And that is the theme of War, the fortune of battles.

就这一首战之曲，说命运旋律。

youdao

The death of John's father when the boy was 12 and the advent of World War II wiped out the family fortune.

CNN: DAD AND ME

Fred returned to the U.S. on the eve of World War II and built an even larger fortune around Rock Island Refining, a refinery and oil-gathering pipeline system in southern Oklahoma, and a part-interest in a refinery outside of Minneapolis.

FORBES: Inside The Koch Empire: How The Brothers Plan To Reshape America

Between 1998 and 2000, a senseless war with neighbouring Eritrea cost a fortune and prised many of the strongest hands off hoes and on to rifles. (In Eritrea, the aftermath has been even bleaker: 2.3m people now need food aid, out of a population of only 3m.) Ethiopian peasants are also burdened with taxes on the land they lease from the state, and levies for clinics, schools and roads.

ECONOMIST: Facing famine, Ethiopia appeals urgently for food aid