Editing On War

{{Short description|1832 treatise on war by von Clausewitz}}
{{About|the treatise on military strategy|the manga series|Neo Gomanism Manifesto Special - On War|the 2008 film|On War (film)}}
{{italic title}}
[[File:Vomkriege.jpg|thumb|Title page of the original German edition ''Vom Kriege'', published in 1832]]
{{War}}
'''''Vom Kriege''''' ({{IPA|de|fɔm ˈkʁiːɡə}}) is a book on [[war]] and [[military strategy]] by [[Prussia]]n general [[Carl von Clausewitz]] (1780–1831), written mostly after the [[Napoleonic wars]], between 1816 and 1830, and published posthumously by his wife [[Marie von Brühl]] in 1832.<ref name="Cla08">{{Cite book |last=Carl von Clausewitz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iY4yZEkphNgC |title=On War |date=2 September 2008 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-3740-3}}</ref> It is one of the most important treatises on political-military analysis and strategy ever written, and remains both controversial and influential on [[Military strategy|military strategic thinking]].<ref name="Cla08" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Bassford |first1=Christopher |title=CLAUSEWITZ AND HIS WORKS |url=https://www.clausewitzstudies.org/mobile/Works.htm |access-date=12 April 2022}}</ref>

''Vom Kriege'' has been translated into English several times as '''''On War'''''. ''On War'' is an unfinished work. Clausewitz had set about revising his accumulated manuscripts in 1827, but did not live to finish the task. His wife edited his collected works and published them between 1832 and 1835.<ref name="Holmes2010">{{Cite book |last=Andrew Holmes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JHycqj4ajFcC |title=Carl Von Clausewitz's On War: A modern-day interpretation of a strategy classic |date=31 January 2010 |publisher=Infinite Ideas |isbn=978-1-908189-61-5}}</ref>

His ten-volume collected works contain most of his larger historical and theoretical writings, though not his shorter articles and papers or his extensive correspondence with important political, military, intellectual and cultural leaders in the [[Prussia|Prussian state]]. ''On War'' is formed by the first three volumes and represents his theoretical explorations.

== History ==

Clausewitz was among those intrigued by the manner in which the leaders of the [[French Revolution]], especially [[Napoleon]], changed the conduct of war through their ability to motivate the populace and gain access to the full resources of the state, thus unleashing war on a greater scale than had previously been seen in Europe. Clausewitz believed that moral forces in battle had a significant influence on its outcome. Clausewitz was well-educated and had strong interests in art, history, science, and education.  He was a professional soldier who spent a considerable part of his life fighting against Napoleon. In his lifetime, he had experienced both the [[French Revolutionary Army]]'s (1792—1802) zeal and the conscripted armies employed by the [[Emperor of the French|French crown]]. The insights he gained from his political and military experiences, combined with a solid grasp of European history, provided the basis for his work.<ref name="Cla08" /><ref name="Holmes2010" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Werner Hahlweg |date=7 June 1975 |title=Clausewitz und die Französische Revolution, Die methodische Grundlage des Werkes "Vom Kriege" |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/zrgg/27/3/article-p240_5.xml |journal=Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte |publisher=Brill |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=240–251 |doi=10.1163/15700739-02703005 |access-date=April 23, 2020}}</ref>

A wealth of historical examples is used to illustrate its various ideas. Napoleon and [[Frederick II of Prussia|Frederick the Great]] figure prominently for having made very efficient use of the terrain, movement and the forces at their disposal.

Regarding Clausewitz’s intellectual-cultural background, [[Azar Gat]] argues that he expressed in the field of military theory the main themes of the [[Romanticism|Romantic]] reaction against the worldview of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], rejecting universal principles and stressing historical diversity and the forces of the human spirit. This explains the strength and value of many of his arguments, derived from this great cultural movement, but also his often harsh rhetoric against his predecessors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gat |first=Azar |title=A history of military thought: from the Enlightenment to the Cold War |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-924762-2 |location=Oxford (GB)}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Gat |first=Azar |title=The Clausewitz myth: or the emperor's new clothes |date=2024 |publisher=John Hunt Publishing |isbn=978-1-80341-621-2 |location=Washington}}</ref>

==Clausewitz's theory==
[[File:Clausewitz-Vom-Kriege-9061.tif|thumb|upright=1.35|An operational map for [[Napoleon]]'s military expedition to Italy, 1796. Map from Clausewitz: ''Vom Kriege'', 1857.]]

