So long as war is the main business of nations, temporary despotism - despotism during the campaign - is indispensable.

Bagehot’s remark reflects a core theme in his political thought: the tension between liberal, deliberative government and the exigencies of national survival. He suggests that when war dominates statecraft, decision-making must become centralized and swift; the normal checks, debate, and diffusion of authority characteristic of constitutional government tend to be suspended in favor of command. Calling it “temporary despotism” underscores both its coercive character and its claimed necessity “during the campaign.” The line can be read as descriptive (how states actually behave under wartime pressure) and cautionary (that a war-centered international order structurally endangers liberty by repeatedly normalizing emergency powers).