Military life is servitude, and punishment is inflicted liberally. Voltaire may be referring to the Seven Years War between Prussia and the alliance between France, Russia, Austria, Saxony, and Sweden. The Bulgarians in Candide are Frederic the Great's Prussian army, and the Abares are the French. Both armies thank God for the carnage with Te Deums. The narrator calls the soldiers, who rape and disembowel young girls, heroes.
International law commands the soldiers to burn villages.
War is horrific, but Pangloss finds satisfaction in the fact that both sides suffered equally. Jacques believes humans were not born to murder each other, but somehow they have become like wolves. He is the first in Candide to voice opposition to the practices of war. His observations, in contrast to those of Pangloss, seem levelheaded. Candide was not as successful a soldier as the narrator suggests here.