`War Breeds Only War'

“As there was no compulsion towards a conflict which, in despite of the apparent bitterness of parties, took so long to engage and needed so much assiduous blowing to fan the flame, so no right was vindicated by its ragged end. The war solved no problem. Its effects, both immediate and indirect, were either negative or disastrous. Morally subversive, economically destructive, socially degrading, confused in its causes, devious in its course, futile in its result, it is the outstanding example in [….] history of meaningless conflict. The overwhelming majority [….], the overwhelming majority [….] wanted no war; powerless and voiceless, there was no need even to persuade them that they did. The decision was made without thought of them. Yet of those who, one by one, let themselves be drawn into the conflict, few were irresponsible and nearly all were genuinely anxious for an ultimate and better peace. Almost all [….] were actuated rather by fear than by lust of conquest or passion of faith. They wanted peace and they fought for thirty years to be sure of it. They did not learn then, and have not since, that war breeds only war.”

From The Thirty Years War, by C.V. Wedgwood.

“There is no guarantee for success in Iraq. The situation in Baghdad and several provinces is dire. Saddam Hussein has been removed from power and the Iraqi people have a democratically elected government that is broadly representative of Iraq’s population, yet the government is not adequately advancing national reconciliation, providing basic security, or delivering essential services. The level of violence is high and growing. There is great suffering, and the daily lives of many Iraqis show little or no improvement. Pessimism is pervasive.”

From The Iraq Study Group Report, James A. Baker, III, and Lee H. Hamilton, co-chairs.

Dame Veronica Wedgwood’s great history of the war that ravaged Europe from 1618 to 1648 was published on the eve of World War II, in 1939, by Yale University Press. The editorial ellipses in the final paragraph from her book, quoted above, represent, in order, these words: “European,” “in Europe,” “in Germany,” and “—one excepts the King of Sweden --.” As the epigraph to her book, Wedgwood chose these lines from Measure for Measure, spoken by Isabella:

“…but man, proud man,
Drest in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he’s most assur’d,
His glassy essence, like an angry ape,
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As make the angels weep.”