Si vis pacem, para bellum

"Para bellum" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Parabellum.

Relief at the entrance of the Cultural Center of the Armies (former Serviceman's Casino) of Madrid (Spain), at 13 Gran Vía (a downtown avenue), showing the Latin phrase "Si vis pacem, para bellum".

Si vis pacem, para bellum is a Latin adage translated as, "If you want peace, prepare for war". The adage was adapted from a statement found in Book 3 of Latin author Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus's tract De Re Militari (4th or 5th century), although the idea it conveys is also present in earlier works, such as Plato's Nomoi (Laws).

Notable uses

Apotheosis of Napoleon, Andrea Appiani, 1807.

Whatever the source, the adage has become a living vocabulary item itself, used in the production of different ideas in a number of languages. The actual words of Vegetius are not even recognized by a large number of writers, who attribute the saying directly to him.

Si vis bellum para pacem

For example, with reference to the foreign policy of Napoleon Bonaparte, the historian de Bourrienne said:

Everyone knows the adage... Had Bonaparte been a Latin scholar he would probably have reversed it and said, Si vis bellum para pacem.

Meaning that if you are planning a war, you should put other nations off guard by cultivating peace. Conversely, another interpretation could be that preparing for peace may lead another party to wage war on you.

Si vis pacem para pactum

The idea of ensuring peace by deterring warlike powers through armaments took an ominous turn in the 20th century with the increased militarism of Nazi Germany and other Axis Powers. Suggesting that perhaps merely being prepared for war is not enough and that it is necessary to wage war in order to deter war. The National Arbitration and Peace Congress of 1907, presided over by Andrew Carnegie, had addressed this issue years earlier:

These vast armaments on land and water are being defended as a means, not to wage war, but to prevent war.... there is a safer way ... it requires only the consent and the good-will of the governments. Today they say .... If you want peace, prepare for war. This Congress says in behalf of the people: Si vis pacem, para pactum, if you want peace, agree to keep the peace.

Si vis pacem fac bellum

"If you want peace, make war". The solution does not cover the case of the nation that does not desire peace. Imperial Germany went to war in 1914 and was castigated by Richard Grelling, a German-Jewish pacifist, in J'Accuse (1915). In 1918 Grelling wrote again, this time as an ex-patriate in Switzerland. Citing the "The world must be safe for democracy." speech of Woodrow Wilson before Congress on April 2, 1917, Grelling says:

when all other means fail, ... the liberation of the world from military domination can in the extreme case only take place by battle. ... in place of si vis pacem para bellum a similarly sounding principle ... may become a necessity: Si vis pacem, fac bellum.

Si vis pacem para pacem

The great wars of the 19th and 20th centuries were opposed by the philosophy of pacifism, which in the 19th century was associated with early socialism, even though the socialism of the 20th often lacked pacifistic tendencies, preaching violent revolution instead. The pacifism that opposed the world wars traced a lineage to Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin, an early French socialist and one of the founders of Saint-Simonianism. As early as April 2, 1841, he had said in a letter to General Saint-Cyr Nugues:

Le fameux dicton ... me semble beaucoup moins vrai, pour le XIX^e siècle, que Si vis pacem, para pacem.

The famous dictum ... to me seems much less true, for the 19th century, than Si vis pacem, para pacem.

with reference to Algeria. By way of elucidation Enfantin goes on to say that war could have been avoided if a proper study of Algeria had been made.

The parabellum

Luger model P08 (1908) chambered in 9mm Parabellum

The main clause of the adage was used as a motto by German arms maker Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken (DWM), and is the source of the term Parabellum as applied to firearms and ammunition (especially the 9mm Parabellum cartridge). The term is an opposed parallel to the English use of "peacemaker" to mean the Colt Single Action Army handgun.

Mottos

"Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum" on MSSG-31 Challenge coin

Various military organizations use or used this phrase as a motto:

• MSSG-31 (now known as CLB-31), part of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, III Marine Expeditionary Force, based out of Okinawa, Japan.
• The United States Naval Academy class of 1996
• The Royal Navy
• The Norwegian Military Academy
• The RAF Spadeadam
• The 96th Communication Squadron, based at Eglin AFB
• The 1/414th Infantry Regiment, based at Fort Sill
• The 302nd Security Forces Squadron, Peterson AFB, Colorado
• The 24th Marine Regiment
• The Lohatla Army Battle School, South Africa
• The 155th Air Refueling Wing Nebraska Air National Guard Logistics Readiness Squadron, Nebraska
• The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Chicago (consists of University of Illinois at Chicago and Illinois Institute of Technology).
• The 4th Company, 1-12th Mech. Bde, Szczecin - Poland
• The Weaponry Fund of the Republic of Lithuania Under the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania
• The C.d.R. (Club del RisiKo, Taurianova, Italy)
• The Electronic Attack Squadron 139, NAS Whidbey Island, Washington

Other uses include:

• The design for several T-shirts of WWE wrestler Triple H
• The title of a 1971 pamphlet by The Angry Brigade
• A line by Marvel Comics character Frank Castle in the 2004 film, The Punisher, played by Thomas Jane, and in the 1994 comic book The Punisher: Year One.
• A lyric (literally "to secure peace is to prepare for war") in the 1991 Metallica song, "Don't Tread on Me".
• "If You Want Peace... Prepare For War" is the title of a Children of Bodom song from their 2006 album, Are You Dead Yet?

See also

• Instrumentum regni

Further reading

• . Downloadable Google Books.

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons