The War Prayer

Mark Twain wrote "The War Prayer" around 1905 in response to the Philippine-American War, but he was told by his family and publisher that it was too controversial to release. It remained unpublished until 1923, over a decade after his death. The piece sharply criticizes the blind patriotism that accompanies wartime conflicts.

The story illustrates the stark contrast between the glorified ideals of war and its gruesome realities by introducing a visiting angel. The angel reveals the unspoken horrors—such as shattered lives and grieving widows—that accompany the patriotic prayers for victory. Twain uses this framing to expose the moral blind spots of societies eager for military conflict.

Twain was specifically motivated to write the piece by the Philippine-American War, which began at the turn of the 20th century. He was a staunch anti-imperialist and served as the vice president of the Anti-Imperialist League. The text served as a direct critique of the American expansionism occurring during his lifetime.

The short prose piece was first published in print in the 1923 collection "Europe and Elsewhere." Today, the story is widely available for free in the public domain and can be read on various online literature archives. It is also frequently included in anthologies of Mark Twain's later, more cynical essays.