Bellum se ipsum alet
Encyclopedia
Latin phrase bellum se ipsum alet (The war will feed itself) or bellum se ipsum alit (The war feeds itself), and its German
rendering Der Krieg ernährt den Krieg describe the military strategy
of feeding and funding armies primarily with the potentials of occupied territories. The phrase, coined by Ancient Roman
statesman Cato the Elder
, is primarily associated with the Thirty Years' War
(1618-1648).
The phrase bellum se ipsum alit was first mentioned in Ab urbe condita libri
XXXIV,9,12, written by Roman historian
Titus Livius (Livy)
(59 BC-17 AD), who attributed it to Cato Marcus Porcius ("the Elder", 234–149 BC)
, a statesman in Ancient Rome
. According to Livy, Cato in 195 BC used the phrase during the conquest of Hispania when he refused to buy additional supplies for his army in Iberia
(Hispania
, modern Spain
and Portugal
).
The slogan became prominent in reference to the Thirty Years' War
. Friedrich Schiller
in his retrospect, semi-historical drama Wallenstein
(I/2, The Piccolomini
), has Johann Ludwig Hektor von Isolani, a general in Albrecht von Wallenstein
's army, say these words in a conversation with other commanders:
, the laws of the Holy Roman Empire
provided for funding armies by raising special war taxes. 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
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
had promised Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand II
to raise an army and fund it himself. Ferdinand II allowed Wallenstein to exploit occupied territoryFerdinand 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. 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.
During World War II
Nazi Germany
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. Thus, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring
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.
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
rendering Der Krieg ernährt den Krieg describe the military strategy
Military strategy
Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals. Derived from the Greek strategos, strategy when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow sense as the "art of the general", 'the art of arrangement' of troops...
of feeding and funding armies primarily with the potentials of occupied territories. The phrase, coined by Ancient Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
statesman Cato the Elder
Cato the Elder
Marcus Porcius Cato was a Roman statesman, commonly referred to as Censorius , Sapiens , Priscus , or Major, Cato the Elder, or Cato the Censor, to distinguish him from his great-grandson, Cato the Younger.He came of an ancient Plebeian family who all were noted for some...
, is primarily associated with the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
(1618-1648).
The phrase
Ab Urbe condita (book)
Ab urbe condita libri — often shortened to Ab urbe condita — is a monumental history of ancient Rome written in Latin sometime between 27 and 25 BC by the historian Titus Livius. The work covers the time from the stories of Aeneas, the earliest legendary period from before the city's founding in c....
XXXIV,9,12, written by Roman historian
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
Titus Livius (Livy)
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
(59 BC-17 AD), who attributed it to Cato Marcus Porcius ("the Elder", 234–149 BC)
Cato the Elder
Marcus Porcius Cato was a Roman statesman, commonly referred to as Censorius , Sapiens , Priscus , or Major, Cato the Elder, or Cato the Censor, to distinguish him from his great-grandson, Cato the Younger.He came of an ancient Plebeian family who all were noted for some...
, a statesman in Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. According to Livy, Cato in 195 BC used the phrase during the conquest of Hispania when he refused to buy additional supplies for his army in Iberia
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
(Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
, modern Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
).
The slogan became prominent in reference to the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
. Friedrich Schiller
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
in his retrospect, semi-historical drama Wallenstein
Wallenstein (play)
Wallenstein is the popular designation for a trilogy of dramas by German author Friedrich Schiller. It consists of the plays Wallenstein's Camp with a lengthy prologue, The Piccolomini , and Wallenstein's Death...
(I/2, The Piccolomini
Piccolomini
Piccolomini is the name of an Italian noble family, which was prominent in Siena from the beginning of the 13th century onwards. In 1220, Engelberto d'Ugo Piccolomini received the fief of Montertari in Val d'Orcia from the emperor Frederick II as a reward for services rendered...
), has Johann Ludwig Hektor von Isolani, a general in Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein , actually von Waldstein, was a Bohemian soldier and politician, who offered his services, and an army of 30,000 to 100,000 men during the Danish period of the Thirty Years' War , to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II...
's army, say these words in a conversation with other commanders:
Illo: Ei was! Es war ein gutes Jahr, der Bauer kann / Schon wieder geben! So what! It was a good year, the peasant is able to give again! Questenberg: Ja, wenn Sie von Herden / Und Weideplätzen reden, Herr Feldmarschall - Yes, if you are talking about herds and pasture grounds, field marshal Sir! - Isolani: Der Krieg ernährt den Krieg. Gehn Bauern drauf / Ei, so gewinnt der Kaiser mehr Soldaten. The war nourishes the war. Peasants die, ah! This way the Emperor gains more soldiers. Questenberg: Und wird um so viel Untertanen ärmer! And loses so many of his subjects! Isolani: Pah! Seine Untertanen sind wir alle! Pha! We all are his subjects!
Thirty Years' War
Prior to the Thirty Years' WarThirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, the laws of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
provided for funding armies by raising special war taxes. 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.
Upper Saxon Circle
The Upper Saxon Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire, created in 1512.The circle was dominated by the electorate of Saxony and the electorate of Brandenburg. It further comprised the Saxon Ernestine duchies and Pomerania...
on its own territory, and by Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, commander of the Catholic League
Catholic League (German)
The German Catholic League was initially a loose confederation of Roman Catholic German states formed on July 10, 1609 to counteract the Protestant Union , whereby the participating states concluded an alliance "for the defence of the Catholic religion and peace within the Empire." Modeled...
'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 von Wallenstein
Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein , actually von Waldstein, was a Bohemian soldier and politician, who offered his services, and an army of 30,000 to 100,000 men during the Danish period of the Thirty Years' War , to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II...
had promised Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
Ferdinand II
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand II , a member of the House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , and King of Hungary . His rule coincided with the Thirty Years' War.- Life :...
to raise an army and fund it himself. Ferdinand II allowed Wallenstein to exploit occupied territoryFerdinand 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. 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
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
invaded the Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
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
Planned economy
A planned economy is an economic system in which decisions regarding production and investment are embodied in a plan formulated by a central authority, usually by a government agency...
and the devastations during the conquest. Thus, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
implemented restrictions on the local population to prevent the Altreich
Altreich
Altreich or Altes Reich is a German term that may refer to:* A synonym for the medieval Kingdom of Germany in prior German historiography, i.e. the territory of the German stem duchies excluding the Saxon and Bavarian eastern marches....
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.