Thoughts on war: Remarks by the Former Commander of the Austrian National Defense Academy (Published on 21/07/2026)
After the title page of a book purchased second hand here, titled “Kriegsgefangen im Zweiten Weltkrieg – Wie Deutsche und Russen mit ihren Gegner ist umgingen” [“Prisoners of War in World War II: How Germans and Russians Treated Their Enemies”] by Ernst Reuß (2010), the following text has been pasted in; it is well worth reading (translation from German language):
“Dedicated to the students of the National Defense Academy in Vienna by their commander from 1986 to 1990, with the sincere hope that they will learn from this book and come to realize that
no war is beautiful or successful (for all people) and can be less and less so,
war is not the continuation of diplomacy and politics by other means, but rather their total failure,
future generals must not eagerly wait until diplomacy and politics have »staged« wars, which they then have to »win« as »heroes of leadership« – not, of course, as »heroes of death« – (which has long since ceased to be possible),
future generals must therefore pay close, timely, and highly sensitive attention to ensuring that diplomacy and politics do not »generously« foist a completely derailed »cart« upon them and then – when things go wrong because they are bound to go wrong – be held »solely« responsible for it,
future generals must view their primary task as preventing wars in a timely manner and waging wars only as the most extreme, exclusively externally imposed last resort of self-defense.
Therefore:
National defense must remain national defense; the defense of interests is, as practice shows, the largest state-organized, tax-funded, and globally active source of terrorism,
»Defense of interests« excludes any form of neutrality as the absolutely only decent way of dealing with interstate violence – eo ipso and sui generis.
Only the defense of the homeland – imposed by external forces – can instill in soldiers and leaders the moral fortitude that alone can lead to a certain defensive victory, since morale – including combat morale – is largely based on hope.
True victories for (and not against) the people can now only be achieved through the absolute avoidance and prevention of wars, and not in the realm of power, stock market gains, investment profits, and similar interests.
And future generals bear an extremely high degree of responsibility for making this possible, for peace is such a precious commodity that its preservation should not be left to diplomacy and politics alone. Those who will then have to bear the brunt of the catastrophe have not only the right but the constant duty to work toward preventing war!”
The Vienna-based National Defense Academy is subordinate to the Austrian Federal Ministry of National Defense. It is the ministry’s premier educational and research institution, with a tradition spanning more than 150 years, and is regarded as the intellectual center of Austrian military science, primarily responsible for training senior officers.
Its commander during the period in question (1986 to 1990) – and thus apparently the author of the above text – was General Karl Schaffer. Born on January 5, 1930, he died on January 30, 2013, and was buried in Vienna.
It is not known here whether and to what extent his aforementioned views are still shared at the National Defense Academy today.
(Head picture: Grave stone at the Halbe Forest Cemetery, June 2026
[Inscription: “15 Unknown – died in April 1945”])
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