Abstract

The essay considers the crucial role played by technique into the different conceptions of war at the beginning of XXth century. Moving from the point of view of the history of ideas, it assumes a fundamental changes from an extrinsic and instrumental relationship between war and technique, to an intrinsic and symbiotic one. The ideological and conceptual premises of this alliance are analyzed referring to the historical development and opposition between the ideas of "Kultur" and "Zivilization" from Kant to Rathenau.