Never at War is book by the historian Spencer R. Weart published by Yale University Press in 1998. It examines political and military conflicts throughout human history and finds no exception to the democratic peace theory. In addition to the democratic peace, Weart argues that there is also an oligarchic peace and provides a new explanation for both the democratic and oligarchic peace. A historian is a person who studies history. ... Yale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The democratic peace theory or simply democratic peace (often DPT and sometimes democratic pacifism) is a theory in political science and philosophy which holds that democracies—specifically, liberal democracies—never or almost never go to war with one another. ... Democracy is a form of government under which the power to alter the laws and structures of government lies, ultimately, with the citizenry. ... Oligarchy is a form of government where most political power effectively rests with a small segment of society (typically the most powerful, whether by wealth, military strength, ruthlessness, or political influence). ...

Definitions

The book classifies human societies into four broad groups:

Anocracies are societies where central authority is weak or nonexistent. Kinship bonds extended by personal allegiances to notable leaders are the principal relations. A society may in theory be a state but if the above applies, then Weart classifies it as an anocracy. Examples include tribes, Somalia, and the medieval Italian cities where influential families fought street battles and lived in fortified keeps. Importantly, there is no central authority which can effectively restrain personal violence such as raids which often escalate by involving friends and relatives to vendettas and wars. Some anocracic tribes may have a form of democracy in the extended kinship group but no effective control of personal raids against non-kin groups. Examples include the Iroquois who frequently raided and eventually destroyed most of the Hurons.

Autocracies are states where opposition against the current rulers are suppressed. There may be frequent shifts back and forth between anocracy and autocracy when a leader temporarily gains enough power to suppress all opponents in a territory.

Oligarchies are states where participation in government is restricted to an elite. Voting decides policy and opposition is accepted within the elite. Voting is usually restricted to less than 1/3 of the males. Examples include Sparta and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Democracies are states similar to oligarchies but there is not a sharp and clear distinction between an elite and the rest of the domestic population. Usually, more than 2/3 of the males have the right to vote.

Looking at a borderline case, the Athenian democracy that excluded metics and slaves, Weart argues that it was a democracy since appearance alone could not decide who was a citizen, citizens could become slaves and slaves could become free, citizens could be poorer than slaves, slaves could work for example as bankers, and the metics participated in the wars. Thus, the non-citizens were so interwoven through the community that their views were probably represented by the citizens on most issues. In contrast, the Confederate States of America was an oligarchy. In order to help differentiate between oligarchies and democracies, Weart requires that the classification should not differ from how the people at the time viewed the differences, the oligarchic elite should live in constant fear of a rebellion, and for democracies a war should not have been prevented if everyone had the vote. This article is on the social structure. ... A keep is a strong central tower which forms the heart of a castle. ... Vendetta is a term for blood feud where relatives of someone who have been killed or otherwise wronged seek vengeance trying to kill or otherwise punish the ones responsible or their relatives. ... The Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee, also known as the League of Peace and Power) is a group of First Nations/Native Americans. ... This article is about the First Nations people, the Wyandot, also known as the Huron. ... Sparta (Greek Σπάρτη) was a city in ancient Greece, whose territory included, in Classical times, all Laconia and Messenia, and which was the most powerful state of the Peloponnesus. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Athenian democracy was a democratic government in the city-state Athens and its surrounding lands in Attica, Greece; usually considered to have lasted from the late-6th to the late-4th century BC. During the 5th century BC, the population of Athens may well have comprised some 300,000... In Ancient Greece, the term metic meant simply a foreigner, a non-Greek, living in one of the Greek city-states. ... The word slaves has several meanings and usages: People who are owned by others, and live to serve them without pay. ... Motto: Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God our Vindicator) Anthem: God Save the South (unofficial) Dixie (popular) Capital Montgomery, Alabama February 4, 1861–May 29, 1861 Richmond, Virginia May 29, 1861–April 9, 1865 Danville, Virginia April 3–April 10, 1865 Largest city New Orleans February 4, 1861 until captured May...

Weart uses a broader definition of war than is usual in research on the democratic peace theory and and includes any conflict causing at least 200 deaths in organized battle by political units against one another. He requires that the democracies and the oligarchies should have tolerated dissent for at least 3 years, finding this time necessary for a political culture in a nation to change and be reflected in foreign policy.

