Antimilitarism
Encyclopedia
Antimilitarism is a doctrine commonly found in the anarchist and, more globally, in the socialist movement, which may both be characterized as internationalist
movements. It relies heavily on a critical theory
of nationalism
and imperialism
, and was an explicit goal of the First and Second International
. Whereas pacifism
is opposition to violence
in general, antimilitarism is opposed to war
between states
in particular and, of course, militarism
. Historian Paul B. Miller defines anti-militarism as
"ideology and activities...aimed at reducing the civil power of the military and ultimately, preventing international war".
While antimilitarism is an ideology typically associated with the left, it is also found among Old Right
and libertarian elements, most notably in the United States.
idea
s, such as "God" or "Humanity", which Stirner
, for example, criticized in The Ego and Its Own
(1844), a milestone of individualist anarchism
. Pacifism is thus opposed to atheistic
antimilitarism, which is based on a critical analysis of the military state
institution, the military-industrial complex
and, in a broader sense, patriotism
and the nationalist concept of nation-state
s' sovereignty
. Thus, Gandhi justified non-violence by an ideal of redemption with the idea that non-violence makes one morally stronger, while the early Martin Luther King based his civil disobedience
techniques on his Christian faith (later his criticism of the Vietnam War
was quite secular). On the contrary, antimilitarism was commonly found alongside anti-clericalism
, since the Church and the Army both represented repressive institutions (or Ideological State Apparatuses - ISA - as Marxist
philosopher Louis Althusser
called them). Antimilitarism, as a specific doctrine distinguished from pacifism, is not opposed to violence in general, but mainly to the state's monopoly on legitimate violence, represented by its control of police
forces and the military institution. Antimilitarism is thus often a logical consequence of anti-statism
, and vice-versa. Finally, antimilitarism should not be confused either with the Clausewitzian doctrine of civilian control of the military
, which considers that "war is the continuation of politics by other means" and that tactics and strategy must thus be controlled by diplomacy
and political objectives. Although Clausewitz opposed Jomini
's advocacy of the autonomy of the military institution, which became a reality with Prussian militarism and the Schlieffen Plan
, the latter limiting the political choices available until war finally became the only solution available (and thus exploded in World War I
), his doctrine of limitation of military power was clearly an effort to increase the power of the state, rather than to oppose inter-state wars
Following Hegel's exploration of the relationship between history
and violence, antimilitarists argue that there are different types of violence, some of which can be said to be legitimate and others non-legitimate. Anarcho-syndicalist Georges Sorel
advocated the use of violence as a form of direct action
, calling it "revolutionary violence", which he opposed in Reflections on Violence (1908) to the violence inherent in class struggle
. Sorel thus followed the International Workers' Association (IWA, aka the First International) theorization of propaganda of the deed
.
Later, Walter Benjamin
, in his Critique of Violence (1920) would also establish a difference between "violence that founds the law", "violence that conserves the law", and an additional last type, "divine violence" which breaks the "magic circle" between both types of "state violence". The "violence that conserves the law" was roughly equivalent to the state's monopoly of legitimate violence, while the "violence that founds the law" was the original violence necessary to the creation of a state. The last type of violence, Benjamin also called it "revolutionary violence", and it was totally separated from the juridical sphere. Giorgio Agamben
showed that the theoretical link between the law and violence permitted Nazi thinker Carl Schmitt
to justify the "state of exception
" as the characteristic of sovereignty
. Thus, indefinite suspension of the law, which is the way to include-exclude violence in the juridical sphere (this simultaneous inclusion and exclusion is characteristic of the structure of "ex-ception"), may only be blocked by breaking this link between violence and right. This explains why Agamben refers to Benjamin, whose theorization of a "divine violence" broke the theoretical structure of the state of exception, which is at the basis of the state's sovereignty.
War, as violence, can be distinguished into inter-states' war and civil war
, in which case class struggle is, according to antimilitarists theorists, a primordial component. Hence, Marx's influence on antimilitarist doctrine will come as no surprise, even though it would be doubtful to make Marx accountable for the whole antimilitarist tradition. However, it would also be unwise to believe in the myth of an eternal antimilitarist spirit, present in all places and time, since modern military institution is a historic achievement, related to the formation, in the 18th and 19th centuries, of nation-states. Napoleon's invention of conscription
is a fundamental progress in the organization of state armies. Later, Prussian militarism
would be revealed by a huge majority of 19th century social theorists.
