On the Prevention of War, 1945–63

Abstract

On the Prevention of War was Strachey’s last published book and represented the final volume of his three volume ‘study of the principles of democratic socialism’ in the post-war period which had begun with Contemporary Capitalism.¹ However, while it is comparatively easy to see how, in Strachey’s words, Contemporary Capitalism and The End of Empire were ‘joined about the middle’² the relation between On the Prevention of War and the other two works is not immediately apparent.

I am still a bit messianic and missionary about the business, though not about much else nowadays.

J. Strachey to Kenneth Younger, 23 March 1962

You must be equipped to play the pawn game, the middle game and the end game. For the balance to prove stable and war to be avoided there must be symmetry at each level. Moreover such all-round symmetry is necessary for there to be a possibility of gradually calling this game off by a process of mutual disarmament.

J. Strachey, On the Prevention of War, 1962

The prevention of war is the supreme question of our epoch. This is a far more urgent issue than whether we should organise our economic life on capitalist or socialist lines.

J. Strachey, The Challenge of Democracy, 1963