War and Peace

About this Collection

Wars can be fought to preserve freedom, and they can also be tragically destructive of it. The way that human societies have made war and sought peace throughout our existence provides a useful study for considering how best to keep and protect the freedoms we have, and how to gain the ones we want.

Key People

Titles & Essays

American Anti-Interventionist Tradition: A Bibliographical Essay by Justus Doenecke

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Source: Bibliographical Essay in Literature of Liberty, Summer 1981, vol. 4, No. 2

America’s Second Crusade

William Henry Chamberlin (author)

Chamberlin wrote this volume on the role of the United States in World War II just a few years after the surrender of the Axis forces in 1945. This reprint is designed to give history students and scholars a more immediate “window”…

The Art of War (Neville trans.)

Niccolo Machiavelli (author)

A translation by Neville, a leading English republican thinker of the 17th century, of one of the few major works of Machiavelli published in his lifetime. Machiavelli drew on his own experiences of the nearly constant warfare in…

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Beethoven and Napoleon: Clash of the Titans

By: Gary McGath

No one in Europe could be indifferent to Napoleon’s ascent. He was its greatest liberator or its greatest threat. Beethoven, who despised ruling classes, was wildly enthusiastic about him. His manuscript for the Third Symphony, the…
The Bhagvat-Geeta, or Dialogues of Kreeshna and Arjoon

Charles Wilkins (translator)

The Bhagavad Gita is perhaps the greatest and most beautiful of the Hindu scriptures. It is mainly in the form of a dialogue between the warrior Prince Arjuna and his friend Krishna (the earthly incarnation of the god Vishnu). The…

BOLL 3: Ludwig von Mises, “Economics of War” (1949)

Ludwig von Mises (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes…

BOLL 11: W.G. Sumner, “The Conquest of the United States by Spain” (1898)

William Graham Sumner (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes…

BOLL 31: Samuel anoints Saul the First King of Israel (c. 1,000 B.C.)

Samuel (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list…

BOLL 38: Daniel Webster, “Speech on the Draft” (1814)

Daniel Webster (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list…

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BOLL 11: W.G. Sumner, “The Conquest of the United States by Spain” (1898)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes from a lecture given by William Graham Sumner, “The Conquest of the United States by…

THE READING ROOM

BOLL 2: Vicesimus Knox, “Universal Peace” (1793)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes from Vicesimus Knox’s sermon “The Prospect of Perpetual and Universal Peace” which he…

THE READING ROOM

BOLL 3: Ludwig von Mises, “Economics of War” (1949)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes from Ludwig von Mises’ book Human Action which was published soon after the end of…
The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume XXI - Essays on Equality, Law, and Education

John Stuart Mill (author)

Vol. 21 of the 33 vol. Collected Works contains a number of Mill’s essays on the law, women and children, the American Civil War, and his book on The Subjection of Women. It also contains in the Appendix Harriet Taylor’s works On…

A Collection of Tracts, 2 vols. (1751)

Thomas Gordon (author)

A two part collection of essays by Trenchard and Gordon which includes essays on standing armies, religion, British politics, and economics.

A Collection of Tracts, vol. I

Thomas Gordon (author)

Volume 1 of a two part collection of essays by Trenchard and Gordon which includes essays on standing armies, various sermons, on debt, taxation, and religion.

Commerce Defended (1808)

James Mill (author)

This is a critique of both the idea that only agriculture is truly a productive activity and government war-time policy which resulted in rising food prices and taxes which had a deleterious impact on the poor.

The Complaint of Peace

Desiderius Erasmus (author)

The Reformation scholar Desiderius Erasmus portrays Peace visiting to earth to deliver her verdict on the human race. She chastises kings and princes, church leaders, noblemen and ordinary soldiers alike for betraying their Christian…

Daniel Webster on the Draft: Text of a Speech delivered in Congress, December 9, 1814

Daniel Webster (author)

A reprint of Webster’s famous speech against conscription during the War of 1812 against Britain. It was reprinted by the American Union against Militarism in 1917 when America was on the verge of entering World War I and…

A Discourse of Standing Armies (1722)

Thomas Gordon (author)

“Cato” (of Cato’s Letter’s) continues his attack on the waste and militarism of the British Empire which this critique of the idea of permanent “standing” armies.

