Could the world go to war again?

Armistice Day is an appropriate moment to reflect on why democracies triumphed in the two world wars that blighted the twentieth century. The simple answer is because – however much they hesitated – they believed in what they stood for and were able to will their victory. As the French philosopher, future Resistance member and champion of post-war liberal democratic values, Raymond Aron, wrote in June 1939:

‘I believe in the final victory of the democracies, but on the one condition, that they should want it.’

So Britain could mobilise its population for war to an extent unequalled by totalitarian states, without using totalitarian methods.  

Should western democracies once more be forced into war, it is by no means clear that they would have the self-belief and Aron’s will to win. That requires the cohesive feeling of national community, built up over centuries and forming a heritage of shared memories, still to be intact.