Militarism has always been intimately linked to propaganda
. Machiavelli already considered popular armies to be superior to mercenaries
, and Althusser demonstrated how he had thought the unification of Italy and therefore the creation of an Italian nation-state (aim which would only be attained in the 1860s) through the implementation of popular armies, leading to the creation of an esprit de corps which would form the basis for the future nation. Rousseau also thought the creation of the military institution as a form of education for the people. Finally, Michel Foucault
would show in Discipline and Punish
how the Army had invented the concept of "disciplines" to compose bodies together, thus paving the way for disciplinary institutions
(barracks, prisons, hospitals, schools, etc.) and, ultimately, a "disciplinary society".
's 1849 essay " Civil Disobedience
" (see text), originally titled "Resistance to Civil Government", can be considered an antimilitarist point of view, even though it would probably be mixed with pacifism (downright moral condemnation of all kinds of violence). However, Thoreau's latent anarchism and general anti-statism permits claims of descent from antimilitarism. His refusal to pay taxes was justified as an act of protest against slavery
and against the Mexican-American War (1846-48). Opponents of war considered as a major evil and as a cause of most of human kind's troubles may indeed be inclined to treat the modern idea of "nation-states" as one of the most dangerous invention, leading to endless nationalism
and bellicism. Hence, antimilitarist argue that any true pacifist must also be at least cautious of the state's claim (this "cold monster" as Nietzsche had dubbed it) to impartial justice and eternal peace.
has often been thought by antimilitarist literature to be a major cause of wars, an influence which has been theorized by Lenin and Rosa Luxembourg under the name of "imperialism
". The military-industrial complex
has also been accused of "pushing for war" in pursuit of private economic or financial interests.
The Second International
was therefore opposed to the participation of the working classes in war, which was analyzed as a competition between different national bourgeois classes and different state imperialisms. However, after the assassination of French socialist
leader Jean Jaurès
days before the proclamation of World War I
, nothing more was able to stop the masses from participating in the coming war. The proletariat
thus remained divided into different nation-states. In Mars
or the War Judged (1921), Alain
would criticize the destruction brought about by militarism, and demonstrated that it wasn't patriotism
that forced the soldiers to fight, but the bayonet
s behind them.
After World War II
, US President Eisenhower's 1961 warning on the influence of the "military-industrial complex
" came as no surprise to many antimilitarist-minded people. However, it did underline the relationship between industrial power, economics, politics, etc. (in other words, "capitalism"), and the making of wars. See RAND Corporation.
and other Founding Fathers
condemning standing armies and foreign entanglements. They tend to see militarism as in neither the best interests nor the real traditions of their country, giving them an ideological continuity with isolationism. They also note that the United States Constitution
allows the Congress
to raise and support armies "but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years," making the United States Army
possibly unconstitutional.
Right-wing antimilitarists in the United States
generally believe that "A well regulated militia
, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country," as stated by James Madison
. To this end, there is much overlap between the Militia movement and right-wing antimilitarists, although the two groups are not mutually inclusive. The term "well regulated" in the above quote (and in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
) is taken by such antimilitarists not to mean "regulated by the state" but rather "well equipped" and "in good working order," as was a common usage of the word "regulated" in the late 18th century.
, etc..
Until its dissolution, the Second International, like the First, was antimilitarist. Jaurès' assassination on July 31, 1914, marks antimilitarism's failure in the socialist movement.
The American Union Against Militarism
is an example of a US antimilitarist movement born in the midst of the first World War, from which the American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) formed from after the war. Some Refuseniks in Israel, who refuse the draft, and draft resisters in the USA http://www.resisters.info may be antimilitarist or pacifists, depending on the particular reasons for their opposition to conscription. Many pacifist organizations, such as the War Resisters International and the War Resisters League in the USA, are also antimilitarist.
Internationalism (politics)
Internationalism is a political movement which advocates a greater economic and political cooperation among nations for the theoretical benefit of all...
movements. It relies heavily on a critical theory
Critical theory
Critical theory is an examination and critique of society and culture, drawing from knowledge across the social sciences and humanities. The term has two different meanings with different origins and histories: one originating in sociology and the other in literary criticism...
of nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
and imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
, and was an explicit goal of the First and Second International
Second International
The Second International , the original Socialist International, was an organization of socialist and labour parties formed in Paris on July 14, 1889. At the Paris meeting delegations from 20 countries participated...
