In Arms and the Man, Shaw uses comedy as a tool to satirize the politics and technology of war, calling attention to the inanity of this frequently unquestioned tradition. Shaw satirizes the military institutions of his time on multiple operational levels, ranging from the dehumanization experienced by individual soldiers to the problem of foreign intervention in local conflict. The latter topic is often where Shaw's satirical goals benefit greatly from a more comedic tonality. Take, for instance, the following excerpt from Act 2:
PETKOFF: [Chuckling] We shouldn't have been able to begin fighting if these foreigners hadn't shewn us how to do it: we knew nothing about it; and neither did the Servians. Egad, there’d have been no war without them!
RAINA: Are there many Swiss officers in the Servian Army?
PETKOFF: No—all Austrians, just as our officers were all Russians.
In this discussion, Major Petkoff and Raina's remarks are in earnest: Petkoff does not seem shocked nor particularly outraged at the concept of Russian and Austrian intervention in—and, indeed, direct leadership of!—the conflict between the Bulgarians and the Servians. He simply takes for granted that these larger foreign powers intervene in, control, and lead his people. The absurdity of this situation is plain to the reader, taking on added comedic and satirical meaning because both Petkoff and Raina assume this modus operandi as a given.
