Who started the war?

What is a war? How does it start?
And which war are we talking about anyhow?

I think there can be, just like there can be clear responsibilities in who starts a fight. If you call me an idiot, I am fully responsible for punching your face in return. I don't have to do it. If you point what looks like a loaded gun at me, however, then you are responsible for someone else shooting you first if I'm lucky. 

War is a conflict between armed forces, conducted for a purpose going beyond the interest of the sole forces engaged.


Example 1: a band of armed men stealing food or women from defenseless civilians is not war. A lord sending soldiers against these armed men is starting a war for the purpose of protecting civilians. The armed men caused the war by breaking peace and the lord was justified in starting it.


Example 2: a general marching an army across a border, beyond its legally accepted area of control, is performing an act of war. A ruler sending his own army to drive them back is technically starting the war but the invading general, or the ruler giving him the order to invade, caused it.


Further reasons behind these actions may explain or motivate them. Hunger resulting from bad harvests, greed, resentment or defiance (“strike them before they can strike us”), broken agreements, lesser offences can all be invoked as causes for a war but the responsibility for a war lies with the person who consciously takes the decision to engage the foreseeable process which will escalate into an armed conflict.


The person who freely decides to send men to plunder a village or to lead an army across a border is responsible for the war that ensues, no matter what reasons he had to do so.


Several wars are taking place in this story.


The first one is The War for the Imp.
Tywin Lannister started it to subdue House Tully into respect and force Catelyn Stark to release his son. He made a conscious choice of it. He could have appealed to the King instead and demanded his son be released. It was a local war with a limited scope and ended in the moment Tyrion walked into the Lannister camp. Catelyn Stark took Tyrion prisoner on a mere suspicion. It was an act of aggression but not an act of war. Did it cause the war? I don’t think so because Tywin had a choice. Had Tyrion been kept against the king’s orders to send him back for a proper trial, it would have since the king would have felt compelled to a clean enforcement of the law but this is not what happened.


The second is The War of the Five Kings, which is actually made of several: The War for King Renly, The War for King Stannis, The War against King Joffrey and The War to Plunder the North.


The War for King Renly didn’t take place; it ended before the first battle but would have been caused by Renly declaring himself king for no other reason than he felt he would be loved. He would have started it too, marching on to King’s Landing at some point.

A good part of the forces he gathered joined Stannis who started his own war to put himself on the throne because he thought he was “the rightful King”. Here we can debate who really caused this war. Stannis made a conscious decision of pursuing his perceived right. He could as well have decided that peace in the realm was worth more than his “right”, especially since no one else knew of the accusations against Joffrey’s legitimacy. As long as people believed Joffrey was legitimate, no damage was done to the importance of the rule of law which held the realm together. Stannis could have played “uncle” just like Jaime and the world would have been a better place for all others. On the other hand, Ned Stark knew Stannis enough to predict his decision and proceeded to inform him, knowing war would ensue. It can be argued that Ned Stark equally caused the War for King Stannis, since he took his decision in full expectation of the consequences. He shares responsibility for it.


Robb Stark started the War against King Joffrey. He called the banners and moved south into the Riverlands, where he proceeded to attack Lannister armies in two different positions. He did this to free his father, imprisoned for treason, disregarding demands of peace received from the Queen through his sister. The cause for the war was in personal feelings of defiance towards the Queen’s intentions and the responsibility for it is all on Robb’s side. His later decision to “kill them all” after receiving news of his father’s execution is purely motivated by vengeance.


Last and least, Balon Greyjoy started the War to Plunder the North for personal reasons rooted in vanity and greed. No one else caused it.



Littlefinger and Lysa Arryn assassinated a man, Cersei committed adultery, Jaime defenestrated a kid in panic, someone sent an assassin to finish him, a boar killed his drunken hunter, Joffrey took a legally justified decision to execute a traitor… None of all this started or consciously caused a war, even though these events played a role in the decision process of the men who did.

I do not see how listening to someone's lie gave Cat' any rights to do anything.

A cause is not a right. Her seizing of Tyrion was illegal.
Tywin was not exercing a right either, merely using his strength.

Ned didn't "start" the war but I think he "caused" it and yes, I mean he started the ball rolling by kicking it knowing where it would go and that there was no holding it back anymore. This is what he did when he publicly declared Joffrey illegitimate in the throne room and had one of his men bring a message to Stannis (I am only discussing the show).
All events before this merely placed the ball, waxed the floor, positioned the players and gave them motives, but they kicked nothing.

The meme is stolen, by the way. I just added the bottom line.
There was the "original":