KARL VON CLAUSEWITZ - ON WAR 1832

KARL VON CLAUSEWITZ - ON WAR 1832KARL 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 MEANSWhat 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 warWhat 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)