Analysis of Objective of Nations in Endless Wars This question addresses the statement

This question addresses the statement that "nations locked in endless wars fight not so much in the hope of victory but to avoid the consequences - especially the domestic consequences - of defeat." The veracity of this statement will be analyzed with reference to three wars: the Napoleonic Wars after 1812, Germany after the battle of Stalingrad, and the United States in Vietnam after 1968. These examples will show the varying degrees of truth of this statement.

The Napoleonic Wars were a direct outcome of the French Revolution and, according to at least one historian, the culmination of one hundred years of war between France and Great Britain (Weigley, 1991, p. 538). They really began in 1792, before Napoleon assumed power in France, and they continued largely as a result of Napoleon's desire to acquire for France undisputed hegemony over Europe. Although he briefly achieved his goal at various points during the wars, Napoleon was ultimately unable to secure French hegemony. Indeed, he ultimately caused all of the other great powers in Europe to ally themselves against France, which eventually led to defeat (Weigley, 1991, pp. 538-540).

After the disastrous Russian campaign in 1812, in which the French forces lost more than 90% of their effective strength, Napoleon permanently lost Prussia and Austria as allies. Both countries had alternatively fought with and against France, but both had also regarded Napoleon with distrust, fearful of French control over the con

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reover, the contributions needed from the occupied countries only increased as the Spanish and Russian campaigns drained the French coffers without resulting in any returns (Bond, 1996, pp. 36-37). Napoleon's insistence upon following a strategy of major battles meant that he had to maintain a very large army, which used up a lot of resources. This meant, in turn, that he needed to achieve quick victory over the major enemy forces, forcing him to engage in massive campaigns and unlimited warfare. Because he was the political as well as military head of France, his political decisions were influenced by military needs, rather than the other way around. With no political checks upon his military ambitions, Napoleon led France down the road of disaster (Paret, 1986, pp. 136-137). A similar situation occurred in Germany in the 1940s. One man, Adolf Hitler, was imbued with the power to make both political and military decisions. Unlike Napoleon, Hitler was not a professional soldier who had spent his entire adult life in the military. However, Hitler was obsessed with the notion of Germany as a military society and that richly deserved glory lay in military power and conquest (Keegan, 1993, pp. 366-374). Hitler's decision to c

Category: Government - A