Afectaciones a la Población Civil y el Medioambiente Durante la Batalla de las Ardenas (1944-1945) desde la Perspectiva de la Seguridad Humana

Abstract

This article presents the effects on the civilian population, derived from the environmental impact caused by the Allied and Axis forces during the Battle of the Bulge in late 1944 and early 1945, as a result of the intense fighting and the use of military supplies. The use of a matrix of environmental aspects and impacts made it possible to analyze 17 key activities for the development of the battle in terms of the supply and use of elements necessary for it, such as military material, ammunition and weapons, from the generation of the products, transport and use, these activities generated 90 aspects and 182 impacts, the matrix allowed a quantitative assessment to be made, obtaining a rating at various levels of significance between low, moderate, severe and critical, depending on the natural resource affected and the resilience of the same. Finally, the environmental impact is transferred to the ecosystemic niche that the forest provides to the civilian population and makes it possible to determine which and how much the war activities impact the components of human security. The results are conclusive in determining that the activities carried out in the Battle of the Bulge not only affect people directly during the war through deaths, wounded, missing or displaced persons, but that the short, medium and long term consequences in terms of human security are 100% negative. The alteration of ecosystems after the passage of the velic conflict reduces the productivity of the ecological niche on human welfare, affecting the economic, environmental, social, cultural, health and political stability of people.