CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY DAREN BOWYER JUST WAR DOCTRINE

maybe only in retrospect. 225 In the accounts of veterans of wars, amongst many
emotions, sense of purpose, excitement, exhilaration and experience (particularly
experience shared with a close-knit group of colleagues) can be identified as the
motivation for some and the mitigation for many. And throughout history there have
been many who voluntarily serve as soldiers as a means of escape from failure in
civilian society (whether in love, money or obedience to the law!) 226 Nevertheless, the
more honourable motivation of patriotism can also be distilled, which may descend into
a narrower sense of duty and responsibility as conflict and service progress. So at least
part of a soldier’s motivation is likely to be vulnerable to concerns over justification of
cause.
As noted above, motivation varies between individuals, between conflicts and,
doubtless, within individuals over time. In a study of American Civil War veterans,
John Dollard was told by three-quarters of veterans of the (all volunteer) Abraham
Lincoln Brigade that belief in war aims were the most important thing in overcoming
fear in battle. 227 Yet only 5% of veterans of a (largely conscript) infantry division
which fought in North Africa and Sicily in the Second World War listed idealistic
motivation to success. 228 Nevertheless, Field Marshal Montgomery, whilst conceding
that soldiers ‘do not advance over dangerous and fire-swept ground in the conscious
pursuit of an ideal’ still believed that
(n)o nation could fight an unpopular war * ; the war must be accepted by the
people, since a democracy cannot oppose the will of the majority of its citizens.
The soldier, as a citizen, must therefore be convinced of the rightness of the
cause. At least his reaction to the declaration of war must be acquiescence, even
if this is only passive: he must not be hostile to it. 229
Field Marshal Slim takes an altogether stronger line, listing ‘a great and noble object’ as
a fundamental of morale. 230
Lord Moran, in The Anatomy of Courage, takes a view related to that expressed by
Montgomery, that only in a morally virtuous society will the will be found to rise to the
challenge of a necessary conflict. Contrasting Germany’s complete preparation for the
* The 2003 Iraq war could provide basis for discussion of whether this holds true for a very limited war as
for a general one.
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