¶10 Moreover, apart from the question of relations between East and West, it is easy to observe that one of the most notable consequences of industrial development is the incessant perfecting of engines of war and the increase of their destructive power in formidable proportions.1 This alone should suffice to annihilate the ‘pacifist’ daydreams of certain admirers of modern ‘progress’;2 but dreamers and ‘idealists’ are incorrigible, and their naivety seems to have no bounds. ‘Humanitarianism’, which is so much in fashion, assuredly does not deserve to be taken seriously;3 but it is strange that one speaks so much of the end of wars at an epoch when they wreak more havoc than they have ever done, not only because of the multiplication of means of destruction, but also because, instead of unfolding between small armies composed solely of professional soldiers, they pit against each other all individuals indiscriminately, including those least qualified to fulfil such a function.4 This is again a striking example of modern confusion, and it is truly prodigious, for anyone who wishes to reflect on it, that one has arrived at considering as perfectly natural a ‘levée en masse’ or a ‘general mobilisation’, that the idea of an ‘armed nation’ could impose itself on all minds, with very rare exceptions.5 One can also see here an effect of belief in the sole force of number: it is in conformity with the quantitative character of modern civilisation to set in motion enormous masses of combatants;6 and, at the same time, ‘egalitarianism’ finds its account there, as well as in institutions such as ‘compulsory education’ and ‘universal suffrage’. Let us add further that these generalised wars have been rendered possible only by another specifically modern phenomenon, namely the constitution of ‘nationalities’, a consequence of the destruction of the feudal régime on the one hand, and, on the other hand, of the simultaneous rupture of the superior unity of medieval ‘Christendom’;7 and, without dwelling on considerations that would lead us too far astray, let us also note, as an aggravating circumstance, the disregard of a spiritual authority that alone can normally exercise effective arbitration, because it is, by its very nature, above all conflicts of a political order.8 The negation of spiritual authority is again practical materialism; and even those who claim to recognise such an authority in principle deny it in fact all real influence and all power to intervene in the social domain, exactly in the same way that they establish a watertight partition between religion and the ordinary preoccupations of their existence;9 whether it concerns public life or private life, it is the same state of mind that asserts itself in both cases.
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Summary

Guénon observes that industrial development has led to the incessant perfecting of weapons of war and a vast increase in their destructive power, which alone should dispel pacifist daydreams about modern progress. He finds it strange that people speak so much of the end of wars in an era where wars wreak more havoc than ever, not only due to more destructive means but also because they now involve mass levies and general mobilisations of entire populations, including those least qualified to fight. This reflects the quantitative character of modern civilisation and the belief in the force of number, alongside egalitarianism as seen in compulsory education and universal suffrage. These generalised wars were made possible by the constitution of nationalities, following the destruction of feudalism and the rupture of medieval Christendom’s unity, as well as by the disregard of any spiritual authority capable of effective arbitration. The negation of spiritual authority is itself a form of practical materialism, and even those who claim to recognise it in principle deny it any real influence, maintaining a strict separation between religion and ordinary life.

General notes

  1. perfectionnement des engins de guerre comme conséquence du développement industriel — Rendered as ‘perfecting of engines of war as a consequence of industrial development’. Guénon underlines the direct link between industrial progress and the intensification of the destructive power of armaments. Modern technology, supposedly in the service of well-being and peace, serves in reality first and foremost to fabricate ever more effective instruments of death. ↩︎
  2. rêveries « pacifistes » — Rendered as ‘“pacifist” daydreams’. Guénon targets here the pacifist movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries (such as those of Eugène Jaurès or international organisations), which thought that economic and industrial development would render wars obsolete. For Guénon, this belief is a naïve illusion that ignores the profound nature of matter and of conflict. ↩︎
  3. « humanitarisme » — Rendered as ‘humanitarianism’. Guénon means by this term the sentimental doctrine that places man and his material well-being at the summit of values, believing that abstract love for humanity can resolve all social and political problems. Humanitarianism is for him a modern and degraded form of Christian charity, emptied of its spiritual content and reduced to a sentimentalism without real efficacy. ↩︎
  4. guerres totales opposant toute la population — Rendered as ‘total wars pitting the entire population against each other’. Guénon contrasts modern wars with traditional wars, which pitted limited professional armies against each other and left the civilian population aside. ‘Total war’ (levée en masse, general mobilisation) is a democratic and egalitarian phenomenon: it involves indiscriminately all citizens, including those who have no military competence, which aggravates confusion and suffering. ↩︎
  5. « levée en masse », « mobilisation générale », « nation armée » — Rendered as ‘levée en masse, general mobilisation, armed nation’. Guénon refers to military concepts arising from the French Revolution (levée en masse of 1793) and the 19th century (compulsory military service, national army). These egalitarian institutions transform every citizen into a potential soldier, confusing functions and destroying traditional distinctions between combatants and non-combatants. ↩︎
  6. force du nombre dans la guerre moderne — Rendered as ‘force of number in modern war’. Guénon links mass warfare to the democratic principle of quantity: just as in politics the majority makes the law, in war it is the number of soldiers that prevails, not their individual quality (training, valour, competence). Professional armies, qualitatively superior, are replaced by numerical masses. ↩︎
  7. constitution des « nationalités » et rupture de l’unité de la Chrétienté — Rendered as ‘constitution of “nationalities” and rupture of the unity of Christendom’. Guénon analyses the causes of modern wars: on the one hand, the emergence of nationalisms in the 19th century (Italy, Germany, the Balkans) fragmented Europe into rival nation-states; on the other hand, the disappearance of the unified spiritual authority of medieval Christendom (the papacy and the Empire) suppressed any superior arbitration capable of preventing or stopping conflicts. ↩︎
  8. méconnaissance de l’autorité spirituelle comme arbitre des conflits — Rendered as ‘disregard of spiritual authority as arbiter of conflicts’. Guénon recalls that, in the traditional order, spiritual authority (the pope in medieval Christendom, the caliph in Islam, the emperor in the Far East) was above temporal sovereigns and could arbitrate their quarrels. Modernity, by denying any effective spiritual authority, has suppressed this recourse and delivered nations to the sole law of force. ↩︎
  9. reconnaissance de principe, négation en fait de l’autorité spirituelle — Rendered as ‘recognition in principle, denial in fact of spiritual authority’. Guénon denounces the hypocrisy of moderns who say they believe in God or in the Church, but who exclude any effective influence of this belief on social, political or economic life. Religion becomes a private affair, without consequence for the real world. This separation (the ‘watertight partition’) is a subtle form of practical materialism. ↩︎