In Praise Of War Essay

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In Praise of War is a poem written by Bertran De Born and is to no surprise from its title, about his love for war due to the pleasure it brings him during battle. Born was the Lord of Altaforte at the time and was involved in several wars, most notably against Henry II, the King of England. The Prince is a political treatise written by the notorious Niccolò Machiavelli of Florentine and it includes an analysis on how to acquire and maintain political power. In both works of literature, betrayal and loyalty is a shared common theme in warfare. Machiavelli discusses these two themes while Born contradicts as well as supports them and actually demonstrated them in reality. One specific aspect that both Born and Machiavelli could both agree on, …show more content…

When a question arises for a leader such as if they have enough resources to look after themselves or if they will rely on alliances, Machiavelli answered with the following: “ In order to clarify this question, I would maintain those rulers can look after themselves who have sufficient reserves, whether of troops or of money, to be able to put together a sound army and face battle against any opponent” (Machiavelli, 34). What he meant by this is that a ruler should always aim to keep an army size and strength equally or preferably stronger than any foreign military out there that might potentially attack. With the rulers cities being fortified properly, and with a strong military, this would make any aggressor second guess their attack. If they were to execute their plan to attack your fortified city foolishly, your military might will always be there to match theirs for a victory. However, having a strong military is not the only thing a ruler should worry about. Machiavelli believes that a ruler's military can only be a strong as their leader, therefore, the ruler should only pay attention to warfare. “A ruler, then, should have no other concern, no other thought, should pay attention to nothing aside from war, military institutions, and the training of his soldiers” (Machiavelli,

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