WHY NATIONS LOVE WAR[1]
When the war broke out, many normally pacific people, headed by Mr. H. G. Wells, proclaimed their belief that "this is a war which will end war." Yet they were unintentionally illustrating, by their state of mind, the chief reason for doubting whether this war will end war and the chief obstacle which pacifists will have to overcome if their efforts are ever to be crowned with success. It was obvious that those who proclaimed their belief that there would never be another great war were actually enjoying the present war and that, in spite of a conventional recognition that war is a misfortune, they were happier, more alive, suffering less from what Mr. Graham Wallas calls "balked disposition," than in times of peace. Their belief that this war will end war was obviously not based on reason, but on an unconscious effort to reconcile their present enjoyment with their sincere but not deeply felt belief that war is an evil. My object is to analyse and try to understand this widespread enjoyment of war—a phenomenon, as I think, of the very greatest importance, which, from homage to humanitarian ideals, men in this country have not sufficiently emphasised or allowed for, either in their expectations or in their views as to what has occurred throughout Europe.
In the days of crisis preceding the war every nation
- ↑ Reprinted from War and Peace, November, 1914.
