War-weariness

War-weariness is the public or political disapproval for the continuation of a prolonged conflict or war. The causes normally involve the intensity of casualties—financial, civilian, and military. It also occurs when a belligerent has the ability to easily leave the conflict yet continues to stay. War-weariness normally leads to a distrust in government or military leadership and can spark protest and anti-war movements. It can also be fueled when a belligerent is found guilty of war crimes, which can create domestic and international backlash. Rates of enlistment and the morale of the armed-forces are often affected by war-weariness.

War-weariness is less likely to appear in military dictatorships, especially those with heavy propaganda and censorship. More democratic nations are believed to have a better chance of having unpopular news of the war reach the masses, increasing their chance and level of war-weariness. This, however, assumes that citizens only achieve war-weariness from receiving bad news about war. There are other causes of war-weariness. The EU, for example, is likely under war-weariness, after the contained nations having fought two world wars within a century. In the example above, war-weariness is proven to be conditional, the nations of Europe would be unlikely to fight within their own area currently, but wouldn't be necessarily opposed to fighting some overseas nation, provided they were convinced it could make a difference in their safety or quality of life. Certain factors can mitigate war-weariness, such as the absence of a draft, lack of death on their side, or the war in question not being commonly talked about. In general, the citizens are less likely to be weary of a war that only professional soldiers have been involved in, that few people have lost loved ones over, and isn't in any news lately.

War-weariness can sometimes produce undesirable effects, such as willingness to tolerate upcoming fascist, socialist, or otherwise corrupt regimes even when leaders threaten the safety or livelihoods of regular citizens, because the possibility of a civil war is deemed far worse.