This caused a war with Austria that developed into a worldwide war (in North America, the French and Indian War), and went on to 1763. Of course, many tens of thousands died in that series of wars.

In general, though, states have been much more circumspect about revealing the true reasons for their wars as well as the methods by which they conduct them. Pretexts and evasions have proliferated. In democratic societies, these are endorsed—often invented—by compliant writers and intellectuals.

The unmasking of such excuses for war and war-making is called historical revisionism, or simply revisionism.

Revisionism and classical liberalism, today called libertarianism, have always been closely linked.