![Bondi brennandi hus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Bondi_brennandi_hus.jpg)
The
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
phrase bellum se ipsum alet ( en, The war will feed itself) or bellum se ipsum alit ( en, The war feeds itself, french: La guerre doit se nourrir elle-même),
[Cadiou (2008), pp.579–580] and its
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
rendering ''Der Krieg ernährt den Krieg''
[Kudla (2001), p.221] describe the
military strategy of feeding and funding armies primarily with the resources of occupied territories. It is closely associated with mass starvation in the population of these territories. The phrase, coined by
Ancient Roman statesman
Cato the Elder
Marcus Porcius Cato (; 234–149 BC), also known as Cato the Censor ( la, Censorius), the Elder and the Wise, was a Roman soldier, senator, and historian known for his conservatism and opposition to Hellenization. He was the first to write his ...
, is primarily associated with the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
(1618–1648).
The phrase
![Marco Porcio Caton Major](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Patrizio_Torlonia.jpg)
The phrase ''bellum se ipsum alet'' was first mentioned in ''
Ab urbe condita libri
The work called ( en, From the Founding of the City), sometimes referred to as (''Books from the Founding of the City''), is a monumental history of ancient Rome, written in Latin between 27 and 9 BC by Livy, a Roman historian. The wor ...
'' XXXIV,9,12, written by
Roman historian Roman historiography stretches back to at least the 3rd century BC and was indebted to earlier Greek historiography. The Romans relied on previous models in the Greek tradition such as the works of Herodotus (c. 484 – 425 BC) and Thucydides (c. ...
Titus Livius (Livy) (59 BC-17 AD), who attributed it to
Cato Marcus Porcius ("the Elder", 234–149 BC), a statesman in
Ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
. According to Livy, Cato in 195 BC used the phrase during the
conquest of Hispania
The Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula was a process by which the Roman Republic seized territories in the Iberian Peninsula that were previously under the control of native Celtic, Iberian, Celtiberian and Aquitanian tribes and the Car ...
when he refused to buy additional supplies for his army in
Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
(
Hispania
Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hisp ...
, modern
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
and
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
).
[
The slogan became prominent in reference to the ]Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
. Friedrich Schiller in his retrospect, semi-historical drama Wallenstein
Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...
(I/2, ''The Piccolomini
The House of Piccolomini (pronounced ) is the name of an Italian noble family, Patricians of Siena, who were prominent from the beginning of the 13th century until the 18th century. The family achieved the recognised titles of Pope of the Cathol ...
''),[ has Johann Ludwig Hektor von Isolani, a general in ]Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...
's army, say these words in a conversation with other commanders:[Schiller (1798) in Alt (2004), p.319]
The strategy
Thirty Years' War
Prior to the Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
, the laws of the Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
provided for funding armies by raising special war taxes.[Krüger (2005), p.37] The funds needed for the large armies raised during the war however exceeded the income of the respective warlords from those taxes, and forced them to resort to additional, unfavourable measures such as borrowing of money and currency depreciation.[ In the course of the war, the principle of ''bellum se ipsum alet'' was applied in two phases: First, the food supplies needed for the army were derived directly from the territory occupied by this army.][ Later, the pay for the soldiers was derived from the occupied territory as well.][
]
In 1623, the principle was implemented by the Upper Saxon Circle
The Upper Saxon Circle (german: Obersächsischer Reichskreis) was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire, created in 1512.
The circle was dominated by the electorate of Saxony (the circle's director) and the electorate of Brandenburg. It f ...
on its own territory, and by Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, commander of the Catholic League's army, on occupied enemy territory.[ The Upper Saxon Circle had raised an army for its defense, and dispersed it over its territory.][ The territory was divided into ''Kontributionsbezirke'' ("contribution districts"), each of which had to provide certain amounts of food for the soldiers as well as the horses.][ The soldiers were quartered in the houses of ordinary people, who had to provide shelter, food and ''Servisgeld'', a defined sum to allow the soldier to buy firewood and salt.][
These measures were self-imposed by the circle's nobility, and the local authorities were given the task of their implementation.][ In contrast, Tilly imposed analogous measures in the same year on a territory he had just conquered, Hersfeld.][ The contributions he demanded were unreasonably high, and were collected with military means.][
In 1625, ]Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...
had promised Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II to raise an army and fund it himself.[Beier (1997), p.151] Ferdinand II allowed Wallenstein to exploit occupied territory[Ferdinand II: " ..in den eroberten Orten und Landschaften zur Erhaltung der Soldatesca leidliche Contributiones und Anlagen zu machen." Krüger (1995), pp.37–38.] with the caveat that money should not be collected by force without his approval.[Krüger (2005), p.38] This caveat was however neglected,[ and the army was fed and paid entirely by contributions and war loot.][ Subsequently, all armies participating in the war adapted the ''bellum se ipsum alet'' principle.][
Contributions from occupied territories, divided into ''Kontributionsbezirke'', were collected by military force and by local authorities forced to cooperate.][ The affected territories were thereby ruined.][ The need to borrow money to satisfy the military demands during the Thirty Years' War resulted in an indebtedness that many German communities bore until the 18th century.][
]
World War II
During World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. The conquered territories did not return as many resources as the Nazis had expected, due to previous shortfalls of the Soviet planned economy and the devastations during the conquest.[Neumärker (2007), p.144] Thus, ''Reichsmarschall'' Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...
implemented restrictions on the local population to prevent the Altreich and the army from falling short of food supplies.[
Aware of the consequences of these measures, Göring in September 1941 foretold "the largest starvation since the Thirty Years' War" in the occupied areas.][Göring: " ..das größte Sterben seit dem Dreißigjährigen Krieg." Neumärker (2007), p.144.][ In 1942, he explicitly described the Nazi strategy in these territories as ''bellum se ipsum alet''.][Göring: "Der Krieg ernährt den Krieg. Das wird jetzt ganz groß geschrieben." Neumärker (2007), p.144.][
]
See also
* Scorched earth, a strategy designed to counter ''bellum se ipsum alet''
Notes
Sources
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{refend
Latin words and phrases
Military economics
Military strategy
Thirty Years' War