=== Definition of war ===
Clausewitz argued that war theory cannot be a strict operational advice for generals.<ref>G.H.L. LeMay, "Napoleonic Warfare" ''History Today'' (Aug 1951), Vol. 1 Issue 8, pp 24-32.</ref> Instead, he wanted to highlight general principles that would result from the study of history and logical thinking. He contended that military campaigns could be planned only to a very small degree because incalculable influences or events, so-called ''friction'', would quickly make any too-detailed planning in advance obsolete. Military leaders must be capable to make decisions under time pressure with incomplete information since in his opinion "three quarters of the things on which action is built in war" are concealed and distorted by the ''[[fog of war]]''.<ref name="Savkin1974">{{Cite book |last=Vasiliĭ Efimovich Savkin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RONcU8KpOT4C&pg=PA23 |title=The Basic Principles of Operational Art and Tactics: (a Soviet View) |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1974 |pages=23–}}</ref>

In his 1812 ''Bekenntnisschrift'' ("Notes of Confession"), he presents a more existential interpretation of war by envisioning war as the highest form of self-assertion by a people. That corresponded in every respect with the spirit of the time when the French Revolution and the conflicts that arose from it had caused the evolution of conscript armies and guerrillas. The people's armies supported the idea that war is an existential struggle.<ref name="Cobb1987">{{Cite book |last=Richard Cobb |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T5Uu9YPlqVMC |title=Les armées révolutionnaires |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-300-02728-0}}</ref><ref name="Hagemann2015">{{Cite book |last=Karen Hagemann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQm0BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA132 |title=Revisiting Prussia's Wars against Napoleon: History, Culture, and Memory |date=30 March 2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-316-19397-6 |pages=132–}}</ref>

During the following years, however, Clausewitz gradually abandoned this exalted view and concluded that the war served as a mere instrument:  "Thus, war is an act of violence in order to force our will upon the enemy."<ref name="Clausewitz2010">{{Cite book |last=Carl Von Clausewitz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LywG2T9OTvoC |title=On War - Volume I - Chapter II |date=1 October 2010 |publisher=The Floating Press |isbn=978-1-77541-926-6}}</ref>

=== Purpose, goal and means ===
Clausewitz analyzed the conflicts of his time along the line of the categories ''Purpose'', ''Goal'' and ''Means''. He reasoned that the ''Purpose'' of war is one's will to be enforced, which is determined by politics. The ''Goal'' of the conflict is therefore to defeat the opponent in order to exact the ''Purpose''. The ''Goal'' is pursued with the help of a strategy, that might be brought about by various ''Means'' such as by the defeat or the elimination of opposing armed forces or by non-military ''Means'' (such as propaganda, economic sanctions and political isolation). Thus, any resource of the human body and mind and all the moral and physical powers of a state might serve as ''Means'' to achieve the set goal.<ref>LeMay, "Napoleonic Warfare"</ref>

One of Clausewitz's best-known quotes summarizes that idea: "War is the continuation of policy with other means."<ref name="Clausewitz2010" />

That quote in itself allows for the interpretation that the military will take over from politics as soon as war has begun (as, for example, the [[German General Staff]] did during [[World War I]]). However, Clausewitz had postulated the ''primacy of politics'' and in this context elaborated: "[...], we claim that war is nothing more than a continuation of the political process by applying other means. By applying other means we simultaneously assert that the political process does not end with the conclusion of the war or is being transformed into something entirely different, but that it continues to exist and proceed in its essence, regardless of the structure of the means it makes use of [...]."<ref>{{Cite web |title =Clausewitz' Theorie des Krieges |url =https://intr2dok.vifa-recht.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/mir_derivate_00007083/Muenkler.pdf |last =Herfried Münkler |publisher =Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft |access-date =April 30, 2020 | page = 5 | quote = Wir behaupten dagegen, der Krieg ist nichts als eine Fortsetzung des politischen Verkehrs mit Einmischung anderer Mittel. Wir sagen Einmischung anderer Mittel, um damit zugleich zu behaupten, dass dieser politische Verkehr durch den Krieg selbst nicht aufhört, nicht in etwas ganz anderes verwandelt wird, sondern daß er sich in seinem Wesen fortbesteht, wir auch seine Mittel gestaltet sein mögen, deren er sich bedient, [...].}}</ref>