The Early Christian Attitude to War

John Cecil Cadoux (author)

Published shortly after the First World War, this book is an examination of Christian ethics regarding war and peace which begins with the teachings of Jesus and continues through the first 2 centuries of the Christian era.

The Economic Consequences of the Peace

John Maynard Keynes (author)

As part of the British delegation to the Versailles Peace Conference after WW1 Keynes had detailed knowledge of the debates about reparations which were demanded of Germany. He believed the demands on defeated Germany were too harsh…

England, Ireland, and America

Richard Cobden (author)

An early piece by Cobden on foreign policy and free trade written under the pseudonym of “A Manchester Manufacturer.”

An Essay on Naval Discipline

Thomas Hodgskin (author)

Hosgskin began his interesting career as a radical individualist and natural rights defender of the free market with this pamphlet criticising the British naval policy of impressing (i.e. conscripting) sailors into the navy and using…

Four Tracts on Political and Commercial Subjects

Josiah Tucker (author)

Four essays on trade, war, and the rebellion in the American colonies.

Free Trade and Other Fundamental Doctrines of the Manchester School

Francis W. Hirst (editor)

A collection of speeches and articles illustrating the broad range of views of the British classical liberals and free traders of the 19th century known as the Manchester School. They cover foreign policy, free trade, the repeal of…

Fugitive Essays: Selected Writings of Frank Chodorov

Frank Chodorov (author)

A collection of Chodorov’s essays selected from The Freeman and Human Events and other publications.

The Hague Peace Conferences concerning the Laws and Usages of War

A Pearce Higgins (editor)

This volume contains the text (often in both French and English) of the major conventions concerning peace and the laws of warfare from the Declaration of Paris (1856), the Geneva Convention of 1864, of the two Peace Conferences in…

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Homer’s Iliad and the Causes of the Trojan War, Part. I

By: Alexander Schmid

Many first-time readers of Homer’s Iliad are aghast at the fact that the “most famous” parts of the story do not even happen in the narrative of the Iliad. Achilleus never has his epic duel with Memnon, son of the Dawn. Achilleus is…
Imperialism: A Study

John A. Hobson (author)

A classic analysis of imperialism by a British economic journalist who explores the way in which mercantile interests in the home country can manipulate the power of the state in order to get benefits in the colony.

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Individual Moral Responsibility for Violence: A Decrepit Concept?

By: Richard Gunderman

Moral ambition is, in principle, an admirable trait, but soaring ambition, especially when it is unmodulated by practical wisdom, can wreak considerable harm. In other words, the impulse to do good can fail to respect the bounds of…
A Lasting Peace through the Federation of Europe and The State of War

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (author)

Two essays by Rousseau on the issue of war written during the mid 1750s. The first is a critique of the Abbé Saint-Pierre’s ideas on the prospects of a European Federation to reduce the likelihood of war. The second is his attempt to…

Law of Nations

James Mill (author)

One of the articles James Mill wrote for the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Letters of Crito, on the Causes, Objects, and Consequences, of the Present War

John Millar (author)

Millar writes letters to the Right Honourable Charles James Fox pointing out the harmful effects the war against France will have.

Letters of Sidney, on Inequality of Property

John Millar (author)

Millar continues his critique of the war against France with letters to the Earl of Lauderdale.

Liberty Matters: Hugo Grotius on War and the State (March 2014)

Fernando R. Tesón (author)

In this online discussion, Fernando R. Tesón explores what Grotius thought about the proper relationship between the laws of nature and the laws of nations, what limits (if any) can be legitimately and rightly placed on the conduct…

Nation, State, and Economy: Contributions to the Politics and History of Our Time

Ludwig von Mises (author)

Nation, State, and Economy, published less than a year after Austria’s defeat in World War I, examines and compares prewar and postwar economic conditions and explicates Mises’s theory that each country’s prosperity supports rather…

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No Instructions for the Art of Peace: Molesworth’s An Account of Denmark

By: Eric Schliesser

Robert Molesworth’s An Account of Denmark(1694; hereafter Account) is intended as a contribution to the “arts of peace.” The reader quickly realizes that seventeenth century Denmark is held up as a kind of anti-exemplar or…
Observations on the Importance of the American Revolution

Richard Price (author)

A defence of the American Revolution by one of its key supporters in Britain, along with a letter by Turgot and a short essay by Mathon de la Cour (also known as Fortuné Ricard).