. Whereas pacifism
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
is opposition to violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
in general, antimilitarism is opposed to war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
between states
State (polity)
A state is an organized political community, living under a government. States may be sovereign and may enjoy a monopoly on the legal initiation of force and are not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. Many states are federated states which participate in a federal union...
in particular and, of course, militarism
Militarism
Militarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
. Historian Paul B. Miller defines anti-militarism as
"ideology and activities...aimed at reducing the civil power of the military and ultimately, preventing international war".
While antimilitarism is an ideology typically associated with the left, it is also found among Old Right
Old Right (United States)
The Old Right was a conservative faction in the United States that opposed both New Deal domestic programs and U.S. entry into World War II. Many members of this faction were associated with the Republicans of the interwar years led by Robert Taft, but some were Democrats...
and libertarian elements, most notably in the United States.
Distinction between antimilitarism and pacifism
Pacifism has been historically associated with faith in transcendentTranscendence (philosophy)
In philosophy, the adjective transcendental and the noun transcendence convey the basic ground concept from the word's literal meaning , of climbing or going beyond, albeit with varying connotations in its different historical and cultural stages...
idea
Idea
In the most narrow sense, an idea is just whatever is before the mind when one thinks. Very often, ideas are construed as representational images; i.e. images of some object. In other contexts, ideas are taken to be concepts, although abstract concepts do not necessarily appear as images...
s, such as "God" or "Humanity", which Stirner
Stirner
Stirner:* Max Stirner, pseudonym for Johann Caspar Schmidt , German philosopher and journalist* Karl Stirner , painter, illustrator and poet...
, for example, criticized in The Ego and Its Own
The Ego and Its Own
The Ego and Its Own is a philosophical work by German philosopher Max Stirner . This work was first published in 1845, although with a stated publication date of "1844" to confuse the Prussian censors.-Content:...
(1844), a milestone of individualist anarchism
Individualist anarchism
Individualist anarchism refers to several traditions of thought within the anarchist movement that emphasize the individual and his or her will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions, and ideological systems. Individualist anarchism is not a single philosophy but refers to a...
. Pacifism is thus opposed to atheistic
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
antimilitarism, which is based on a critical analysis of the military state
Militarism
Militarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
institution, the military-industrial complex
Military-industrial complex
Military–industrial complex , or Military–industrial-congressional complex is a concept commonly used to refer to policy and monetary relationships between legislators, national armed forces, and the industrial sector that supports them...
and, in a broader sense, patriotism
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
and the nationalist concept of nation-state
Nation-state
The nation state is a state that self-identifies as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a nation as a sovereign territorial unit. The state is a political and geopolitical entity; the nation is a cultural and/or ethnic entity...
s' sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
. Thus, Gandhi justified non-violence by an ideal of redemption with the idea that non-violence makes one morally stronger, while the early Martin Luther King based his civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
techniques on his Christian faith (later his criticism of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
was quite secular). On the contrary, antimilitarism was commonly found alongside anti-clericalism
Anti-clericalism
Anti-clericalism is a historical movement that opposes religious institutional power and influence, real or alleged, in all aspects of public and political life, and the involvement of religion in the everyday life of the citizen...
, since the Church and the Army both represented repressive institutions (or Ideological State Apparatuses - ISA - as Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
philosopher Louis Althusser
Louis Althusser
Louis Pierre Althusser was a French Marxist philosopher. He was born in Algeria and studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he eventually became Professor of Philosophy....
called them). Antimilitarism, as a specific doctrine distinguished from pacifism, is not opposed to violence in general, but mainly to the state's monopoly on legitimate violence, represented by its control of police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
forces and the military institution. Antimilitarism is thus often a logical consequence of anti-statism
Anti-statism
Anti-statism is a term describing opposition to state intervention into personal, social, and economic affairs. Anti-statist views may reject the state completely as well as rulership in general , they may wish to reduce the size and scope of the state to a minimum , or they may advocate a...
, and vice-versa. Finally, antimilitarism should not be confused either with the Clausewitzian doctrine of civilian control of the military
Civilian control of the military
Civilian control of the military is a doctrine in military and political science that places ultimate responsibility for a country's strategic decision-making in the hands of the civilian political leadership, rather than professional military officers. One author, paraphrasing Samuel P...
, which considers that "war is the continuation of politics by other means" and that tactics and strategy must thus be controlled by diplomacy
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
and political objectives. Although Clausewitz opposed Jomini
Antoine-Henri Jomini
Antoine-Henri, baron Jomini was a general in the French and later in the Russian service, and one of the most celebrated writers on the Napoleonic art of war...