According to [[Azar Gat]], the "general message" of the book was that "the conduct of war could not be reduced to universal principles [and is] dominated by political decisions and moral forces."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gat |first=Azar |title=A history of military thought: from the Enlightenment to the Cold War |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-924762-2 |location=Oxford (GB) |pages=125}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title =Staatenkrieg und nicht-staatliche Kriege in Clausewitz, Vom Kriege |url =https://www.clausewitz.com/readings/Herberg-Rothe/ClausewitzUndNicht-StaatlicheKriege2.htm |last =Andreas Herberg-Rothe |publisher =Clausewitz Com |access-date =April 23, 2020}}</ref> These basic conclusions are essential to Clausewitz's theory:
* War must never be seen as having any purpose in itself but should be seen as a political instrument: "War is not merely a political act, but a real political instrument, a continuation of the political process, an application by other means."<ref>''On War'', Book I, Chapter 1, 24., Carl von Clausewitz, translated by J.J. Graham, p. ''18'' {{ISBN|956-8356-20-7}}</ref>
* The military objectives in war that support one's political objectives fall into two broad types: "war to achieve limited aims" and war to "disarm" the enemy: "to render [him] politically helpless or militarily impotent."
* All else being equal, the course of war will tend to favor the party with the stronger emotional and political motivations, especially the defender.<ref name="Cla08" />
<!--Unsourced and displaced... Within the book the writer Clausewitz writes about his memories fighting away in France as a trooper in the Napoleonic wars. Some say that is where Clausewitz got his inspiration to create the book on War. Others disagree and state that he was a physiologist at heart and wanted to understand how and why people wanted to go to war and fight others.-->

Some of the key ideas (not necessarily original to Clausewitz or even to his mentor, [[Gerhard von Scharnhorst]]) discussed in ''On War'' include<ref>This list is from "[https://www.clausewitzstudies.org/mobile/faqs.htm#Ideas Frequently Asked Questions about Clausewitz]," ''ClausewitzStudies.org'', edited by Christopher Bassford.</ref> (in no particular order of importance):
* the [[dialectic|dialectical approach]] to military analysis
* the methods of "critical analysis"
* the uses and abuses of historical studies
* the nature of the balance-of-power mechanism
* the relationship between political objectives and military objectives in war
* the asymmetrical relationship between attack and defense
* the nature of "'''military genius'''" ({{langx |de| der kriegerische Genius}}) - as exemplified particularly in Frederick the Great and in Napoleon Bonaparte<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Handel
 |first1               = Michael I.
 |editor-last1         = Handel
 |editor-first1        = Michael I.
 |date                 = 12 November 2012
 |orig-date            = 1986
 |chapter              = Clausewitz in the Age of Technology
 |title                = Clausewitz and Modern Strategy
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=exDz1e_C8QgC
 |publication-place    = Abingdon
 |publisher            = Routledge
 |page                 = 77
 |isbn                 = 9781136285479
 |access-date          = 23 August 2024
 |quote                = Frederick the Great and Napoleon, the models for Clausewitz' military genius, were very different from [[Lazare Carnot|Carnot]] (whom Clausewitz never mentions) [...].
}} 
</ref>
* the "fascinating trinity" ({{lang|de|Wunderliche Dreifaltigkeit}}) of war
* philosophical distinctions between "absolute or ideal war," and "real war"
* in "real war," the distinctive poles of a) limited war and b) war to "render the enemy helpless"
* "war" belongs fundamentally to the social realm, rather than to the realms of art or science
* "strategy" belongs primarily to the realm of art
* "tactics" belongs primarily to the realm of science
* the essential unpredictability of war
* simplicity: Everything is very simple in war, but the simplest thing is difficult. These difficulties accumulate.<ref>{{cite web |last1 =Ratcliffe |first1 =Susan |title =Oxford Essential Quotations, Karl von Clausewitz 1780–1831 |url =https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191843730.001.0001/q-oro-ed5-00003050 |website =Oxford Reference |publisher =Oxford |access-date =December 7, 2021}}</ref> The strength of any strategy lies in its simplicity.<ref>{{cite web |last1 =Pietersen |first1 =Willie |title =Von Clausewitz on War: Six Lessons |url =https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/articles/node/1788/von-clausewitz-on-war-six-lessons-for-the-modern-strategist |website =Columbia Business School |publisher =Columbia University |access-date =December 7, 2021}}</ref>
* the "[[fog of war]]"
* "friction"
* strategic and operational "[[center of gravity (military)|centres of gravity]]"
* the "[[culminating point]] of the offensive"
* the "culminating point of victory"

