Battle of Alma, Photo: Wikipedia
War tourism is recreational exploration to dangerous combat areas. Although it sounds like a new concept, it’s been here for a long time. In 1653, Willem van de Velde, an official artist of the Dutch fleet for a period, took a small boat to the sea to observe a naval battle between the Dutch and the English and sketched every important phase and every detail of the battle. The following drawing shows the Dutch fleet on the day before the “Four Days’ Battle” began:
Battle council on the De Zeven Provinciën by Willem van de Velde the Elder, 1666, Photo: Wikipedia
In the, Battle of the Alma (20 September 1854), Prince Menshikov invited the ladies of Sevastopol to watch the battle from a nearby hill. Unlike the modern time, the majority of the battles until the 19th century were of short duration, many lasting a part of a day, some two to three days. First Battle of Bull Run in July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, was the first major land battle of the American Civil War. The Union was expecting an easy victory. So the wealthy elite of Washington D.C. including congressmen and their families, came to picnic and watch the battle. But, eventually the Union lost the battle and the roads to go back to D.C. were blocked by the panicked Washingtonians who wanted to flee back.
In the modern days, there are tour operators who will take the extreme thrill seeking tourists to the conflict zones like Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, North Korea, Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Pakistan etc. Slowly and steadily war tourism is becoming a new trend.
Photo: warzonetours.com
There are risks but war tourists often engage themselves with local people and get a very raw image of the reality. A thrill-seeking Japanese trucker went to Syria and you can do something like that too if you want. Companies like warzonetours.com, untamedborders.com, politicaltours.com are here to assist you.
Sources:
1. The Atlantic
2. Wikipedia
3. Washington Post