Plants and Human Conflict

Perhaps the least appreciated dramatis personae in human history are plants. Humans, like all other animals, cannot produce their own food as plants do through photosynthesis, and must therefore acquire organic material for survival and growth by eating plants or by eating other animals that eat plants. Humans depend on plants not only as a food source, but also as building and clothing materials and as sources of medicines, psychoactive substances, spices, pigments, and more. With plants being such valuable resources, it is therefore not surprising that plants have been involved in practically all violent conflicts among different human societies. Ironically, plants have also been the source of materials to construct weapons or weapon parts. Wars have always constituted a large part of human history, and the overall theme of this book is that to understand the history of violent human conflict, we need to understand what specific materials plants make that people find so useful and worth fighting over, and what roles such plant products have played in specific conflicts. To do so, Plants and Human Conflict begins with a chapter explaining the basic biological facts of the interdependence between plants and humans, and the subsequent seven chapters describe the physical and chemical properties of specific plant products demonstrating how the human need for these products has led to wars as well as contributed to the prosecution of wars. These chapters recount some well-known (and some lesser known) historical events in which plants have played a central role. This book uniquely combines the modern scientific knowledge of plants with the human history of war, introducing readers to a new paradigm that will make them reconsider their understanding of human history, as well as to bring about a greater appreciation of plant biology.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgments Author Chapter 1 Natural Resources as Causes of Violent Conflicts Universal History War and Living Organisms Notes Chapter 2 Fighting Grains Grains Are Targets of War Grains Are the Perfect Food for War Grains and Man-Made Famines in the 20th Century The Russian Famine of 1932–1933 The Chinese Famine of 1959–1961 The Cambodian Famine and Genocide of 1975–1979 Conclusion Notes Chapter 3 War and Slavery Capitalism – Sugarcane, Tobacco, and Cotton Transcontinental Staples Sugarcane Tobacco Cotton Conclusion Notes Chapter 4 Killer Spices The Spice Trade Until the End of the 15th Century – The Rise and Fall of Venice, the First Predatory Company Masquerading as a State The Spice Trade in the 16th to 18th Centuries – The Rise and Fall of VOC, a Rogue State Masquerading as a Company The Attraction of Spices to Humans – Is It Chemistry or Metachemistry? Conclusions Notes Chapter 5 Caffeine, Opium, and Other Drugs for the Masses Why Plants Make Psychoactive Compounds Caffeine Opium and The Opium Wars Cocaine, Tetrahydrocannabinol, and Modern Wars Conclusion Notes Chapter 6 Wood and Rubber Wood Wood in Land Warfare Wood in Sea Warfare Rubber’s Good Qualities Rubber’s Contribution to Human Misery Rubber in Modern Wars Conclusion Notes Chapter 7 Modern Land Grabs – Hawaii, Palestine, and Latin America Farmland Ownership and National Identity Sugarcane and Hawaii Oranges and Zionism in Palestine Bananas and Central America Conclusion Notes Chapter 8 Black Plant Power – Coal and Oil Coal and Oil Are Biochemicals that Store Sunlight Energy Formation of Coal Formation of Petroleum The Crucial Roles that Coal and Oil Have Played in Recent Human History Coal, Coal Miners, and Social Strife Oil and Social Strife Conclusion Notes Appendix: Chemical Notations Scientific Glossary Index