Abstract

Tolstoy wondered why, when Napoleon uttered certain words, six hundred thousand men went into battle. More simply, why do wars gather consensus? Although unwilling to take his contemporaries' explanations seriously, Tolstoy only managed to conclude that such events cannot be rationally understood. Wars have no reason, even though mere are always various reasons for waging them and rational motives to legitimate them. As Clausewitz put it, “If war is an act of force, emotions cannot fail to be involved.” Which emotions, however, he does not say. There is one emotion, though — the need people have to feel “at home,” to have a reassuring group identity — that may provide the answer to Tolstoy's query.