rule of the sword

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

As a result, the rule of law overcame the rule of the sword.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2012

Since the Cromwellian rule of the sword, the army is so hated in England that an officer, going on duty from his home to the barracks, has to drive in a closed carriage.—O.A.H.

From Gems (?) of German Thought by Archer, William

Instead of society itself having conquered a new point, only the State appears to have returned to its oldest form, to the simply brazen rule of the sword and the club.

From Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte by Marx, Karl

Since 1871 the object of every Prussian Government had been to reconcile the German people to the veiled rule of the sword by exhibiting results which, it was contended, could not otherwise have been secured.

From A Short History of the Great War by Pollard, A. F. (Albert Frederick)

Know thou that We have annulled the rule of the sword, as an aid to Our Cause, and substituted for it the power born of the utterance of men.

From Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh by Bahá'u'lláh