the proposed end. The party who has provoked the war may be reduced to the defensive, and the party assailed may assume the offensive; and there may be other circumstances which will affect the nature and conduct of a war, as,—
- A state may simply make war against another state.
- A state may make war against several states in alliance with each other.
- A state in alliance with another may make war upon a single enemy.
- A state may be either the principal party or an auxiliary.
- In the latter case a state may join in the struggle at its beginning or after it has commenced.
- The theater of war may be upon the soil of the enemy, upon that of an ally, or upon its own.
- If the war be one of invasion, it may be upon adjacent or distant territory: it may be prudent and cautious, or it may be bold and adventurous.
- It may be a national war, either against ourselves or against the enemy.
- The war may be a civil or a religious war.
War is always to be conducted according to the great principles of the art; but great discretion must be exercised in the nature of the operations to be undertaken, which should depend upon the circumstances of the case.