Based on her study of American history, Carolyn Marvin concludes (1999) that “Blood sacrifice preserves the nation.” Society depends on the death of its own members at the hands of the group. War is a ritual in which the “lifeblood” of the members of a nation are shed.
Everything I’ve learned in my many years of research on Nazi Germany confirms this hypothesis: the purpose of warfare is to keep the blood flowing—so that the nation stays alive.
The clearest statement of the German ideology of sacrifice appears in the following statement made by Rudolf Hess:
| The stream of blood which for Germany is eternal — the sacrifice of German men for their Volk is eternal — therefore Germany will also be eternal. |
In General Douglas MacArthur's “Farewell Speech to the Corps of Cadets at West Point” (May 12, 1962), he stated that while soldiers pray for peace, “always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato,” that wisest of all philosophers: "Only the dead have seen the end of war."
We imagine that there is no end to war—that the blood will flow forever—because we can’t bear to contemplate the death of our nation. The end of war, we imagine, would spell the end of our beloved country. |