The transformation of warfare into linguistic competition produced a paradox. Words were originally chosen as weapons because they seemed less lethal than swords which, individually, they were. A single insult rarely destroyed a life and a single metaphor rarely collapsed a government. But words accumulate, ideas spread and narratives evolve. Eventually the semantic battlefield became crowded with meanings competing for dominance and when that occurs, conflict intensifies and when conflict intensifies within language, the damage spreads through every aspect of society.
Eurostate had succeeded in preventing large-scale wars but it had created something new: A permanent civil conflict fought through speech.
The Logomachy.