Results

Due to the long time period, Weart has often relied on the works of other historians but have consulted at least five works for even trivial crises involving democracies and oligarchies. Some cases have never been studied with this question in mind and he has then used primary sources which included reading works in French, German, Italian, Tuscan, Spanish, Alemannic, Greek, and Latin. A primary source is any piece of information that is used for constructing history as an artifact of its times. ... Tuscany (Italian Toscana) is a region in central Italy, bordering on Latium to the south, Umbria to the east, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria to the north, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. ... The term Alemannic can have several meanings. ... Latin is the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

Using these definitions, Weart finds numerous wars between the same and different kinds of societies but also two exceptions. Democracies have never fought one another and oligarchies have almost never fought one another. Wars between democracies and oligarchies have however been common.

The book argues that the pattern is sharply evident in for example 300 years of Ancient Greek history, the Swiss Cantons since 1300s, in the County of Flanders during 1300s, in the three and a half centuries of the Hanseatic League, and in Renaissance Italy. These periods included numerous societies that frequently changed regime type. The societies abruptly stopped fighting other oligarchies if they become an oligarchy and abruptly stopped fighting other democracies if they become a democracy. This pattern immediately reversed if the regime type changed again. Ancient Greek refers to the stage in the history of the Greek language corresponding to Classical Antiquity, which normally applies on two ancient periods of Greek history: Archaic and Classic Greece. ... A canton is: a territorial subdivision of a country (especially canton of Switzerland and France, see canton (subnational entity), and of vingtaines in Jersey. ... This article deals with the historical county of Flanders, for present-day Flanders see Flanders The geographical region and former county of Flanders contains not only the two Belgian provinces but also the present-day French département of Nord, in parts of which there is still a Flemish-speaking... The Hanseatic League (German: die Hanse) was an alliance of trading cities that established and maintained a trade monopoly over most of Northern Europe and the Baltic for a time in the later Middle Ages and the Early Modern period (ie between the 13th and 17th century). ... By Region: Italian Renaissance Northern Renaissance *French Renaissance *German Renaissance *English Renaissance The Renaissance, also known as Rinascimento (in Italian), was an influential cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. ...

Weart argues that the only clear case of war between oligarchies is a 1656 battle between Bern and Lucerne, caused by religious fervor during the Reformation. The War of the Pacific may be another, but both Chile and Peru had strong anocratic tendencies where family and personal loyalty formed much of the power base of the leaders. Toleration of political dissent was at best limited. // Events Mehmed Köprülü becomes Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. ... Location within Switzerland The city of Bern, English traditionally Berne (Bernese German Bärn , German Bern , French Berne , Italian Berna , Romansh Berna ), is the Bundesstadt (administrative capital) of Switzerland, and is the fourth most populous Swiss city (after Zürich, Geneva and Basel). ... Location within Switzerland View of the city from Lake Lucerne Another view across Lake Lucerne The Lion Monument Lucerne (German: Luzern) is a city in Central Switzerland with a population of 60,274 (December 31, 2003), capital of the Canton of Lucerne. ... The Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and Anabaptists. ... The War of the Pacific was fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru, from 1879 to 1884. ...

The book also argues that several cases have been misrepresented by later historians or that there is too little evidence to draw any conclusions. One example is the famous conflict between the Athenian democracy and Syracuse, often viewed as the classic example of a war between somewhat democratic states in antiquity. Weart argue that this was actually an example of a war between a democracy and an oligarchy. The only scholar who ever possessed the documents needed study the constitution of Syracuse, Aristotle, carefully avoided calling Syracuse a democracy. One of the main reason for the Sicilian Expedition was that Syracuse was reported to have violent factional strife. Help from an inside group was essential since the Greeks lacked effective siege machinery. In every other known case when cities were betrayed to an Athenian army, it was by a democratic faction. The Athenian democracy was a democratic government in the city-state Athens and its surrounding lands in Attica, Greece; usually considered to have lasted from the late-6th to the late-4th century BC. During the 5th century BC, the population of Athens may well have comprised some 300,000... Syracuse, Italy Syracuse, New York Syracuse is the name of two major cities in the world. ... Antiquity means ancient times, and may be used of any period before the Middle Ages. ... Aristotle, marble copy of bronze by Lysippos. ... The Sicilian Expedition was an Athenian expedition to Sicily from 415 BC to 413 BC, during the Peloponnesian War. ... For the Boston area punk band see Siege (band). ...

