# General Bernhardi — The Great Illusion character guide

> General Bernhardi in The Great Illusion by Norman Angell.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Bernhardi, General von Bernhardi

**First appearance:** 0003-the-great-illusion

## Snapshot

German general and military writer whose glorification of war as necessity gives Angell the sharpest statement of the doctrine he opposes.

## Who they are

Bernhardi supplies the frankest version of the belief that war is a biological and political necessity, not a choice. Angell treats him less as a villain than as a symptom: the logical endpoint of theories that treat conquest as profitable. By engaging Bernhardi directly, Angell shows that his quarrel is with a serious intellectual position, not a straw man.

## Relationships

### [Homer Lea](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/homer_lea)

_friendship_

Both were militarists who shared a belief in the inevitability and necessity of war, possibly citing each other's works approvingly.

### [Spenser Wilkinson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/spenser_wilkinson)

_professional_

Both were military theorists, with Bernhardi's German expansionism likely discussed or critiqued by Wilkinson.

## In the story

### [The Great Illusion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/chapters/the-great-illusion)

Cited as a representative of the militarist school of thought that the author is arguing against.

### [The Psychological Case for War](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/chapters/i-the-psychological-case-for-war)

His views are referenced as part of the school of philosophy that encourages war, though he is not directly quoted in this excerpt.

### [Part III: The Practical Outcome](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/chapters/part-iii-the-practical-outcome)

Cited as a proponent of the militarist view that war is a biological necessity and a means of national progress, which Angell refutes.

### [II: Armament, but Not Alone Armament](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/chapters/ii-armament-but-not-alone-armament)

Mentioned as an advocate for war as a regenerator of nations, whose arguments are strengthened by the cycle of armament increases.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/chapters/endnotes)

Referenced for his book 'Germany and the Next War' as an example of militarist advocacy.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/general_bernhardi
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters