impotence, shock, and horror in being so hated and despised as to be debased and abused by a fellow human being. If human beings are naturally violent, why do so many people have a phobia of human aggression?

If we are naturally violent, why is war one of the most traumatizing things a human being can experience, and why does war drive so many people insane? If we were naturally violent, why did the U. Army implement combat rotations after World War II so that soldiers could recuperate psychologically, and why did the military change combat operations and training in an attempt to reduce psychological trauma? Although human beings are not naturally violent, we can certainly become violent through conditioning.

In my books I describe the many ways people can be conditioned to be violent, and the situations that compel people to resort to violence. Just as doctors who promote health must study and understand illness, if we want to promote a safer and more peaceful world we must study and understand violence.

Seventeenth-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes had a negative view of human nature, leading many people to believe we are natural killers. In addition to countering the myth that human beings are naturally violent, I am writing about The Hunger Games and contrasting it with the reality of war for several other reasons.

One reason is because a seventh-grade teacher told me her students were reading the first book in The Hunger Games series in class and asked me to provide some thoughts that could sharpen their critical thinking skills.

Furthermore, The Hunger Games is now being used as required reading in many middle and high school classes around the country. This got my attention, because when students are required to read a book in school they have a reasonable expectation of being educated. We can already suspect that the Careers were not created right from the start, but I do believe that they were created somewhat early, presumably before the 25th Hunger Games.

I also don't think that sponsoring, mentoring, training, or even the chariot rides were created from the start, but add ons because the Capitol enjoyed watching them so much. I also don't believe that they had landmines under their plates when they first started, they were just told to wait for the gong to boom before they started.

Going by the years, I composed an entire list of the victors, add ons, and anything that happened during the course of the year. I will be separating the years by the year of the Hunger Games, so the First Hunger Games is the year from when the tributes are reaped for that Hunger Games, and ends with the reaping of the Second Hunger Games, etc..

I will not be including any characters involved in the books, so all the victors will just be fan-made and not included in the books. The reason I do this is because there's a lot of information on the timeline for the victors on the main wiki, and some of them, I don't quite agree with so the victors are just all going to be fan-made.

It takes places during the years 1st through 16th Hunger Games and precedes the Innovative Era. India makes innovations in eco-friendly energy sources.

Norway is revered as the greatest peacekeeping nation in the world. A nationwide pandemic begins in Spain. Saudi Arabia and Brazil declare friendship. Singapore is elected as the world council head representative. A nationwide pandemic begins in Netherlands. China conquers United States of America. Netherlands commends the actions of Brazil.

China provides relief after Norway is ravaged by a natural disaster. Saudi Arabia switches their government to communism. India denounces the religious activity in Singapore.

Extraterrestrial Conquest. Valuable resources are found in space, providing golden opportunities for political and economic power, but also possibilities of conflict. Spain decides not to invest in extraterrestrial resources. Saudi Arabia and Brazil fight over Martian land. The war escalates, and Saudi Arabia ends up victorious. Norway and Netherlands fight over Martian land.

The war escalates, and Norway ends up victorious. Singapore decides not to invest in extraterrestrial resources. India finds new sources of uranium on an asteroid. China decides not to invest in extraterrestrial resources. Saudi Arabia and Spain declare friendship. Singapore switches their government to democracy. Norway releases record-breaking levels of Carbon emissions.

The World Games are held at China 's captial. India denounces the actions of Spain. Singapore and China form a defense pact. Night 6. Spain and China nuke each other after tensions break loose. After years of political unrest, India dissolves into several independent micronations. The winner is Singapore from District 11! You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

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Share More sharing options Followers 2. Reply to this topic Start new topic. Recommended Posts. Timur Posted July 29, Posted July 29, So some guy named John Han made an interesting version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options Qatar is dead United Arab Emirates switches their government to communism.

Posted July 29, edited. Day 1 Turkey 's culture dominates Sweden , which eventually assimilates into Turkey. North Korea falls Canada declares war against Switzerland to control their resources. Edited July 29, by Timur. Night 1 Saudi Arabia and Spain form a defense pact. Day 2 Switzerland loses a war to Norway , but signs a peace treaty before she is destroyed. Day 3 Spain commends the actions of Canada India and France enter a land dispute, which results in war.