Blowhard, Esq. writes:

Against war one can say: It makes the victor stupid, the vanquished malignant. In favor of war: Through both of these effects it barbarizes and thereby makes more natural; it is a sleep for culture, and man emerges from it stronger for good and evil.

…

On the political sickbed a people is usually rejuvenated and rediscovers its spirit, after having gradually lost it in seeking and preserving power. Culture owes its peak to politically weak ages.

— Nietzsche, Human, All-Too-Human