Goya's The Third of May and Picasso's Guernica are both anti-war masterpieces and both depict tragedies in Spain resulting from attacks by foreign entities. Although born a century apart, these artists are from Spain and chose to express their indignation at the violations committed by their compatriots via their own weapon: the canvas and the brush. For Goya, Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of Spain was a betrayal. He had once loved the French very much, but he could not bear the outright annihilation of the Spanish citizens. Napoleon had made an agreement with the King of Spain to use Spanish lands as a transport route for troops en route to the conquest of Portugal. But since Napoleon's ultimate goal was to conquer the entire world, he decided to sack Spain while he was at it and declared his own brother king. The Spanish people rose up to fight back and many of them were massacred in the streets on May 3, 1808. These were not leaders or military officers. They were ordinary Spanish citizens. Goya shows this through his regular and non-uniform clothing. Picasso's Guernica was born from the destruction of another Spanish city by another maniacal dictator: Hitler. In 1937, the Spanish Civil War was in full swing. The war was between Basques (similar to modern American liberals) and nationalists (like conservatives). Hitler's Nazi side supported the nationalists. And Hitler had systematically developed strategies and artillery that he really wanted to test before using them to conquer Europe. He chose the Basque town of Guernica to test the same bombing campaign that would become Blitzkrieg. The resulting destruction was devastating. Picasso was heartbroken by the loss of civilian lives. Guernica was the expression of this grief. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay These paintings speak to me about the true cost of war. It is not the generals and leaders who really pay the price, nor the hard-working men, women and children whose lives are torn apart. All you have to do today is turn on the news and you will see the same images of death and loss. In Syria, children die every day. The civilian death toll well exceeds three hundred thousand, and there is no end in sight. The same thing is happening in Congo, Argentina, Afghanistan, Myanmar and many other places. Foreign countries may not invade these lands as blatantly, but Russian, Chinese, and American aid prolongs many of these conflicts. I don't know if these particular paintings can end modern warfare. But there are novels, films, YouTube videos, and photographs currently being developed by new artists that will hopefully have the same impact on my generation as these icons had on theirs. And these genres can have an even wider audience than a painting thanks to modern technology and the Internet. In Texas, many people believe we are under the same type of attack from foreign nations. They believe our border is being violated by the enemy. Unfortunately, as on May 3, it is ordinary people who just want to live a good life who suffer for the ideals of the leaders. Building walls and turning away asylum seekers is like lining them up in front of a firing squad. Just this week, media published a tragic photo of a man and his two-year-old daughter who drowned together after desperately trying to save themselves.,.