== Influence and Conflicting Interpretations ==
Modern perceptions of war are based on the concepts that Clausewitz put forth in ''On War'', but they have been diversely interpreted by various leaders (such as [[Moltke the Elder|Moltke]], [[Vladimir Lenin]], [[Dwight Eisenhower]], and [[Mao Zedong]]), thinkers, armies, and peoples. Modern military doctrine, organization, and norms are all still based on Napoleonic premises, but whether the premises are necessarily also "Clausewitzian" is debatable.<ref name="Meilinger2020">{{Cite book |last =Phillip S. Meilinger |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=2pnJDwAAQBAJ |title =Thoughts on War |date =29 January 2020 |publisher =University Press of Kentucky |isbn =978-0-8131-7891-2}}</ref>

Some prominent critics have interpreted ''On War'' as an argument for "[[total war]]".{{Ref label|A|a|none}} The book has been blamed for the level of destruction involved in the First and the Second World Wars, but it seems rather that Clausewitz (who did not actually use the term "total war") had merely foreseen the inevitable developments that started with the huge, patriotically motivated armies of the Napoleonic era.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} These developments resulted (though the evolution of war has not yet ended) in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with all the forces and capabilities of the state devoted to destroying forces and capabilities of the enemy state (thus "total war"). Conversely, Clausewitz  has also been seen as "The preeminent military and political strategist of limited war in modern times".<ref>Robert Osgood, 1979.</ref>

The "dualism" of Clausewitz's view of war (that wars can vary a great deal between the two "poles" that he proposed, based on the political objectives of the opposing sides and the context) seems to be simple enough, but few commentators have been willing to accept that crucial variability{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}. They insist that Clausewitz "really" argued for one end of the scale or the other. Clausewitz's use of a dialectical method to construct his argument, led to frequent modern misinterpretation because he allegedly explores various often-opposed ideas before he came to conclusions.

However, according to Gat, the opposing interpretations of Clausewitz are rooted in Clausewitz’s own conceptual journey.<ref name=":0" /> The centerpiece of Clausewitz’s theory of war throughout his life was his concept of all-out fighting and energetic conduct leading to the great battle of annihilation. He believed such conduct expressed the very “nature”, or “lasting spirit” of war. Accordingly, Clausewitz disparaged the significance of the [[Maneuver warfare|maneuver]], surprise, and cunning in war, as distracting from the centrality of [[battle]],<ref>''On War'', IV, 3, pp. 228-229; III, 9, p. 198; III, 10, p. 202.</ref> and argued that defense was legitimate only if and as long as one was weaker than the enemy.<ref>''On War'', VI, 1, 2, pp. 358-359; VI, 8, p. 380, and VII, 2, p. 524.</ref> Nevertheless, in the last years of his life, after the first six out of the eight books of ''On War'' had already been drafted, Clausewitz came to recognize that this concept was not universal and did not even apply to the [[Napoleonic Wars]], the supreme model of his theory of war. This was demonstrated by the [[Peninsular War|Spanish]] and [[French invasion of Russia|Russian]] campaigns and by [[guerrilla warfare]], in all of which battle was systematically avoided. Consequently, from 1827 on, Clausewitz recognized the legitimacy of [[limited war]] and explained it by the influence of politics that harnessed the unlimited nature of war to serve its objectives. Clausewitz died in 1831 before he completed the revision he planned along these lines. He incorporated his new ideas only into the end of Book VI, Book VIII and the beginning of Book I of ''On War''. As a result, when published, ''On War'' encompassed both his old and new ideas, at odds with each other.

