Militarism.

A vigorous martial spirit or a tendency to elevate military matters over other concerns of the state. The term militarism originated in the 1860’s and has been used in various, sometimes ambiguous, contexts. The foremost question among scholars, however, is whether militarism—dominance of military thought and action—is a product of the past (for example, the theory that twentieth century German militarism is a scion of Prussian culture) or a modern phenomenon, a direct result of industrialism. While such arguments may be applied to a complex, militaristic state such as Germany in 1930’s and 1940’s, “warlordism”—the brand of chaotic, divisive militarism that, for instance, distinguished civil war-torn Chinese society during the 1910’s and 1920’s—is widely accepted as having a simple explanation: A complete failure of civil government creates a political vacuum that can only be filled by military strength.