Any army is in danger of being conquered at the outset of a campaign, after a long peace; any army which has long been engaged in warfare has strong chances of victory: this truth is peculiarly applicable to democratic armies. In aristocracies the military profession, being a privileged career, is held in honor even in time of peace. Men of great talents, great attainments3, and great ambition embrace it; the army is in all respects on a level with the nation, and frequently above it. We have seen, on the contrary, that amongst a democratic people the choicer minds of the nation are gradually drawn4 away from the military profession, to seek by other paths, distinction, power, and especially wealth. After a long peace—and in democratic ages the periods of peace are long—the army is always inferior to the country itself. In this state it is called into active service; and until war has altered it, there is danger for the country as well as for the army.
I have shown that in democratic armies, and in time of peace, the rule of seniority is the supreme5 and inflexible6 law of advancement7. This is not only a consequence, as I have before observed, of the constitution of these armies, but of the constitution of the people, and it will always occur. Again, as amongst these nations the officer derives8 his position in the country solely9 from his position in the army, and as he draws all the distinction and the competency he enjoys from the same source, he does not retire from his profession, or is not super-annuated, till towards the extreme close of life. The consequence of these two causes is, that when a democratic people goes to war after a long interval10 of peace all the leading officers of the army are old men. I speak not only of the generals, but of the non-commissioned officers, who have most of them been stationary11, or have only advanced step by step. It may be remarked with surprise, that in a democratic army after a long peace all the soldiers are mere12 boys, and all the superior officers in declining years; so that the former are wanting in experience, the latter in vigor13. This is a strong element of defeat, for the first condition of successful generalship is youth: I should not have ventured to say so if the greatest captain of modern times had not made the observation. These two causes do not act in the same manner upon aristocratic armies: as men are promoted in them by right of birth much more than by right of seniority, there are in all ranks a certain number of young men, who bring to their profession all the early vigor of body and mind. Again, as the men who seek for military honors amongst an aristocratic people, enjoy a settled position in civil society, they seldom continue in the army until old age overtakes them. After having devoted14 the most vigorous years of youth to the career of arms, they voluntarily retire, and spend at home the remainder of their maturer years.
A long peace not only fills democratic armies with elderly officers, but it also gives to all the officers habits both of body and mind which render them unfit for actual service. The man who has long lived amidst the calm and lukewarm atmosphere of democratic manners can at first ill adapt himself to the harder toils15 and sterner duties of warfare; and if he has not absolutely lost the taste for arms, at least he has assumed a mode of life which unfits him for conquest.
Amongst aristocratic nations, the ease of civil life exercises less influence on the manners of the army, because amongst those nations the aristocracy commands the army: and an aristocracy, however plunged17 in luxurious18 pleasures, has always many other passions besides that of its own well-being19, and to satisfy those passions more thoroughly20 its well-being will be readily sacrificed. *a
a
[ See Appendix V.]
I have shown that in democratic armies, in time of peace, promotion21 is extremely slow. The officers at first support this state of things with impatience22, they grow excited, restless, exasperated23, but in the end most of them make up their minds to it. Those who have the largest share of ambition and of resources quit the army; others, adapting their tastes and their desires to their scanty24 fortunes, ultimately look upon the military profession in a civil point of view. The quality they value most in it is the competency and security which attend it: their whole notion of the future rests upon the certainty of this little provision, and all they require is peaceably to enjoy it. Thus not only does a long peace fill an army with old men, but it is frequently imparts the views of old men to those who are still in the prime of life.
I have also shown that amongst democratic nations in time of peace the military profession is held in little honor and indifferently followed. This want of public favor is a heavy discouragement to the army; it weighs down the minds of the troops, and when war breaks out at last, they cannot immediately resume their spring and vigor. No similar cause of moral weakness occurs in aristocratic armies: there the officers are never lowered either in their own eyes or in those of their countrymen, because, independently of their military greatness, they are personally great. But even if the influence of peace operated on the two kinds of armies in the same manner, the results would still be different. When the officers of an aristocratic army have lost their warlike spirit and the desire of raising themselves by service, they still retain a certain respect for the honor of their class, and an old habit of being foremost to set an example. But when the officers of a democratic army have no longer the love of war and the ambition of arms, nothing whatever remains25 to them.
