War & Peace Quote by Ludwig Quidde

There’s a deliberate trapdoor in Quidde’s phrasing: “Thus” pretends the matter is already settled by reason, yet the sentence immediately tightens into conditions so strict they expose the political scam at the heart of prewar “peace talk.” He sketches an argument that sounds commonsensical - fewer weapons should mean less danger - then inserts the real obstacle: “without a secure peace” and “disarmed proportionately.” In other words, disarmament isn’t a moral wish, it’s a coordination problem soaked in mistrust.

The subtext is aimed at the convenient hypocrisy of states that champion disarmament while keeping loopholes: private industry, colonial forces, “defensive” buildups, or simply the quiet assumption that rivals will cheat. By insisting on proportionality, Quidde cuts off the classic rhetorical escape route where one power demands restraint from others while treating its own arsenal as the baseline of “security.” If everyone reduces together, “military security” is unchanged; what changes is the ability to threaten, posture, and profit from fear.

Context matters: Quidde, a German liberal critic and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, wrote in the shadow of European militarism, alliance systems, and escalating arms races that sold themselves as safeguards. His sentence carries the bitter clarity of someone watching “security” become a self-justifying industry. The genius is the inversion: security isn’t increased by more weapons; it’s undermined by the suspicion they generate. He’s not naive about peace - he’s indicting how governments make peace impossible while claiming they’re only being prudent.