Consensus — The Triumph of Civic Militarism?

What is civic militarism? Is it the primary determinant of victory in war?

Cyrus the Younger, vying for the throne, lost his life in a heroic charge at the head of his troops, leaving his Greek mercenaries in a predicament. To continue fighting had rendered victory meaningless; to retreat meant traversing over 1,500 miles through the barbarian-infested lands of the Persian Empire. Ultimately, the Greeks achieved a miracle, returning safely to their homeland. Victor Hanson attributes this miracle to the triumph of citizen militarism.

This raises an unavoidable question: What exactly is civic militarism? Does the decisive factor in determining the outcome of war truly lie in civic militarism cloaked in democratic garb? Then, over two millennia later, when the Communist Party of China led the Red Army on an equally grueling retreat — a historic escape later dubbed the Long March (Chinese: 长征, October 1934 — October 1936) — what kind of victory did that represent?

Xenophon’s Anabasis, translated by Carleton Lewis Brownson (1886)