Si vis pacem, para bellum
Si vis pacem, para bellum ( The phrase presents the insight that the conditions of peace are often preserved by a readiness to make war when necessary.
Derived uses
Whatever the source, the adage has become a living vocabulary item itself, used in the production of different ideas in a number of languages. For example, in 1790 during his first annual address to a joint session of Congress, George Washington stated "To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace."[5]
Si vis bellum para pacem
For example, historian
- Everyone knows the adage... Had Bonaparte been a Latin scholar he would probably have reversed it and said, Si vis bellum para pacem.
Si vis pacem para pactum
In the United States, the National Arbitration and Peace Congress of 1907, presided over by Andrew Carnegie said:
- These vast armaments on land and water are being defended as a means, not to wage war, but to prevent war... there is a safer way ... it requires only the consent and the good-will of the governments. Today they say ... If you want peace, prepare for war. This Congress says in behalf of the people: Si vis pacem, para pactum, if you want peace, agree to keep the peace.[7]
Si vis pacem fac bellum
"If you want peace, make war." The solution does not cover the case of the nation that does not desire peace. Imperial Germany went to war in 1914 and was castigated by
- When all other means fail, ... the liberation of the world from military domination can in the extreme case only take place by battle. ... in place of si vis pacem para bellum a similarly sounding principle ... may become a necessity: Si vis pacem, fac bellum.
Si vis pacem para pacem
"If you want peace, prepare for peace." The great wars of the 19th and 20th centuries were opposed by the philosophy of
- Le fameux dicton ... me semble beaucoup moins vrai, pour le XIXe siècle, que Si vis pacem, para pacem.
- The famous dictum ... seems to me much less true, for the 19th century, than Si vis pacem, para pacem.
with reference to Algeria. By way of elucidation Enfantin goes on to say that war could have been avoided if a proper study of Algeria had been made.
The parabellum
The main clause of the adage was used as a motto by German arms maker
See also
References
- ^ Vegetius Renatus, Flavius. "Epitoma Rei Militaris [Book 3]" (in Latin). The Latin Library.
- ISBN 9780853239109. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
- ^ Plato, Laws, 1.628c9–e1.
- ^ Martin Ostwald, Language and History in Ancient Greek Culture (2009), p. 87.
- ^ Washington, George. "To the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 8 January 1790". The Papers of George Washington Digital Edition. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, Rotunda,2008. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
- ^ De Bourrienne, p. 418.
- ^ Bartholdt, p. 333
- ^ Grelling, p. 208.
- ^ de Saint-Simon, Enfantin, p. 34.
- ]
- OCLC 850253284. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
Further reading
- Bartholdt, Richard (1907). "The Interparliamentary Plan". In Ely, Robert Erskine (ed.). Proceedings of the National Arbitration and Peace Congress New York, April 14th to 17th, 1907. New York: The National Arbitration and Peace Congress.. Downloadable Google Books.
- De Bourrienne, Louis Antoine Fauvelet (1895). Phipps, R.W. (ed.). Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte: New and Revised Edition: with Numerous Illustrations: Vol I. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
- Duff, Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant (1899). Notes from a Diary, Kept Chiefly in Southern India, 1881-1886: Vol. II. London: J. Murray. p. 28.
- ISBN 0-665-84477-8.
- Claude-Henri de Saint-Simon, Barthélémy Prosper Enfantin (1873). Œuvres d'Enfantin: Quatorzième Volume; Membres du Conseil Institué par Enfantin pour l'Exécution de ses Dernières Volontés. Paris: E. Dentu, Éditeur.
External links
- Media related to Si vis pacem, para bellum at Wikimedia Commons