Page 118 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo I

118 XXXIV Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

intervention is made, military victory on regular enemy forces (which do not always exist) in
the battlefield is only a preliminary result. The following stage is much more important, when
it is necessary to guarantee safety and reconstruction at the same time. Like in all counter-
guerrilla operations, non-military aspects are important to obtain the support and collabora-
tion of populations. The real success is measured in the long run: «Hence, wars are tightly
associated with post-war and their military and civil components are closely connected ...
Modern wars are won or lost depending on the results of what is done afterwards and not
simply on the enemy’s defeat. One can infer from the post-war phase whether the war or the
operations were of any use» .
54

cOnclusiOn
As a master of military history recalls, «war appears to be as old as mankind, but peace
is a modern invention» . Most of the 20 century that just ended and the 21 century that
th
55
st
has just begun have expressed a condemnation of war and a praise of peace which are new
and resonant, but at the same time still largely ineffective in many parts of the world, where
unfortunately civilians are directly involved in conflicts.

54 F. Mini, La guerra dopo la guerra. Soldati, burocrati e mercenari nell’epoca della pace virtuale,
Turin, 2003, p. 173.
55 Sir Henry Maine [1822-1888], quoted in exergue to M. Howard, The Invention of Peace. Reflec-
tions on War and International Order, New Haven & london, 2000.