's advocacy of the autonomy of the military institution, which became a reality with Prussian militarism and the Schlieffen Plan
Schlieffen Plan
The Schlieffen Plan was the German General Staff's early 20th century overall strategic plan for victory in a possible future war in which the German Empire might find itself fighting on two fronts: France to the west and Russia to the east...
, the latter limiting the political choices available until war finally became the only solution available (and thus exploded in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
), his doctrine of limitation of military power was clearly an effort to increase the power of the state, rather than to oppose inter-state wars
Criticisms on violence
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and violence, antimilitarists argue that there are different types of violence, some of which can be said to be legitimate and others non-legitimate. Anarcho-syndicalist Georges Sorel
Georges Sorel
Georges Eugène Sorel was a French philosopher and theorist of revolutionary syndicalism. His notion of the power of myth in people's lives inspired Marxists and Fascists. It is, together with his defense of violence, the contribution for which he is most often remembered. Oron J...
advocated the use of violence as a form of direct action
Direct action
Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. This can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action...
, calling it "revolutionary violence", which he opposed in Reflections on Violence (1908) to the violence inherent in class struggle
Class struggle
Class struggle is the active expression of a class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle"....
. Sorel thus followed the International Workers' Association (IWA, aka the First International) theorization of propaganda of the deed
Propaganda of the deed
Propaganda of the deed is a concept that refers to specific political actions meant to be exemplary to others...
.
Later, Walter Benjamin
Walter Benjamin
Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin was a German-Jewish intellectual, who functioned variously as a literary critic, philosopher, sociologist, translator, radio broadcaster and essayist...
, in his Critique of Violence (1920) would also establish a difference between "violence that founds the law", "violence that conserves the law", and an additional last type, "divine violence" which breaks the "magic circle" between both types of "state violence". The "violence that conserves the law" was roughly equivalent to the state's monopoly of legitimate violence, while the "violence that founds the law" was the original violence necessary to the creation of a state. The last type of violence, Benjamin also called it "revolutionary violence", and it was totally separated from the juridical sphere. Giorgio Agamben
Giorgio Agamben
Giorgio Agamben is an Italian political philosopher best known for his work investigating the concepts of the state of exception and homo sacer....
showed that the theoretical link between the law and violence permitted Nazi thinker Carl Schmitt
Carl Schmitt
Carl Schmitt was a German jurist, philosopher, political theorist, and professor of law.Schmitt published several essays, influential in the 20th century and beyond, on the mentalities that surround the effective wielding of political power...
to justify the "state of exception
State of exception
State of Exception may mean:* State of exception* State of Exception , a book written by Giorgio Agamben...
" as the characteristic of sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
. Thus, indefinite suspension of the law, which is the way to include-exclude violence in the juridical sphere (this simultaneous inclusion and exclusion is characteristic of the structure of "ex-ception"), may only be blocked by breaking this link between violence and right. This explains why Agamben refers to Benjamin, whose theorization of a "divine violence" broke the theoretical structure of the state of exception, which is at the basis of the state's sovereignty.
War, as violence, can be distinguished into inter-states' war and civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
, in which case class struggle is, according to antimilitarists theorists, a primordial component. Hence, Marx's influence on antimilitarist doctrine will come as no surprise, even though it would be doubtful to make Marx accountable for the whole antimilitarist tradition. However, it would also be unwise to believe in the myth of an eternal antimilitarist spirit, present in all places and time, since modern military institution is a historic achievement, related to the formation, in the 18th and 19th centuries, of nation-states. Napoleon's invention of conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
is a fundamental progress in the organization of state armies. Later, Prussian militarism
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
would be revealed by a huge majority of 19th century social theorists.
Militarism has always been intimately linked to propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
. Machiavelli already considered popular armies to be superior to mercenaries
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
, and Althusser demonstrated how he had thought the unification of Italy and therefore the creation of an Italian nation-state (aim which would only be attained in the 1860s) through the implementation of popular armies, leading to the creation of an esprit de corps which would form the basis for the future nation. Rousseau also thought the creation of the military institution as a form of education for the people. Finally, Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
would show in Discipline and Punish
Discipline and Punish
Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison is a book by philosopher Michel Foucault. Originally published in 1975 in France under the title Surveiller et punir: Naissance de la Prison, it was translated into English in 1977. It is an interrogation of the social and theoretical mechanisms behind...
how the Army had invented the concept of "disciplines" to compose bodies together, thus paving the way for disciplinary institutions
Disciplinary institutions
Disciplinary institutions is a concept proposed by Michel Foucault in Discipline and Punish . School, prison, barracks or the hospital are examples of historical disciplinary institutions, all created in their modern form in the 19th century with the Industrial Revolution...
