This is the first of three chapters on the three traditions of war, and introduces the martial tradition. The properties of this tradition are initially contrasted with realism in order to highlight its distinct values and characteristics. How this ideology operated in practice is then shown by the development of the tradition in Europe, with particular reference to Britain, chosen above all because it is normally seen as exempt from such ‘illiberal’ values. The different sections of the chapter are: The Limitations of Realism in Explaining Martialism; The Nature of Man in the Realist Tradition; The Nature of Man in the Martialist Tradition; The Realist Tradition and the Nature of War; Martialism and the Nature of War; Realism and the Nature of the State; The Martialist Conception of the State; The Nature of Liberty: The Realist and the Martialist Traditions Compared; Nationalism and Patriotism in the Martialist Tradition; Nation, War, and Patriotism; The Development of the Martial Tradition from 1874 [in Europe]; The Martial Tradition and its Development within a Liberal Democracy [in Britain]; and The Development of the Martial Tradition in Britain.
Keywords: Britain, Europe, ideologies of war, liberal democracy, liberty, martial tradition, martialism, nationalism, patriotism, realism, realist tradition, state, traditions of war, wars