KARL VON CLAUSEWITZ - ON WAR 1832

KARL VON CLAUSEWITZ 1780-1831

Born 1780 and joined the Prussian Army aged 12

Attended Berlin Military Academy 1801-3 graduated first in class

Fought at Jena 1806
Joined Russian Army 1806-1812 (at Borodino 1812)
Rejoined Prussians 1813-18 (at Ligny & Waterloo)
Senior Director of Berlin Military Academy 1818
Died of Cholera 1831
On War a collection of lecture notes published 1832

B Brodie (1983) On War is the only great book about the theory
of war
1864-71 German Wars of Unification are considered to be the best
exemplars of the theory in our course (see later Prussia at war)

Why does War exist ?

War is human nature or only the dead have seen the end
of war (Plato)
Mankind is an animal that thinks in abstractions rather
than just mere instinct therefore he is a political animal
(Aristotle)
Politics is the womb in which war develops because
abstract ideas may lead to political conflict and war is
the CONTINUATION OF POLITICS BY OTHER
MEANS

What is War ?
War is an act of violence intended to make our opponent
fulfil our will
Strategy/Tactics are the tools of war
There are two types of war Limited & Absolute
Limited is politically constrained a choice
Absolute is politically encouraged a choice

 The aim of both is to disrupt the enemies centre of

gravity or tipping point the point where ability to resist
collapses
Frictions (fog of war) of war are chance factors that
cannot be controlled
The centre of gravity is TRINITARIAN (reflects his
Christianity as his father was a Lutheran pastor)
The Trinity consists of GOVERNMENT , MILITARY
FORCE & INNER (HOME) FRONT.- All are legitimate
targets of political choice.
I is political choice that determines the destructiveness
of war
What is the purpose of War ?
War is the continuation of policy by other means. And
therefore war has no reason of its own.
This is a universal theory of the PRIMACY OF
POLITICS.
Political masters must retain control over the military ,
deciding not just why but how a war is fought
Clemenceau said (1917) war is too important to be left
to Generals In Clausewitz the political masters do not
leave the army to deliver policy and be silent until the
army has delivered. Political leaders must have close
consultation with the military at all times

PROBLEMS OF THE UNIVERSAL THEORY

No institutional framework of the separation of powers
between military and the political only that it should be
so a reaction against Napoleon (S Huntingdon)

 Universal theories were common (On War 1832 ,

Communist Manifesto 1848; Origin of the Species 1859)
but they often prove not to be universal (J Keegan &
Zulu).
Clausewitz talks about interstate warfare but this was
even being challenged in Spain 1808-14 as a new model or
the future (H Strachan)