(barracks, prisons, hospitals, schools, etc.) and, ultimately, a "disciplinary society".
Thoreau's pacifism
Henry David ThoreauHenry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...
's 1849 essay " Civil Disobedience
Civil Disobedience (Thoreau)
Civil Disobedience is an essay by American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau that was first published in 1849...
" (see text), originally titled "Resistance to Civil Government", can be considered an antimilitarist point of view, even though it would probably be mixed with pacifism (downright moral condemnation of all kinds of violence). However, Thoreau's latent anarchism and general anti-statism permits claims of descent from antimilitarism. His refusal to pay taxes was justified as an act of protest against slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
and against the Mexican-American War (1846-48). Opponents of war considered as a major evil and as a cause of most of human kind's troubles may indeed be inclined to treat the modern idea of "nation-states" as one of the most dangerous invention, leading to endless nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
and bellicism. Hence, antimilitarist argue that any true pacifist must also be at least cautious of the state's claim (this "cold monster" as Nietzsche had dubbed it) to impartial justice and eternal peace.
Capitalism and the military-industrial complex
Antimilitarism has always been based on a political and social analysis of the state and the concept of sovereignty. Indeed, capitalismCapitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
has often been thought by antimilitarist literature to be a major cause of wars, an influence which has been theorized by Lenin and Rosa Luxembourg under the name of "imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
". The military-industrial complex
Military-industrial complex
Military–industrial complex , or Military–industrial-congressional complex is a concept commonly used to refer to policy and monetary relationships between legislators, national armed forces, and the industrial sector that supports them...
has also been accused of "pushing for war" in pursuit of private economic or financial interests.
The Second International
Second International
The Second International , the original Socialist International, was an organization of socialist and labour parties formed in Paris on July 14, 1889. At the Paris meeting delegations from 20 countries participated...
was therefore opposed to the participation of the working classes in war, which was analyzed as a competition between different national bourgeois classes and different state imperialisms. However, after the assassination of French socialist
Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière
The French Section of the Workers' International , founded in 1905, was a French socialist political party, designed as the local section of the Second International...
leader Jean Jaurès
Jean Jaurès
Jean Léon Jaurès was a French Socialist leader. Initially an Opportunist Republican, he evolved into one of the first social democrats, becoming the leader, in 1902, of the French Socialist Party, which opposed Jules Guesde's revolutionary Socialist Party of France. Both parties merged in 1905 in...
days before the proclamation of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, nothing more was able to stop the masses from participating in the coming war. The proletariat
Proletariat
The proletariat is a term used to identify a lower social class, usually the working class; a member of such a class is proletarian...
thus remained divided into different nation-states. In Mars
Mars (mythology)
Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...
or the War Judged (1921), Alain
Émile Chartier
Émile-Auguste Chartier, commonly known as Alain was a French philosopher, journalist, and pacifist.Alain entered lycée d'Alençon in 1881 and studied there for five years...
would criticize the destruction brought about by militarism, and demonstrated that it wasn't patriotism
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
that forced the soldiers to fight, but the bayonet
Bayonet
A bayonet is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit in, on, over or underneath the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar weapon, effectively turning the gun into a spear...
s behind them.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, US President Eisenhower's 1961 warning on the influence of the "military-industrial complex
Military-industrial complex
Military–industrial complex , or Military–industrial-congressional complex is a concept commonly used to refer to policy and monetary relationships between legislators, national armed forces, and the industrial sector that supports them...
" came as no surprise to many antimilitarist-minded people. However, it did underline the relationship between industrial power, economics, politics, etc. (in other words, "capitalism"), and the making of wars. See RAND Corporation.
Right-Wing antimilitarism in the United States
American right-wing antimilitarists draw heavily upon the statements of Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
and other Founding Fathers
Founding Fathers of the United States
The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American Revolutionary War, establishing the United States Constitution, or by some...
condemning standing armies and foreign entanglements. They tend to see militarism as in neither the best interests nor the real traditions of their country, giving them an ideological continuity with isolationism. They also note that the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
allows the Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
to raise and support armies "but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years," making the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
possibly unconstitutional.
