he Conduct of War 1789-1961

Abstract

The conduct of war, like the practice of medicine, is an art, and because the aim of the physician and surgeon is to prevent, cure, or alleviate the diseases of the human body, so should the aim of the statesman and soldier be to prevent, cure, or alleviate the wars which inflict the international body. Unfortunately this has been little appreciated, and while in recent times the art of healing has been placed on a scientific footing, the conduct of war has remained in its alchemical stage; worse still, during the present century it has reverted to its barbaric form of destruction and slaughter. Should the reader doubt this, let him look back on the two world wars. Should he be content with their conduct, this book is not for him. Should he not be, then he cannot fail to see that instead of being curative they were baneful. The cure has been worse than the disease: an entire epoch has been upheaved and submerged as if by a global Krakatoa. Empires have vanished, Europe has been tom asunder, Germany divided, and revolution stalks the world. Today, fear of annihilation grips every heart; no longer are there any signs of stability, or feeling of security, and, as bad, no bonds of honour or even of common decency bind the nations together. Europe has seen many wars; for a thousand years war has been the constant occupation of her turbulent peoples. Nevertheless, not one of them since the Thirty Years’ War has been so catastrophic as the wars of the present century. Yet the reason is not to be sought in war itself, but in its conduct as related to the great revolutions since 1789: the decay of aristocracy and the advent of democracy, the developments of industry and capitalism, the emergence of the masses and of socialism, the progress of science and the advances in technology, the growth of populations and the popular press, the decay of religion and ever-advancing materialism. All these