ALAIN – Autograph manuscript signed – The War.

Emile Auguste Chartier , known as ALAIN (1868-1951)

Autograph manuscript signed – Remarks of a Norman.

Two pages in-8°. No place or date.

"All able-bodied men must be killed, and this idea will put an end to the game of war."

An interesting and dense manuscript by the philosopher analyzing the games of war.

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“ War is always a game ; there are rules of honor, and one might even say rules of humanity, in the face of massacre. This is understandable if one looks back to the time when the profession of arms was the most honorable of all professions. Defenders, even from enemy to enemy, honored one another far more than they esteemed the contemptible mass of artisans, from whatever country they might be. We read in the newspapers that the German airship was released on the declaration of a German officer , who swore on his honor that it had merely gone astray. This confidence surprises no one; it pleases me; but at the same time, it reveals to me in war a kind of game of princes, quite analogous to a duel. And this would be all right if the people, before, during, and after the war, did not bear almost its entire burden without deriving any benefit.”

The first thing I read that enlightened me on this subject was an almanac, illustrated with pointed helmets, which recounted, perhaps a little too fancifully, the invasion and the defeat. There I found Napoleon III's letter from Sedan, when he surrendered his sword. " Having been unable to die in the midst of my troops, I surrender my sword into Your Majesty's hands . I am Your Majesty's good brother, Napoleon." I had just read terrifying war stories, designed to rekindle hatred of the Prussians and the passion for revenge. This letter from an emperor to a king suddenly enlightened me ; for why would our emperor surrender to the brigand chief, calling him "his good brother"? It could only be a ruse . Surely, in the king's presence, the emperor would throw himself upon his enemy, to strangle or blind him? But no. No trace of hatred or anger. It was good for the soldiers. The King of Prussia was the good brother of the Emperor of the French, but the German soldier wasn't the good brother of the French soldier? I didn't delve any further, being incapable of disentangling the causes and effects of warlike passions, and the workings of power. But what would I have thought if I had known that the French had declared war and been the first to penetrate enemy territory? Even more so, that the war was the result of the Emperor's own policy, and not of the passions of his soldiers?

The very idea of ​​war will be transformed. It will no longer be a game played by the great powers, but a defensive maneuver, a vast police operation, devoid of any friendship for the enemy, without any consideration, with the sole aim of harming him endlessly until he returns home. We will no longer understand these peace treaties that mark the end of one game and the beginning of revenge. The peaceful and just people will never lay down their arms until the territory is cleansed. Otherwise, all able-bodied men will have to be killed, and this idea will put an end to the game of war. — Alain

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It was from 1906 onwards that Alain developed a literary genre with a concise style and striking formulas, the " Propos  ". These short articles, inspired by current events and everyday life, covered almost all areas.

Many of the philosopher's " Remarks " appeared in the journal Libres Propos (1921-1924 and 1927-1935) founded by a disciple of Alain, Michel Alexandre.