that
they cannot all be brought into activity at the same time. These forces
are THE ARMIES ACTUALLY ON FOOT, THE COUNTRY, with its superficial
extent and its population, AND THE ALLIES.

In point of fact, the country, with its superficial area and the
population, besides being the source of all military force, constitutes
in itself an integral part of the efficient quantities in War, providing
either the theatre of war or exercising a considerable influence on the
same.

Now, it is possible to bring all the movable military forces of
a country into operation at once, but not all fortresses, rivers,
mountains, people, &c.--in short, not the whole country, unless it is
so small that it may be completely embraced by the first act of the War.
Further, the co-operation of allies does not depend on the Will of the
belligerents; and from the nature of the political relations of states
to each other, this co-operation is frequently not afforded until after
the War has commenced, or it may be increased to restore the balance of
power.

That this part of the means of resistance, which cannot at once be
brought into activity, in many cases, is a much greater part of the
whole than might at first be supposed, and that it often restores the
balance of power, seriously affected by the great force of the first
decision, will be more fully shown hereafter. Here it is sufficient to
show that a complete concentration of all available means in a moment of
time is contradictory to the nature of War.

Now this, in itself, furnishes no ground for relaxing our efforts to
accumulate strength to gain the first result, because an unfavourable
issue is always a disadvantage to which no one would purposely expose
himself, and also because the first decision, although not the only one,
still will have the more influence on subsequent events, the greater it
is in itself.

But the possibility of gaining a later result causes men to take refuge
in that expectation, owing to the repugnance in the human mind to
making excessive efforts; and therefore forces are not concentrated and
measures are not taken for the first decision with that energy which
would otherwise be used. Whatever one belligerent omits from weakness,
becomes to the other a real objective ground for limiting his own
efforts, and thus again, through this reciprocal action, extreme
tendencies are brought down to efforts on a limited scale.

9. THE RESULT IN WAR IS NEVER ABSOLU