289. We must not think merely of external foes who compel us to fight. A war may seem to be forced upon a statesman by the condition of home affairs, or by the pressure of the whole political situation.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 38.
290. The moral duty of the State towards its citizens is to begin the struggle while the prospects of success and the political circumstances are still tolerably favourable. When, on the other hand, the hostile States are weakened or hampered by affairs at home and abroad, but its own warlike strength shows elements of superiority, it is imperative to use the favourable circumstances to promote its own political aims.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 53.
291. The lessons of history confirm the view that wars which have been deliberately provoked by far-seeing statesmen have had the happiest results.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 45.
See also No. [382].
Contempt for Peace.
292. Ye shall love peace as a means to new wars—and the short peace more than the long.—Fr. Nietzsche, Z., "War and Warriors."
292a. Only over the black gate of the cemetery ... can we read the words, "Eternal peace for all peoples." For peoples who live and strive, the only maxim and motto must be Eternal War.—K. Wagner, K., p. 217.
293. The reception of the Tsar's [Peace] Manifesto was anything but friendly.... The learned world, also, was for the most part hostile to the idea underlying the Manifesto, and such a man as Mommsen could even, amid great applause, characterize the proposed Conference as "a misprint in world-history."—A.H. Fried, H.D.F., Vol. I., p. 205.
294. The German who loves his people, and believes in the greatness and the future of our home ... must not let himself be lazily sung to sleep by the peace-lullabies of the Utopians.--Kronprinz Wilhelm, D.I.W., Chapter I.
295. A long peace not only leads to enervation, but allows of the existence of a multitude of pitiful, trembling miserable-creatures [Notexistenzen] ... who cling fast to life with loud cries about their "right" to exist, block the way for real strength, make the air fœtid, and altogether defile the blood of the nation. War brings real strength into honour again.—J. Burckhardt, W.B., p. 164.