I used to pick bloodthirsty, but then I looked over the bonuses and penalties and found that peaceful gives better rewards overall. Although with 1.19 I've gone back to bloodthirsty because of the huge happiness jump you get whenver a war breaks out, and the new AIs are so keen to make and break treaties that wars happen all the time. The downside is that all those trade treaties give you a 20-point blow to your happiness if your people are bloodthirsty.
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