ABSTRACT
To say that Europe invented warfare and that warfare was its principal bequest to the rest of humanity would be an exaggeration, but not a large one (Anderson 1988; Best 1998; Kiernan 1998). Since the emergence and consolidation of the European states, warfare – both against their own populations and against the armies and navies of neighbouring states – has been a characteristic of their history. The period of imperialism spread this systematic engagement in war and conquest, along with its associated European military technology, to the rest of the world. The twentieth century in Europe has been one of apparently unceasing warfare. Europe has twice this century dragged the world into its wars (Mazower 1998). The progress of the Wermacht from Berlin to Stalingrad and back in the company of the Red Army marks the single most murderous, inhuman and destructive episode in human history (Overy 1998). It is against such episodes and such a history that Europe’s claim to be the birthplace and repository of civilization must be tested.
