In all those countries the _first_ aim has been protection from both external attack and internal disorder.
Protection from external attack has been gained by military force and highly trained diplomacy; protection from internal disorder has been gained _first_ by military force, and _second_ by wise laws, just courts, and the encouragement of religion and of those arts and sciences that lead to comfort and happiness in living.
China may attract the attention of some as an instance of longevity; but is China a nation in the usual meaning of the word?
Certainly, she is not a great nation.

It is true that no other nation has actually conquered her of late; but this has been largely by reason of her remoteness from the active world, and because other nations imposed their will upon her, without meeting any resistance that required the use of war to overcome.

And even China has not lived a wholly peaceful life, despite the non-military character of her people.

Her whole history was one of wars, like that of other nations, until the middle of the fourteenth century of our era.

Since then, she has had four wars, in all of which she has been whipped: one in the seventeenth century when the country was successfully invaded, and the native dynasty was overthrown by the Tartars of Manchuria; one in 1840, when Great Britain compelled her to cede Hong-Kong and to open five ports to foreign commerce, through which ports opium could be introduced; one in 1860, with Great Britain and France, that resulted in the capture of Pekin; and one with Japan in 1894.