Observations on the Nature of Civil Liberty

Richard Price (author)

Price was both a supporter of the American desire for political independence and a sharp critic of the expences of the British empire.

Omnipotent Government: The Rise of the Total State and Total War

Ludwig von Mises (author)

Published in 1944, during World War II, Omnipotent Government was written and published after Mises arrived in the United States. In this volume Mises provides in economic terms an explanation of the international conflicts that…

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On Revisions and Revenge: The Films of Quentin Tarantino

By: Nathaniel Birzer

Tales of bloody vengeance are among the oldest of all stories. Look no further than Orestes, Hamlet, or any number of Norse Sagas. Laws against vengeance and blood feuds exist as far back as the earliest recorded law, the Code of…
On War

Carl von Clausewitz (author)

Clausewitz’s magnum opus in which he ponders the revolution in military affairs made possible by the “nation at arms” during the French Revolution. He did not live to see the book appear in print but its influence was profound in…

On War, vol. 1

Carl von Clausewitz (author)

Vol. 1 of Clausewitz’s magnum opus in which he ponders the revolution in military affairs made possible by the “nation at arms” during the French Revolution. He did not live to see the book appear in print but its influence was…

On War, vol. 2

Carl von Clausewitz (author)

Vol. 2 of Clausewitz’s magnum opus in which he ponders the revolution in military affairs made possible by the “nation at arms” during the French Revolution. He did not live to see the book appear in print but its influence was…

On War, vol. 3

Carl von Clausewitz (author)

Vol. 3 of Clausewitz’s magnum opus in which he ponders the revolution in military affairs made possible by the “nation at arms” during the French Revolution. He did not live to see the book appear in print but its influence was…

Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Essay (1917 ed.)

Immanuel Kant (author)

During the wars of the French Revolution Kant was inspired by the Treaty of Basel to contemplate how both self-interest and international cooperation might bring an end to war. This edition is interesting because it was published…

Political Institutions, being Part V of the Principles of Sociology

Herbert Spencer (author)

This is part of Spencer’s most extensive treatment of sociology, The Principles of Sociology. It is the section dealing with the nature of political institutions such as political heads like chiefs and kings, consultative bodies, the…

The Political Writings of Richard Cobden, in 2 vols.

Richard Cobden (author)

A two volume collection of the political writings of Richard Cobden which focuses on foreign policy, and war and peace.

The Political Writings of Richard Cobden, vol. 1

Richard Cobden (author)

Vol. 1 of a two volume collection of the political writings of Richard Cobden which focuses on foreign policy, and war and peace. Vol. 1 contains “England, Ireland, and America” (1835), “Russia” (1836), and “1793 and 1853 in Three…

The Political Writings of Richard Cobden, vol. 2

Richard Cobden (author)

Vol. 2 of a two volume collection of the political writings of Richard Cobden which focuses on foreign policy, and war and peace. Vol. 2 contains the “Third Letter”, How Wars are Got up in India (1853), What Next - and Next? (1856),…

Kant’s Principles of Politics, including his essay on Perpetual Peace

Immanuel Kant (author)

This 1891 translation includes a number of Kant’s shorter pieces on Universal History, Political Right, Principle of Progress, and Perpetual Peace.

Puritanism and Liberty, being the Army Debates (1647-9)

Alexander Dunlop Lindsay (foreword)

This collection contains the Putney Debates, the Whitehall Debates, and numerous other documents about Puritan religious and political views during the English Revolution. The collection has pieces by many authors including John…

The Rights of War and Peace (1901 ed.)

