Causa Belli

Uploaded by trigerman on Oct 31, 2011

This essay investigates some of the theories that have been advanced to explain why men wage war.

I Introduction

War. It is the grimmest, most brutal and most awful of all human activities. No one ever says they like it, and yet humanity cannot stop waging it. Some of those caught up in it are broken by it; some are numbed by it; others are left feeling that nothing in their lives will ever equal it. But no one is unchanged by war.
This essay will attempt to discover some of the reasons why men wage war. It will consider the role of individuals in instigating wars; the nature of states; and the international community. It will also draw on readings and observations from Clausewitz, Freud, Kant, Machiavelli and M.H. Cochran. In addition, it will consider different “angles of vision”—large issues that may be said to have an impact on the decision of whether or not to wage war; these issues include political, economic and sociological views.
(Incidentally, “causa belli” means, “cause of war” and is the correct spelling. People often use “causus belli,” a form that doesn’t exist; the correct spelling in that case is “casus belli,” meaning “an occasion of war.”)

II Warlords

The 20th Century was the most violent in the history of mankind. It saw hundreds of “brush fire” wars, as well as the most devastating and wide-ranging conflict ever fought: World War II. When we look back over the years leading to the conflict, and indeed over the entire century, one name stands out: Adolf Hitler. Why it should be he, and not Josef Stalin, Tojo, or indeed Franklin Delano Roosevelt or Winston Churchill who comes to mind as the icon of the modern warlord is a question for which there is no answer. Hitler seems to have captured our imagination in a way no one else ever has, despite the fact that his evil is vast and his actions despicable. Despite our loathing of the man and his policies, he continues to fascinate us.
If we examine his rise to power, we clearly see that there are individuals who do in fact instigate wars. The facts about him are well-known: he was a courier in the First World War, running messages under fire; he was certainly no coward, and was awarded the Iron Cross....