4 hours ago
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Has a war ever ended or de-escalated because someone (eg the pope, the UN secretary general) called on the belligerents to “show restraint”?
Laurence Whiteside, via email
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Readers reply
Pope Leo I persuaded Attila to turn back from Rome in 452CE. redleader
Once the dogs of war start salivating, no pleas of restraint can keep them from pursuing death and destruction (also known as personal profit). Mark_Gorman
“Peace with honour” is what opponents seek, hence anyone who brings it about can take credit for ending a war. RPOrlando, by email
Humans are really good at fighting and maintaining victim narratives, so a lot of conflicts never really end without one party or other being considered “victorious”. Open hostilities begin for many reasons and so the strategic aims involved when starting a war matter in trying to answer such a question. Half a century later, can we really give a sensible answer as to whether Turkey or Cyprus “won” Turkey’s 1974 invasion?
However, ceasefires and truces are plentiful and relatively easy to find. For example, the 1969 football war between Honduras and El Salvador was brought to a close through an intervention by the Organization of American States. To that exact point, though, there were reverberating consequences for both sides in later years.
Perhaps one of the clearest examples of a war resolved through mediation, at least nominally, is quite surprising: the Wagner group’s reverse invasion of Russia in 2023 was quelled through shuttle diplomacy between Yevgeny Prigozhin and Vladimir Putin led by the president of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko. One could be forgiven for thinking this is not necessarily the sort of lesson in negotiated conflict resolution we’d want to take away, despite the rebellion itself lasting just one day. Dorkalicious
Thucydides wrote that the Spartans called off a couple of campaigns during the Peloponnesian war after their priests produced bad omens. Machiavelli would have been sceptical of any divine intervention, but I wonder what might have been going on. I guess authority figures were involved and restraint was the outcome. SleepingDog
On a similar note, why are war crimes called “crimes” when nobody ever seems to get prosecuted for them? There is no international police officer, so the militaries of the world just carry on committing these war crimes. UKClimber
You get prosecuted if you’re on the losing side. Lt William Laws Calley Jr was the only person convicted of any crime connected to the My Lai massacre in the Vietnam war (22 counts of murder, plus assault with intent). In total, more than 500 men, women and children were killed, with many women and children also raped. He served about three years of house arrest. He died at home in 2024. Of course, the US lost that one, but good luck to the Vietnamese getting anyone from the US military in front of a tribunal. getomov
As an authority, God has been invoked so many times in defence of war that it’s recognised as problematic. It’s strange that God is invoked by people whose interest it is to pursue and perpetuate war. “With God on our side we cannot fail” is the thought behind every enthusiast who manipulates others with the prize of God’s favour being demonstrated by victory in conflict. Glad to hear Leo XIV talking against war, lending his authority to the idea that war is not holy; seems the least that he can do. TeagueAilill
The one many might mention could be the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. The UN secretary-general, U Thant, helped negotiate a climbdown from the rapidly escalating threats. The UN influence probably influenced other conflicts, too, but without the extensive reporting. leadballoon
On Christmas Day 1914, German and British troops on the frontline lay down their arms, took up a football and exchanged small gifts. No authority figure was involved, but senior officers eventually put a stop to the fraternisation. It goes to show that, generally, authority figures are the driving force behind conflict, while those that have to do the dirty work just want to get along with one another. DrBlamm0
