Pažanga, istorijos ritmai ir karai
Progress, Historical Rhythms, and Wars

Summary/Abstract: The article raises the questions whether history repeats itself, whether historical events are random, and whether history has a meaning. It considers Kant’s concept of perpetual peace and Nietzsche’s idea of the eternal return. The argument is made that in political activity it is impossible to avoid irrationality, which constantly accompanies human, despite all our technological and intellectual progress. The idea is put forward that even very painful or destructive events still serve the creative impulse of human in a broad sense. Although individuals can be very stupid, and heads of states sometimes are astonishingly limited, stupidity nevertheless has limits, because it ultimately explodes its holders. It is also argued that democracy alone does not stop wars. On the one hand, a democratic state can fall victim to a totalitarian neighbour. On the other hand, a democratic state itself, seeking to impose its system on other states, can cause wars. According to the main argument, even if there were no totalitarian states and all totalitarian states in the world became democratic, they would still start wars among themselves. The minor thesis is as follows: thanks to totalitarian states, forcing democracies to unite, there is a relative peace between democratic countries.

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