Talking about wars is undoubtedly talking about inexhaustible human greed, its darkest perversity and its inability to find virtue in difference and a solution in dialogue.
But today I am not here to make an analysis of human barbarism.
Today I will talk to you about how we, intelligent hominids, involve (or subject) our environment, and more specifically the animals, in our most absurd struggles.
During the course of every horrendous war conflict we mourn the victims, whether soldiers or innocent civilians. However, there are other victims to whom, historically, fair attention has not been paid: animals. David Sánchez tells us with hair (many) and signs (some lethal) in 'Combat Animals' (Pinolia, 2024).
This exciting book brings back the memory of those dogs, cats, pigeons, elephants, donkeys and many other specimens that, decorated or anonymous, provided their services in the ranks of conflicts that occurred throughout our planet.
Nearly sixteen million animals participated in World War I. Thousands of horses, donkeys, dogs and pigeons lost their lives serving as faithful transporters, spies or even attack soldiers. Several of them became essential in some of the most important battles and, surely oblivious to the impact of their exploits, they began to be decorated as if they were human soldiers.
There we have the pigeon Cher Ami, honored with the Croix de Guerre with oak leaves for a courier service that prevented the death of almost two hundred French soldiers in the Battle of the Argonne in 1918.
Or Sergeant Stubby, a little dog who fought alongside the North American army. This Boston bull terrier can boast of being the most decorated animal of the Great War thanks to its skills in protecting troops and locating wounded soldiers.
His remains, along with his jacket full of medals, can be seen in the National Museum of United States History, where the body of his winged companion (in the distance) in battle Cher Ami is also located.
As if the poor hygiene conditions in which combatants are involved were not enough, which already give rise to numerous casualties, the spread of diseases through animals has been a widely used resource in times of combat.
In World War I, diseases such as glanders, infectious and deadly, were spread through livestock.
In World War II it was up to rats to carry infectious agents to serve the Soviet army against the Germans. But that turned against them and the results were as notable as they were unexpected: the spread got out of control and ended up affecting both sides. Sometimes we are so absorbed in the damage to be inflicted that we do not see that our sword is double-edged.
It was the 4th century BC. when Alexander the Great had to face a new and terrifying enemy: the imposing elephant of India. Fifteen specimens accompanied the Persian king as part of his army. Alejandro was astonished, but it turned out that these enormous specimens had (on this occasion) no function other than mere props.
However, after winning this battle, five years later Alexander would face more than a hundred pachyderms, a section of King Poros's army, who would actively participate in the fight. Without a doubt, the original battle tanks, although noisier and more chaotic.
Alexander barely won the battle again and decided to incorporate these imposing allies into his troops, eventually gathering around two hundred and making the use of elephants fashionable among his generals.
But, in order to make effective use of them, it was first necessary to capture them (not a light task, as one might imagine), select the most suitable ones and carry out an arduous training process.
Several decades later, the well-known feat of Hannibal took place, the Carthaginian general who crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, toured the Iberian Peninsula and crossed the Pyrenees and the Alps to reach Italy and attack Rome. He left Africa with an army of ninety thousand soldiers, twelve thousand cavalry and thirty-seven elephants. Only one of these survived the exhausting and complex journey, his name was Suru and he was Hannibal's personal elephant, who, however, did not manage to enter the capital of Italy. A heroism that was deflated by pure ambition.
Others with more cunning and less time made better use of their heavy battle animals. In 1581, Spanish soldiers landed in the Azores with the intention of annexing said territory to the Spanish kingdom, then led by Philip II. The citizens of the island, surprised by the unexpected attack, gathered all the livestock available in the territory and, egging them on with shouts and shots, launched the stampede against the invaders, who fled in terror.
But animals have not only collaborated as fighters, spies and transporters in the bloodiest battles. Another of its notable functions has been to provide company and comfort to those who were forced to face death far from their loved ones, among blood and ruins.
The 22nd Artillery Supply Company of the Polish Army adopted a brown bear cub which it named Wojtek during World War II. Wojtek, in addition to being a great help carrying heavy loads, served with his mere presence and his tricks (such as parading on his hind legs, traveling in a vehicle sitting like one of the others or even smoking and drinking beer) to significantly raise the spirits of the soldiers. .
Even the cruel genocidal Hitler showed a great love for dogs and lived with several. First there was Fuchsl, a Jack Russell terrier whom he rescued from the battlefield during the Great War; Then came Prinz (a faithful German shepherd), Wolf (a birthday gift) and later three other German shepherds, Muckl, and two females with the same name: Blonda. Finally Bella and Blondi would appear, with whom he shared his last days and whom he sacrificed before committing suicide.
Cats also served effectively in combat: as predators for the invasive rats, as companion animals and even as desperate food. The Jewish teenager Elena Vladimirovna Mukhina narrated in her diary the painful story of how she was forced, due to her unbearable hunger, to kill and eat her own cat.
Without a doubt, the history of human beings and their most brilliant and terrible advances, and even their very survival, would not be what they are today without the invaluable help (mandated in most cases) of the animal kingdom.
