War and Peace as a Permanent State

War Without End – Fiji as an Ideal Model

Probably no region in the world and no historical epoch is better suited to study the logic of war as an ideal type than the society of the Fiji Islands in the 19th century. At that time, there were enough observers from Europe who could describe the events and processes with sufficient emotional and intellectual distance, but the European influence was not yet so great in its colonizing and missionary effect that it would have fundamentally changed conditions.

Fiji seems particularly favorable as a model for the emergence of wars for several reasons: Firstly, the island location ensures that the complexity of the situation remains manageable due to the limited space to be observed and the fighting parties. Secondly, in the second half of the 19th century, war was to a certain extent a permanent state in Fiji, giving (European) observers the opportunity to describe the repeated sequence of (only short-term) periods of peace, outbreak of war, victory, defeat, etc.

Another reason why Fiji can provide something like an exposition on the subject of war in its various facets is the Cannibalism practiced at the time. In it, the three types of system involved – social system, psyche and body – are symbolically brought together: the devouring of the enemy as his ultimate and irreversible subjugation and humiliation. This "eating of the enemy", an idea that today only appears metaphorically in the context of hostile relationships, points to another special feature of tribal warfare: [...]

You look the enemy in the eye, war takes place as direct interaction, as face-to-face communication; you smash the enemy's skull in personally and using your own physical strength - an aspect that has become less and less important with the development of long-range weapons in Europe. You risk little when you shoot from a distance.