Thus, against common interpretations of ''On War'', Gat points out that Clausewitz’s transformed views regarding the relationship between politics and war and the admission of limited war into his theory constituted a U-turn against his own life-long fundamental view of the nature of war. Gat further argues the readers’ miscomprehension of the theory in ''On War'' as complete and dialectical, rather than a draft undergoing a radical change of mind, has thus generated a range of reactions. People of each age have found in ''On War'' the Clausewitz who suited their own views on war and its conduct. Between 1870 and 1914, he was celebrated mainly for his insistence on the clash of forces and the decisive battle, and his emphasis on moral forces. By contrast, after 1945, during the [[Atomic Age|nuclear age]], his reputation has reached a second pinnacle for his later acceptance of the primacy of politics and the concept of limited war.

== Criticism ==
Clausewitz and his proponents have been severely criticized by other military theorists, like [[Antoine-Henri Jomini]]<ref>{{Cite web |title =The influence of Clausewitz on Jomini's Précis de l'Art de la Guerre - p. 3/30 |url =http://www.homepage.bluewin.ch/abegglen/papers/clausewitz_influence_on_jomini.pdf |last =Christoph Abegglen |publisher =King's College London |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070926204024/http://www.homepage.bluewin.ch/abegglen/papers/clausewitz_influence_on_jomini.pdf |archive-date =2007-09-26 |access-date =April 30, 2020}}</ref> in the 19th century, [[B. H. Liddell Hart]]<ref>{{Cite web |title =CLAUSEWITZ IN ENGLISH - The Reception of Clausewitz in Britain and America - Chapter 15. J.F.C. Fuller and Basil Liddell Hart |url =https://www.clausewitz.com/readings/Bassford/CIE/Chapter15.htm |last =Christopher Bassford |publisher =Clausewitz Com |access-date =April 30, 2020}}</ref> in the mid-20th century, and [[Martin van Creveld]]<ref name="macr">{{Cite web |title =Clausewitz vs. The Scholar: Martin Van Creveld's Expanded Theory Of War |url =https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1992/FKM.htm |last =K. M. French |publisher =Global Security |access-date =April 30, 2020}}</ref> and [[John Keegan]]<ref>{{Cite web |title =Clausewitz and the "New Wars" Scholars |url =https://www.clausewitz.com/opencourseware/Schuurman-NewWars.pdf |last =Bart Schuurman |publisher =Clausewitz Com |access-date =April 30, 2020 |archive-date =March 7, 2021 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20210307225641/https://www.clausewitz.com/opencourseware/Schuurman-NewWars.pdf |url-status =dead }}</ref> more recently.<ref>{{Cite web |title =B. H. Liddell Hart, Strategy (1954) |url =https://www.classicsofstrategy.com/2016/01/liddell-hart-strategy-1954.html |last =Bradley Potter |date =January 19, 2016 |publisher =Classics of Strategy and Diplomacy, Johns Hopkins University SAIS |access-date =April 30, 2020 |archive-date =May 14, 2020 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20200514202526/https://www.classicsofstrategy.com/2016/01/liddell-hart-strategy-1954.html |url-status =dead }}</ref> ''On War'' is a work rooted solely in the world of the [[nation state]], states historian Martin van Creveld, who alleges that Clausewitz takes the state "almost for granted", as he rarely looks at anything before the 1648 [[Peace of Westphalia]], and mediaeval warfare is effectively ignored in Clausewitz's theory.<ref name=macr/> He alleges that Clausewitz does not address any form of intra/supra-state conflict, such as rebellion and revolution, because he could not theoretically account for warfare before the existence of the state.<ref name="Cormier 2013">{{Cite journal |last=Cormier |first=Youri |year=2013 |title=Fighting Doctrines and Revolutionary Ethics |url=http://jmss.synergiesprairies.ca/jmss/index.php/jmss/article/view/519 |journal=Journal of Military and Security Studies |volume=15 |issue=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729225332/http://jmss.synergiesprairies.ca/jmss/index.php/jmss/article/view/519 |archive-date=July 29, 2014 |accessdate=August 12, 2014 |url-status=dead }}
</ref>

Previous kinds of conflict were demoted to criminal activities without legitimacy and not worthy of the label "war". Van Creveld argues that "Clausewitzian war" requires the state to act in conjunction with the people and the army, the state becoming a massive engine built to exert military force against an identical opponent. He supports that statement by pointing to the conventional armies in existence throughout the 20th century. However, revolutionaries like [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]] derived some inspiration from Clausewitzian ideas.<ref name="Cormier 2013"/>