Hugo Grotius (author)

Grotius’s magnum opus on international law and the laws of war and peace. He wrote this volume while the Thirty Years’ War raged around him in the hope that rational human beings might be able to agree to legal limits on war’s…

The Rights of War and Peace (2005 ed.) 3 vols

Hugo Grotius (author)

Grotius’s Rights of War and Peace is a classic of modern public international law which lays the foundation for a universal code of law and which strongly defends the rights of individual agents - states as well as private persons -…

The Rights of War and Peace (2005 ed.) vol. 1 (Book I)

Hugo Grotius (author)

Grotius’s Rights of War and Peace is a classic of modern public international law which lays the foundation for a universal code of law and which strongly defends the rights of individual agents - states as well as private persons -…

The Rights of War and Peace (2005 ed.) vol. 2 (Book II)

Hugo Grotius (author)

Grotius’s Rights of War and Peace is a classic of modern public international law which lays the foundation for a universal code of law and which strongly defends the rights of individual agents - states as well as private persons -…

The Rights of War and Peace (2005 ed.) vol. 3 (Book III)

Hugo Grotius (author)

Grotius’s Rights of War and Peace is a classic of modern public international law which lays the foundation for a universal code of law and which strongly defends the rights of individual agents - states as well as private persons -…

Russia

Richard Cobden (author)

Another early work on foreign policy and trade by Richard Cobden written under the pseudonym of “A Manchester Manufacturer.”

Selected Speeches of the Rt. Hon. John Bright M.P. On Public Questions

John Bright (author)

A collection of Bright’s speeches on colonial policy in India and Ireland, the Civil War in America, the war against Russia, and free trade and peace.

Selected Discourses and Speeches

Andrew Fletcher (author)

A collection of Andrew Fletcher’s political writings which include his discourse on militias, two further dicourses, speeches, and a conversation about the right regulation of governments.

Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, 2 vols.

John Bright (author)

A two volume collection of John Bright’s speeches. Vol. I contains speeches on India, Canada, America, Ireland, and Russia; Vol. II contains speeches on Reform, Free Trade, Agriculture, Peace, Taxation, and other matters.

Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, vol. 1

John Bright (author)

Volume 1 of a 2 volume collections of Bright’s speeches. Vol. 1 contain speeches on India, Canada, America, Ireland, and Russia.

Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, vol. 2

John Bright (author)

Volume 2 of a two volume collection of Bright’s speeches. Vol. 2 contains speeches on Reform, Free Trade, Agriculture, Peace, Taxation, and other matters.

Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, 2 vols.

Goldwin Smith (introduction)

A two volume collection of Cobden’s speeches on Free Trade, Finance, War, Foreign Policy, and Parliamentary Reform.

Speeches on Questions of Public Policy. Vol. 2 War, Peace, and Reform

Goldwin Smith (introduction)

Volume 2 of a two volume collection of Cobden’s speeches on Free Trade, Finance, War, Foreign Policy, and Parliamentary Reform.

The Spirit of Despotism

Vicesimus Knox (author)

An edition from 1821. It was written in 1795 when Britain was leading the Coalition of monarchies in a war against the French Revolution, this is Knox’s warning that war against a foreign enemy helps create despotic government at…

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The Complaint of Peace

By: James Hartley

“As Peace, am I not praised by both men and gods as the very source and defender of all good things?...Though nothing is more odious to God and harmful to man, yet it is incredible to see the tremendous expenditure of work and…
The Tudor Translations: Machiavelli

Henry Cust (introduction)

A two volume collection of inlfuential English translations of the writings of Machiavelli during the Tudor period.

The Tudor Translations: Machiavelli vol. 1 (Art of War; The Prince)

Peter Whitehorne (translator)

A volume which contains historic translations of Machiavelli’s major writings which were done during the Tudor period in England. Vol. 1 contains The Arte of Warre by Peter Whitethorne in 1560 and The Prince by Edward Dacres in 1640.…

The Twelve Days of Christmas

David M. Hart (editor)

We have selected 12 quotations from the collection of texts in the Online Library of Liberty which deal with the theme of “peace on earth and…

War and Other Essays

Albert Galloway Keller (editor)

One of several collections of Sumner’s essays which were published in the early 20th century. This volume contains his famous essay on the Spanish-American War.

What Next and Next?

Richard Cobden (author)

Cobden reflects on how the Crimean War can best be ended without humiliating Russia and helping her be integrated into the world market again.

The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, vol. 11 (Miscellanies)

Ralph Waldo Emerson (author)

Vol. 11 of the 12 volume Fireside edition of the works of Emerson.