I am therefore of opinion that, when a democratic people engages in a war after a long peace, it incurs26 much more risk of defeat than any other nation; but it ought not easily to be cast down by its reverses, for the chances of success for such an army are increased by the duration of the war. When a war has at length, by its long continuance, roused the whole community from their peaceful occupations and ruined their minor27 undertakings28, the same passions which made them attach so much importance to the maintenance of peace will be turned to arms. War, after it has destroyed all modes of speculation29, becomes itself the great and sole speculation, to which all the ardent30 and ambitious desires which equality engenders31 are exclusively directed. Hence it is that the selfsame democratic nations which are so reluctant to engage in hostilities32, sometimes perform prodigious33 achievements when once they have taken the field. As the war attracts more and more of public attention, and is seen to create high reputations and great fortunes in a short space of time, the choicest spirits of the nation enter the military profession: all the enterprising, proud, and martial34 minds, no longer of the aristocracy solely, but of the whole country, are drawn in this direction. As the number of competitors for military honors is immense, and war drives every man to his proper level, great generals are always sure to spring up. A long war produces upon a democratic army the same effects that a revolution produces upon a people; it breaks through regulations, and allows extraordinary men to rise above the common level. Those officers whose bodies and minds have grown old in peace, are removed, or superannuated35, or they die. In their stead a host of young men are pressing on, whose frames are already hardened, whose desires are extended and inflamed36 by active service. They are bent37 on advancement at all hazards, and perpetual advancement; they are followed by others with the same passions and desires, and after these are others yet unlimited38 by aught but the size of the army. The principle of equality opens the door of ambition to all, and death provides chances for ambition. Death is constantly thinning the ranks, making vacancies39, closing and opening the career of arms.
There is moreover a secret connection between the military character and the character of democracies, which war brings to light. The men of democracies are naturally passionately40 eager to acquire what they covet41, and to enjoy it on easy conditions. They for the most part worship chance, and are much less afraid of death than of difficulty. This is the spirit which they bring to commerce and manufactures; and this same spirit, carried with them to the field of battle, induces them willingly to expose their lives in order to secure in a moment the rewards of victory. No kind of greatness is more pleasing to the imagination of a democratic people than military greatness—a greatness of vivid and sudden lustre42, obtained without toil16, by nothing but the risk of life. Thus, whilst the interests and the tastes of the members of a democratic community divert them from war, their habits of mind fit them for carrying on war well; they soon make good soldiers, when they are roused from their business and their enjoyments43. If peace is peculiarly hurtful to democratic armies, war secures to them advantages which no other armies ever possess; and these advantages, however little felt at first, cannot fail in the end to give them the victory. An aristocratic nation, which in a contest with a democratic people does not succeed in ruining the latter at the outset of the war, always runs a great risk of being conquered by it.
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1
protracted
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| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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2
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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3
attainments
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| 成就，造诣； 获得( attainment的名词复数 )； 达到； 造诣； 成就 | |
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4
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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6
inflexible
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| adj.不可改变的，不受影响的，不屈服的 | |
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7
advancement
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| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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8
derives
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| v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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9
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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stationary
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| adj.固定的，静止不动的 | |
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12
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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13
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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14
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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15
toils
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| 网 | |
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16
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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17
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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18
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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19
well-being
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| n.安康，安乐，幸福 | |
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20
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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21
promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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23
exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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24
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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25
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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26
incurs
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| 遭受，招致，引起( incur的第三人称单数 ) | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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undertakings
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| 企业( undertaking的名词复数 )； 保证； 殡仪业； 任务 | |
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29
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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30
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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31
engenders
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| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的第三人称单数 ) | |
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32
hostilities
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| n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事 | |
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33
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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34
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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35
superannuated
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| adj.老朽的，退休的；v.因落后于时代而废除，勒令退学 | |
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36
inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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37
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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38
unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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39
vacancies
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| n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺 | |
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40
passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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41
covet
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| vt.垂涎；贪图(尤指属于他人的东西) | |
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42
lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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43
enjoyments
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| 愉快( enjoyment的名词复数 )； 令人愉快的事物； 享有； 享受 | |
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