There are no primary sources and no reliable secondary sources, for example by a historian who could understand Punic, from Carthage. According to Weart, there is too little evidence to state that the three Punic Wars were wars between oligarchies. Whatever evidence there is regarding Carthage suggests strong anocratic tendencies. A primary source is any piece of information that is used for constructing history as an artifact of its times. ... Secondary sources are texts based on primary sources, and involve generalization, analysis, synthesis, interpretation, or evaluation. ... Punic (from Latin pūnicus) was a Latin version of the term Phoenician. (After the Punic Wars, Romans used this term as an adjective meaning treacherous.) In archaeological and linguistic usage, it refers to the Greco-Roman era culture and dialect of Carthage and its empire as distinct from their... A map of the central Mediterranean Sea, showing the location of Carthage (near modern Tunis). ... The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and the Phoenician city of Carthage. ...

Democracies have a few times issued formal declarations of war on another democracies, usually because a war between a temporary allied nondemocracy and the other democracy. In these cases the democracies have carefully avoided engaging in almost any real battle with one another. There seems to have been almost no deaths during the 369-362 war between Thebes and Athens, while at the same time Sparta and Thebes fought numerous bloody battles. In the main battle in 362, the Athenian infantry avoided joining the charge. Finland and the United Kingdom carefully avoided attacking one another during WWII despite a formal declaration of war. Events Troops of the Jin Dynasty of China is defeated by Former Yan of the Xianbei. ... Events February 21 - Athanasius returns to Alexandria. ... Two important places in antiquity were called Thebes: Thebes, Greece – Thebes of the Seven Gates; one-time capital of Boeotia. ... German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ...

Explanation

Weart's explanation for the democratic and the oligarchic peace is the human tendency to classify other humans into ingroup and outgroup, documented in many psychological studies. Members of the outgroup are seen as inherently inferior and thus exploitation of them is justified. Citizens of democracies include citizens of other democratic states in the ingroup; the elites of oligarchies include the elites of other oligarchies in the ingroup. However, the oligarchic elites and the democratic citizens view each other as outgroup, democracies viewing the elites as exploiting the rest of the population, the oligarchic elites viewing democracies as governed by inferior men and are afraid that the democratic ideals may spread to their state. In sociology, an ingroup is a social group towards which an individual feels loyalty and respect, usually due to membership in the group. ...

The democratic and oligarchic peace are also strengthened by the culture of arbitration and the respect for the ingroup opposition in both democracies and oligarchies. Similar policies are applied to foreign policy when dealing with states belonging to the ingroup. In contrast, the leaders of autocracies are the survivors of a culture of violence against opponents. They use similar methods when dealing with other states which often cause wars. The book presents earlier statistical studies and case studies showing that democracies and oligarchies conduct diplomacy very differently from autocracies. Weart argues against explanations like more trade between democracies, finding the pattern to change to abruptly for this to be the case. Case studies involve a particular method of research. ... The United Nations, with its headquarters in New York City, is the largest international diplomatic organization. ...

Earlier democracies and oligarchies did not include non-Europeans in the ingroup, perceiving them to be racially inferior people living in autocracies and anocracies. This allowed colonial and imperialistic wars and exploitation. In general, the word colonial means of or relating to a colony. In United States history, the term Colonial is used to refer to the period before US independence. ... A cartoon portraying the British Empire as an octopus, reaching into foreign lands Imperialism is a policy of extending the control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires, either through direct territorial or through indirect methods of exerting control on the politics...

The book also describes an "appeasement trap". The autocratic leaders misunderstand the conciliatory methods used by democracies and oligarchies, seeing it as an admission of weakness that can be exploited with little risk. When the conciliatory methods are suddenly abandoned and the war arrives the autocratic leaders are often surprised and then conclude that the other other side planned the war from the beginning.