Right-wing antimilitarists in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
generally believe that "A well regulated militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country," as stated by James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
. To this end, there is much overlap between the Militia movement and right-wing antimilitarists, although the two groups are not mutually inclusive. The term "well regulated" in the above quote (and in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights.In 2008 and 2010, the Supreme Court issued two Second...
) is taken by such antimilitarists not to mean "regulated by the state" but rather "well equipped" and "in good working order," as was a common usage of the word "regulated" in the late 18th century.
Antimilitarist groups
Also see: list of anti-war organizations, peace movementPeace movement
A peace movement is a social movement that seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war , minimize inter-human violence in a particular place or type of situation, often linked to the goal of achieving world peace...
, etc..
Until its dissolution, the Second International, like the First, was antimilitarist. Jaurès' assassination on July 31, 1914, marks antimilitarism's failure in the socialist movement.
The American Union Against Militarism
American Union Against Militarism
The American Union Against Militarism was an American pacifist organization active established in response to World War I. The organization attempted to keep the United States out of the European conflict through mass demonstrations, public lectures, and the printed word...
is an example of a US antimilitarist movement born in the midst of the first World War, from which the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
(ACLU) formed from after the war. Some Refuseniks in Israel, who refuse the draft, and draft resisters in the USA http://www.resisters.info may be antimilitarist or pacifists, depending on the particular reasons for their opposition to conscription. Many pacifist organizations, such as the War Resisters International and the War Resisters League in the USA, are also antimilitarist.
See also
- AnarchismAnarchismAnarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
- Civilian control of the militaryCivilian control of the militaryCivilian control of the military is a doctrine in military and political science that places ultimate responsibility for a country's strategic decision-making in the hands of the civilian political leadership, rather than professional military officers. One author, paraphrasing Samuel P...
- Second InternationalSecond InternationalThe Second International , the original Socialist International, was an organization of socialist and labour parties formed in Paris on July 14, 1889. At the Paris meeting delegations from 20 countries participated...
- International Anarchist Congress of AmsterdamInternational Anarchist Congress of AmsterdamThe International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam took place from 24 August to 31 August 1907. It gathered delegates from 14 different countries, among which important figures of the anarchist movement, including Errico Malatesta, Luigi Fabbri, Benoît Broutchoux, Pierre Monatte, Amédée Dunois, Emma...
in 1907 - Just WarJust WarJust war theory is a doctrine of military ethics of Roman philosophical and Catholic origin, studied by moral theologians, ethicists and international policy makers, which holds that a conflict ought to meet philosophical, religious or political criteria.-Origins:The concept of justification for...
- Just War theory
- MilitarismMilitarismMilitarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
- PeacePeacePeace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
- Peace Pledge UnionPeace Pledge UnionThe Peace Pledge Union is a British pacifist non-governmental organization. It is open to everyone who can sign the PPU pledge: "I renounce war, and am therefore determined not to support any kind of war...
- Peace processPeacebuildingPeacebuilding is a term used within the international development community to describe the processes and activities involved in resolving violent conflict and establishing a sustainable peace....
- Peace treatyPeace treatyA peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends a state of war between the parties...
- Refusal to serve in the Israeli militaryRefusal to serve in the Israeli militaryRefusal to serve in the Israeli military includes both refusal to obey specific orders and refusal to serve in the Israel Defense Forces in any capacity due to pacifist or anti-militarist views or disagreement with the policies of the Israeli government as implemented by the army, such as the...
- SocialismSocialismSocialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
- WarWarWar is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
- War resisterWar resisterA war resister is a person who resists war. The term can mean several things: resisting participation in all war, or a specific war, either before or after enlisting in, being inducted into, or being conscripted into a military force....
- Zimmerwald ConferenceZimmerwald ConferenceThe Zimmerwald Conference was held in Zimmerwald, Switzerland, from September 5 through September 8, 1915. It was an international socialist conference, which saw the beginning of the end of the coalition between revolutionary socialists and reformist socialists in the Second International.-...
- Arms and the ManArms and the ManArms and the Man is a comedy by George Bernard Shaw, whose title comes from the opening words of Virgil's Aeneid in Latin:"Arma virumque cano" ....
/The Chocolate SoldierThe Chocolate SoldierThe Chocolate Soldier is an operetta composed in 1908 by Oscar Straus based on George Bernard Shaw's 1894 play, Arms and the Man...
a comedy by George Bernard Shaw