Never at War - Specific Conflicts

Specific Conflicts

Most of the book describes specific conflicts that are borderline cases where critical features might be expected to show up. The following presents some of the conflicts mentioned and Weart's arguments for why they are not wars between well-established liberal democracies.

• American Revolutionary War. The United States can be considered a liberal democracy after the Continental Congress but was less than three years old. The monarchy under George III was still the final arbiter of British policy in such matters as the appointment of colonial officials and the power to declare wars. The franchise was restricted to a small minority.

• Quasi-War. Less than 200 battle deaths: a few dozen. The franchise in the French Directory was restricted to a minority of wealthy Frenchmen. In 1797 there was a coup d'état which used troops against the opposition, closed down opposing newspapers, cancelled election results, and condemned hundreds of opponents to exile or death.

• War of 1812. The franchise in the United States was denied to African-Americans and Women. The British prince regent still retained the final word on ministers and war. Open criticism was punishable as lèse majesté and dissidents were driven into exile. The franchise was restricted to a small minority.

• Trail of Tears. The Cherokees had created a republican constitution in 1827 that in theory had many democratic rights. However, the nation allowed slaveholding and became increasingly authoritarian, in the end beating, censoring and even murdering those advocating a voluntary removal. The state of Georgia decreed that the government was dissolved in 1828 which was before three years had passed since the creation of the constitution. No battle deaths.

• Mexican-American War. Mexican President Mariano Paredes was a general who took power in a coup d'état.

• Sonderbund War. Less than 200 battle deaths: fewer than a hundred. Democracy was less than 3 years old in Zürich which was the leading Protestant Canton. The Catholic Cantons restricted the suffrage to Catholic men and in many also to a group that descended from the original inhabitants. The Protestants and liberals attempted a rebellion in Catholic Lucerne but were defeated. Some fled what they called a Catholic "reign of terror". Lucerne announced that Jesuits would be responsible for the educational system. This was perceived as evidence that Lucerne was now a regime under the thumb of the autocratic Pope. A private expedition of volunteers tried to "liberate" Lucerne but failed. The perceptions of nondemocracy was strengthened when the Catholic Cantons refused to comply with the majority of the Swiss Federal Council and turned for aid to foreign Catholic powers like the Habsburgs.

• The war between the French Second Republic and the Roman Republic (19th century). Both young democracies less than 3 years old. The Pope had promised to excommunicate those that took part in the elections, leaving only inexperienced radicals in the Roman government during the few months it existed. The French President and later Emperor Louis Napoleon needed support from the conservative Catholics and the military. The young French assembly was led to believe that the French expedition was a simple police action in order to restore order in a chaotic regime and to protect Rome from foreign monarchies that planned an intervention. The army officers on the scene distrusted everything republican and despite the unexpected resistance launched an attack and conquered Rome without a mandate from the French assembly. The news of this caused violent uprisings in France. The critics called the military repression of these "the Roman expedition into the interior".

• The Confederate States of America was less than 3 years old at the start of the war. Less than 2/3 of the adult male population could vote in the Confederacy. The state was created in order to continue the suppression of the black slave population. Wealthy planters played on racial fears in order to avoid criticism from poor whites. Abolitionists were censored and imprisoned even before Lincoln was elected and he was not on the ballot in most parts of the South. In the first elections in the confederacy, voters in many areas again had no choice of candidates.

• War of the Pacific. Only one man in fifty could vote in Chile and Peru.

• First Boer War. Britain was not a liberal democracy before Representation of the People Act 1884. The new Boer state was less than 3 years old and the Black population was excluded from the franchise.

• Spanish-American War. In Spain all males could vote and the constitution in theory protected many civil liberties. However, there was the Turno system where corrupt officials manipulated the elections to return to office as many of their own party as they wished, dissidents were jailed, the monarchy retained important powers, and a military coup d'état was feared if Spain would compromise in the negotiations.

• Fashoda Incident. No battle deaths.

• Philippine-American War. No democratic elections in the Philippines. The Philippine regime was less than 3 years old. One group of Filipinos had proclaimed a constitution which explicitly gave the power to a small group of landowners and professionals. Emilio Aguinaldo was declared president without elections. He was suspected of killing two of his main political rivals and nearly all foreign observers saw no chance for genuine self-government, but only different regional groups and bandits. US president William McKinley stated that it would be immoral to withdraw and leave the Filipinos to fight one another or be occupied by a European power.

• Second Boer War. Only males from the minority White population had the right to vote in the Boer states. White Uitlanders were excluded from the franchise in Transvaal.

• World War I. The German Reichstag was elected by all adult males and it did vote overwhelmingly to fund the war. However, German Kaiser retained most of the power. All the appointments to bureaucracy, the armed forces, and the diplomatic forces were made at his sole discretion. It was common knowledge that the army strongly supported him and would arrest his opponents if he so desired. Open criticisms could be and were punished as lese majesty. The German Chancellor in 1913 ignored a vote of no confidence, explaining that he served at the discretion of the Kaiser alone. The Reichstag was not consulted regarding the declaration of war, but only informed after the fact that its support was required to approve the allocation of funds for the defence against the Tsarist Russia.

• Anglo-Irish War. The Irish state was less than 3 years old. The initial violence involved rebels acting on their own outside democratic control. Later democratic control of the Irish Republican Army was doubtful and immediately after the war one part of the IRA tried to overthrow the government in the Irish Civil War.

• Occupation of the Ruhr. No battle deaths.

• Continuation War. Eventually the United Kingdom reluctantly issued a formal declaration of war on Finland due to pressure from Soviet Union. Britain sent bombers to impede mining under German control but the British were not attacking Finns. The formal declaration meant nothing but some financial restrictions and the seizure of shipping. Also, Weart argues that Finland had become so authoritarian during the war that it was not a clear democracy anymore: it had imprisoned opposition leaders in a secret prison, and most decisions were taken by a tiny clique of leaders.

• Cod Wars. No battle deaths.

• Turkish Invasion of Cyprus. Initial hostilities after a coup d'état in Cyprus. Both the later formally democratic regime in Cyprus and that in Turkey were less than 3 years old. The military retained significant influence in both.

• Paquisha Incident. Both young democracies less than 3 years old. Lacking democratic control over the military on both nations. About two hundred battle deaths.