QUEER WARS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 205, 1 September 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

QUEER WARS.

THEIR CAUSES, HUMOURS, AND PATHOS. Alhtough, generally speaking, most wars have something in common, st : U there have l>con many wars and campaigns in history winch have been singular or remarkable in one way or another. An early and characteristic example of the influence of ideas on methods ol warfare was afforded by the Spartans, who declined to fight the same enemy too often. This feeling can hardly he attributed to cowardice. They simply dd not wish to make the enemy as good fighters as themselves. So. if their foes troubled thorn too often, the Spartans tried to exterminate them. The governors of the Scythian provinces gave an annual feast, to which nore invited those who had valiantly, and w'th their own hands, despatched their enemies. The skulls of the vanquished served for their cups, and the quantity of .wine they wer.e allowed to drnk was proportioned to the number of these grisly trophies they possessed. Another method of inculcating valour has been adopted time and time again. In Carthage generals wore condemned to death when their campaign was a failure . Somewhat smilar ideas have lt«n put into practice in China, and later in the wars of the R-evohi- !•'. u in France. DECLARATION OF WAR In times more leisurely and chivalrous than these no war was begun without a formal declaration usually by a herald who threw down a gauntlet. The practice was adhered to as late as the 17th century. Nowadays, when the importance of "getting the blow 'n fust"' : s considered more important than the justice of the quarrel, hostilities often precede the formal declaration of w ar. It is a tragic fact that most of, •• .c wars which have caused men to shed one another's blood have been due to trifling causes, difficulties that might easily have boon smoothed over. One of tho (lassie examples was the origin of the war between Modena nad Bologna: long ago. Some sold ers of Modena in d fix lie ran away with a bucket belonging to the State of Bologna. They refused to return it to the rightful owners. As a result of tlrs refusal a series cf sanguinary battles was fought, in cr.e of which Henry, King of Sardinia, was taken prisoner. Henry's father, tho Emperor of Germany, offered a larga ransom for his son's release, but in vain. Henry ended his days a captive 27 years later, and the cause of all the trouble —the bucket —may still be seen enclosed in an iron case in the tower of the Cathedral at Modena. An alleged affront to personal vanity has not infrequently l>een made the potty pretext for a declaration of war. Thus in the reign of XIV. of France war was declared on Holland becaus/ 1 it was alleged that the King of France had been nuiculed on some medals struck at Amsterdam. It was as--01 ted that the Dutch Ambassador to France had caused a medal to be struck (.earing lis head and the motto, "In (onspectu mco stetit sol," which may lie translated —"At sight of me the sun stands still. " As the sun was the device of Ix>uis, and he was generally referred to as "the Sun King," tlrs was In Id to be rery offensive, and was made the pretext for a war really intended to nipple Holland's military strength.

THE " VANITY" CAUSE. Equally trivial and equally attributable to van'ty were the alleged causes cf the Seven Years' War—which was >a:d to have arisen from a slighting reference to Madame Pompadour by . Frederick the Great —and the war of the Spanish Success : on. At a time when Europe was irritated by the autociatc claims oi France a ball was given at the Tui'crias. The Brit'sh and Spanish Ambassadors were invited, and were in conversation with a great lady when she was suddenly taken faint and called for a glass of water, wlr'ch both rushed to procure. On their return they found, to their chagrin, that the lady had not only recovered, but was dancing gaily with a French nobleman. Each challenged the interloper to a duel. The feud thus began became the subject of heated correspondence between the three nations and eventually led to war. In these latter days when with whole nations in arms a declaration of war means a gigantic conflagration we are slow to invoke such dreadful solution It does not seem to have been always so w'th us. We were quick to draw the sword when the Empre was in the nn.kng. An attack on an indivdual Briton was more than once considered a casus belli. The war which raged between tiiis country and Spain in the middle of the 18th century was due to such an incident. THE'INSULT CAUSE. A Brit'sh merchant vessel was hoarded by a Spanish guardship. In the struggle which ensued the ear of Captain' Jenkins, skpper of the British ship, was cut off. "You'll hear more of this!'' yelied the angry master mariner. He caused the severed ear to oo snicked, dried, and cured as if it had been a kipper. In tins state : t was exhibited to the members of the House of Commons, who passed it from hand to hand with a great show of gravitv end many expressions of sympathy. Afterwards an apology and a money indemnity were demanded, and neither being forthcoming, the war ensued which is sometimes referred to as "the War of Jenkins's Ear." The War, it is said, owed its first beginning to a blow froi, a b'.acksm th's hammer. At that time Herzegovnia was groaning under Turkish misrule, under which the burden • t taxation became intolerable One dav a Turkish collector, while gathering a new poll tax. called at a village sin thv in a remote niountan district and asked the bhuksm'th lie- age of his younger daughter. The latter insisted that the srirl a minor, and thus not taxable* The collector retorted with an insult'ug remark, whereupon the blacksmith, roused to anger by the insolent answer, felled him to the ground with his hammer. Fearful of the consequences, th* sm'th fled to the mountains, gathered ! round him a band of rebels agains' Turkish oppression, and so began an in surreetion which sw : ftly spread to Ser bia. and culminated in the intervention of Russia.