The Works of Alexander Hamilton, (Federal Edition), vol. 6

Henry Cabot Lodge (editor)

Vol. VI (Foreign Relations; Foreign Policy; The Whiskey Rebellion; Military Papers) of a twelve volume collection of the works of Alexander Hamilton who served at a formative period of the American Republic. His papers and letters…

The Works of Alexander Hamilton, (Federal Edition), vol. 7

Henry Cabot Lodge (editor)

Vol. VII (Military Papers. continued) of a twelve volume collection of the works of Alexander Hamilton who served at a formative period of the American Republic. His papers and letters are important for understanding this period as…

The Works of Vicesimus Knox, vol. 5

Desiderius Erasmus (author)

This volume contains Knox’s letters written to a lord on “Personal Nobility” and his criticism of the British state during its war against the French, “The Spirit of Despotism” (1795), and his translation of a work of Erasmus “…

The Works of Vicesimus Knox, vol. 6

Vicesimus Knox (author)

This volume contains Knox’s sermons on various passages of the Bible as well as Sermon 25 on the possibilities of perpetual peace.

The Writings of Albert Gallatin, vol. 3

Henry Adams (editor)

Vol. 3 contains longer works such as speeches and reports on elections, the finances of the US, public lands, currency and banking, Oregon, the war with Mexico.

The Writings of George Washington, vol. II (1758-1775)

Worthington Chauncey Ford (editor)

Vol. 2 covers the years 1758 to 1775 and includes some of his early journals and many letters.

The Writings of George Washington, vol. III (1775-1776)

Worthington Chauncey Ford (editor)

Vol. 3 covers the years July 1775 to March 1776 and includes letters and papers.

The Writings of George Washington, vol. IV (1776)

Worthington Chauncey Ford (editor)

Vol. 4 covers April to October 1776 and includes letters and papers.

The Writings of George Washington, vol. V (1776-1777)

Worthington Chauncey Ford (editor)

Vol. 5 covers November 1776 to July 1777 and includes letters and papers.

The Writings of George Washington, vol. VI (1777-1778)

Worthington Chauncey Ford (editor)

Vol. 6 covers August 1777 to April 1778 and includes letters and papers.

The Writings of George Washington, vol. VII (1778-1779)

Worthington Chauncey Ford (editor)

Vol. 7 covers May 1778 to July 1779 and includes letters and papers.

The Writings of George Washington, vol. VIII (1779-1780)

Worthington Chauncey Ford (editor)

Vol. 8 covers August 1779 to October 1780 and includes letters and papers.

The Writings of George Washington, vol. IX (1780-1782)

Worthington Chauncey Ford (editor)

Vol. 9 covers October 1780 to May 1782 and includes letters and papers.

The Writings of George Washington, vol. X (1782-1785)

Worthington Chauncey Ford (editor)

Vol. 10 covers May 1782 to October 1785 and includes letters and papers.

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Quotes

War & Peace

Adam Smith observes that the true costs of war remain hidden from the taxpayers because they are sheltered in the metropole far from the fighting and instead of increasing taxes the government pays for the war by increasing the national debt (1776)

Adam Smith

War & Peace

Adam Smith on the Sympathy one feels for those Vanquished in a battle rather than for the Victors (1762)

Adam Smith

Revolution

Adams and Jefferson reflect on the Revolution and the future of liberty (1823)

John Adams

War & Peace

Alexander Hamilton warns of the danger to civil society and liberty from a standing army since “the military state becomes elevated above the civil” (1787)

Alexander Hamilton

Food & Drink

Bastiat, the 1830 Revolution, and the Spilling of Wine not Blood (1830)

Frédéric Bastiat

War & Peace

Benjamin Constant on the dangers to liberty posed by the military spirit (1815)

Benjamin Constant

War & Peace

Cobden on the principle of non-intervention in the affairs of other countries (1859)

Richard Cobden

Parties & Elections

Cobden reminds the Liberals in Parliament that the motto of their party is “Economy, Retrenchment, and Reform!” (1862)

Richard Cobden

War & Peace

Cobden urges the British Parliament not to be the “Don Quixotes of Europe” using military force to right the wrongs of the world (1854)

