Will Durant on the State and War

Writing in 1968, Will Durant, in his The Lessons of History, says that “in the last 3,421 years of recorded history only 268 have seen no war.”

And then this gem: “When the states of Europe freed themselves from papal overlordship and protection, each state encouraged nationalism as a supplement to its army and navy. If it foresaw conflict with any particular country it fomented, in its people, hatred of that country, and formulated catchwords to bring that hatred to a lethal point; meanwhile it stressed its love of peace.”