Referring to much of the current interpretation of ''On War'' as the [[The Emperor's New Clothes|Emperor’s New Clothes]] syndrome, Gat argues that instead of critically addressing the puzzling contradictions in ''On War,'' Clausewitz has been set in stone and could not be wrong.<ref name=":0" />

== English translations ==
* 1873. Graham, J.J. translator. Republished 1908 with extensive commentary and notes by [[Victorian era|Victorian]] [[imperialist]] F.N. Maude.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Carl von Clausewitz, trans. James John Graham |url=http://www.clausewitz.com/readings/OnWar1873/TOC.htm |year=1873 |access-date=2013-10-30}}</ref>
* 1943. [[O. J. Matthijs Jolles]], translator (New York: [[Random House]], 1943). This is viewed by some modern scholars{{who|date=September 2017}} as the most accurate existing English translation.
* 1968. Edited with introduction by [[Anatol Rapoport]]. [[Viking Penguin]]. {{ISBN|0-14-044427-0}}.
* 1976/1984. [[Michael Howard (historian)|Michael Howard]] and [[Peter Paret]], editors and translators. [[Princeton University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-691-05657-9}}.
* 1989. Michael Howard and Peter Paret, editors and translators. Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-691-01854-6}}.

== See also ==
{{colbegin}}

=== Concepts ===
* [[List of military theorists]]
* [[Philosophy of war]]
* [[Realpolitik]]

=== Books ===
* ''[[Achtung - Panzer!]]'' by [[Heinz Guderian]]
* ''[[Anabasis (Xenophon)|Anabasis]]'' and ''[[Hellenica]]'' by [[Xenophon]]
* ''[[The Art of War (Machiavelli)|The Art of War]]'' by [[Niccolò Machiavelli]]
* ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'' by [[Gaius Julius Caesar]]
* ''[[Epitoma rei militaris]]'' by [[Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus]]
* ''[[Infanterie Greift An]]'' by [[Erwin Rommel]]
* ''Mes Rêveries'' by [[Maurice de Saxel]]
* ''[[Storm of Steel]]'' by [[Ernst Jünger]]
* ''[[Strategikon of Maurice]]'' by [[Maurice (emperor)|Byzantine Emperor Maurice]]
* ''[[Tactica of Emperor Leo VI the Wise]]''
* ''[[Truppenführung]]'' by [[Helmuth von Moltke the Elder]]
* ''[[The Utility of Force]]'' by General [[Rupert Smith|Sir Rupert Smith]]
* ''[[The Influence of Sea Power upon History]]'' by Admiral [[Alfred Thayer Mahan]]
{{colend}}

== Notes ==
: '''a.''' {{Note label|A|a|none}}: For example, writing in his introduction to [[Sun Tzu]]'s ''[[The Art of War|Art of War]]'', [[B. H. Liddell Hart]] stated that "Civilization might have been spared much of the damage suffered in the world wars of this century if the influence of Clausewitz's monumental tome ''On War'', which molded European military thought in the era preceding the First World War, had been blended with and balanced by a knowledge of Sun Tzu's exposition on ''The Art of War.''"  This comment is tempered by the comment that the "ill-effects of Clausewitz's teaching arose largely from his disciples' too shallow and too extreme interpretation of it," but it remains an influential criticism.  Extracted from ''The Art of War'' ([[UNESCO Collection of Representative Works]]), Samuel B. Griffith https://web.archive.org/web/20060628174003/http://www.kw.igs.net/~tacit/artofwar/suntzu.htm.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* Bassford, Christopher, 1994. [http://www.clausewitz.com/readings/Bassford/CIE/TOC.htm ''Clausewitz in English: The Reception of Clausewitz in Britain and America''. Oxford University Press.]
* [[Bernard Brodie (military strategist)|Bernard Brodie]], 1976. ''A guide to the reading of "On War."'' Princeton University Press.
* Clausewitz, Carl von (2018). ''Napoleon's 1796 Italian Campaign.'' Trans and ed. Nicholas Murray and Christopher Pringle. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. {{ISBN|978-0-7006-2676-2}}
* Clausewitz, Carl von (2020). ''Napoleon Absent, Coalition Ascendant: The 1799 Campaign in Italy and Switzerland, Volume 1.'' Trans and ed. Nicholas Murray and Christopher Pringle. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. {{ISBN|978-0-7006-3025-7}}
* Clausewitz, Carl von (2021). ''The Coalition Crumbles, Napoleon Returns: The 1799 Campaign in Italy and Switzerland, Volume 2.'' Trans and ed. Nicholas Murray and Christopher Pringle. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. {{ISBN|978-0-7006-3034-9}}
* Gat, Azar (2001). ''A history of military thought: from the Enlightenment to the Cold War''. Oxford (GB): Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-924762-2}}. 
* Gat, Azar (2024). ''The Clausewitz myth: or the emperor's new clothes''. Washington: John Hunt Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1-80341-621-2}}.