Richard Cobden

War & Peace

Daniel Webster thunders that the introduction of conscription would be a violation of the constitution, an affront to individual liberty, and an act of unrivaled despotism (1814)

Daniel Webster

War & Peace

J.M. Keynes reflected on that “happy age” of international commerce and freedom of travel that was destroyed by the cataclysm of the First World War (1920)

John Maynard Keynes

War & Peace

James Madison on the need for the people to declare war and for each generation, not future generations, to bear the costs of the wars they fight (1792)

James Madison

War & Peace

John Bright calls British foreign policy “a gigantic system of (welfare) for the aristocracy” (1858)

John Bright

War & Peace

John Bright denounces the power of the war party in England (1878)

John Bright

War & Peace

John Bright on war as all the horrors, atrocities, crimes, and sufferings of which human nature on this globe is capable (1853)

John Bright

War & Peace

John Trenchard identifies who will benefit from any new war “got up” in Italy: princes, courtiers, jobbers, and pensioners, but definitely not the ordinary taxpayer (1722)

John Trenchard

War & Peace

Kant believed that citizens must give their free consent via their representatives to every separate declaration of war (1790)

Immanuel Kant

Taxation

Knox on how the people during wartime are cowered into submission and pay their taxes “without a murmur” (1795)

Vicesimus Knox

War & Peace

Ludwig von Mises laments the passing of the Age of Limited Warfare and the coming of Mass Destruction in the Age of Statism and Conquest (1949)

Ludwig von Mises

War & Peace

Lysistrata’s clever plan to end the war between Athens and Sparta (411 BC)

Aristophanes

War & Peace

Madison argued that war is the major way by which the executive office increases its power, patronage, and taxing power (1793)

James Madison

War & Peace

Milton warns Parliament’s general Fairfax that justice must break free from violence if “endless war” is to be avoided (1648)

John Milton

Socialism & Interventionism

Mises and the Emergence of Etatism in Germany (1944)

Ludwig von Mises

Socialism & Interventionism

Mises on how price controls lead to socialism (1944)

Ludwig von Mises

Class

Molinari on the elites who benefited from the State of War (1899)

Gustave de Molinari

Presidents, Kings, Tyrants, & Despots

Montesquieu states that the Roman Empire fell because the costs of its military expansion introduced corruption and the loyalty of its soldiers was transferred from the City to its generals (1734)

Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu

Literature & Music

On Achilles' new shield Vulcan depicts the two different types of cities which humans can build on earth; one based on peace and the rule of law; the other based on war, killing, and pillage (900 BC)

Homer

Free Trade

Richard Cobden on how free trade would unite mankind in the bonds of peace (1850)

Richard Cobden

War & Peace

Robert Nisbet on the Shock the Founding Fathers would feel if they could see the current size of the Military Establishment and the National Government (1988)

Robert A. Nisbet

War & Peace

St. Thomas Aquinas discusses the three conditions for a just war (1265-74)

St. Thomas Aquinas

War & Peace

Sumner and the Conquest of the United States by Spain (1898)

William Graham Sumner

War & Peace

The 3rd Day of Christmas: Erasmus stands against war and for peace on earth (16th century)

Desiderius Erasmus

War & Peace

The City of War and the City of Peace on Achilles' new shield (900 BC)

Homer

Presidents, Kings, Tyrants, & Despots

Thomas Gordon on how people are frightened into giving up their liberties (1722)

Thomas Gordon

Money & Banking

Tom Paine on the "Decline and Fall of the English System of Finance" (1796)

Thomas Paine

War & Peace

Trenchard on the dangers posed by a standing army (1698)

John Trenchard

War & Peace

Vicesimus Knox on how the aristocracy and the “spirit of despotism” use the commemoration of the war dead for their own aims (1795)

Vicesimus Knox

War & Peace

William Graham Sumner denounced America’s war against Spain and thought that “war, debt, taxation, diplomacy, a grand governmental system, pomp, glory, a big army and navy, lavish expenditures, political jobbery” would result in imperialsm (1898)

William Graham Sumner

Notes About This Collection

See also the extracts, chapters, and introductions in the War and Peace section of the Ideas page.