Abstract
The essay analyses the development of Joseph de Maistre’s ideas on war and peace.
Commonly seen as advocating militarism and bloodshed, Maistre’s insights and propositions on the
nature of war are in fact highly modern and original. As a witness to the European upheaval of
1792-1815, Maistre emphasizes the indeterminacy and unpredictability of modern war, and its
irreducibility to a science or a doctrine. In order to regulate and restrain warfare, Maistre argues, it
is necessary to cultivate public opinion, an elusive and difficult process which can only be sustained
by informal cultural institutions. The essay also examines the legacy of Maistre’s ideas on war and
peace in political thought.