==Further reading==
* Bassford, Christopher, 2002. "[http://www.clausewitz.com/readings/Bassford/Cworks/Works.htm Clausewitz and His Works.]" Describes the author's intent, and discusses interpretations and common misunderstandings.
* Coker, Christopher. ''Rebooting Clausewitz: 'On War' in the Twenty-first Century'' (Oxford University Press, 2017) [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0968344518804624?journalCode=wiha online review].
* Cormier, Youri. ''War as paradox: Clausewitz and Hegel on fighting doctrines and ethics'' (McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP, 2016).
* Daase, Christopher, and James W. Davis (eds). ''Clausewitz on Small War '' (2015) [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0968344518804624?journalCode=wiha online review]
* Erfourth M. & Bazin, A. (2014). ''[https://medium.com/the-bridge/clausewitzs-military-genius-and-the-human-dimension-960c2da46140   Clausewitz’s Military Genius and the #Human Dimension.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408012208/https://medium.com/the-bridge/clausewitzs-military-genius-and-the-human-dimension-960c2da46140 |date=2016-04-08 }}'' The Bridge.
* Hughes, R. Gerald. "Clausewitz, still the Master of War?: On Strategy in the Twenty-first Century." ''War in History'' 26.2 (2019): 287-296 [ online].
* Kornberger, Martin, and Anders Engberg-Pedersen. "Reading Clausewitz, reimagining the practice of strategy." ''Strategic Organization'' (2019): [http://www.academia.edu/download/60889086/Reading_Clausewitz_Reimagining_the_Practice_of_Strategy20191013-41187-nrcekv.pdf online]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
* LeMay, G.H.L. "Napoleonic Warfare" ''History Today'' (Aug 1951), Vol. 1 Issue 8, pp 24–32.
* Simpson, Emile. "Clausewitz's Theory of War and Victory in Contemporary Conflict." ''Parameters'' 47.4 (2017): 7-18.
* Stoker, Donald J. ''Clausewitz: His Life and Work'' (Oxford UP, 2014) 376 pp.  [https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=42780 online review]; also [https://www.amazon.com/Clausewitz-Life-Work-Donald-Stoker/dp/0199357943/  excerpt]

==External links==
* [http://www.clausewitz.com/readings/VomKriege1832/TOC.htm Online version of ''Vom Kriege'' - the 1832 German original]
* [http://www.clausewitz.com/readings/OnWar1873/TOC.htm Online version of ''On War'' - the 1873 English translation]
* [https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/1946 "On War"] by Carl von Clausewitz. [[Project Gutenberg|Project Gutenberg E-book]]. (2006, 2019). English translation of 1874 by Colonel J.J. Graham. Originally published in 1874 and 1909. 
* {{Librivox book | title=On War | author=Carl von Clausewitz }}

== External links ==
{{wikiquote|Carl von Clausewitz}}
{{wikisource}}
* [https://www.mindmeister.com/609061126/on-war Mind Map of ''On War'']
* [http://www.clausewitz.com/index.htm The Clausewitz Homepage]
* [https://www.clausewitz-gesellschaft.de/ Clausewitz Gesellschaft (Clausewitz Association)]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1832 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Books published posthumously]]
[[Category:Military strategy books]]
[[Category:Unfinished books]]
[[Category:German-language non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Works about the theory of history]]
[[Category:Works about warfare]]
[[Category:Carl von Clausewitz]]