“The object of war is to bring about the complete submission of the enemy as soon as possible by means of regulated violence.” (US Army, 1914, p.14).

General Order (G.O.) 100, 1863, article 20. “Public war is a state of armed hostility between sovereign nations or governments. It is a law and requisite of civilized existence that men live in political continuous societies forming organized units called States or nations, whose constituents bear, enjoy, and suffer, advance and retrograde together, in peace and in war.”

Von Moltke said: “The greatest kindness in war is to bring it to a speedy conclusion. It should be allowable, with that view, to employ all methods save those which are absolutely objectionable. I can by no means profess agreement with the Declaration of St, Petersburg when it asserts that the weakening of the military forces of the enemy is the only lawful procedure in war. No; you must attack all the resources of the enemy’s government – its finances, its railways, its stores, and even its prestige.” Letter to Professor Bluntschll, Dec. 11,
1880, cited Holland, War on Land, p. 12.

Reference

US Army. (1914) Rules of Land Warfare. Available from World Wide Web: http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/rules_warfare-1914.pdf. [Accessed: 28 September, 2015].