Carl Philipp Gottfried (or Gottlieb) von Clausewitz (German pronunciation: [ˌkaʁl fɔn ˈklaʊ̯zəvɪt͡s] (listen); 1 June 1780 – 16 November 1831) was a Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the "moral", in modern terms meaning psychological, and political aspects of waging war. His most notable work, Vom Kriege ("On War"), though unfinished at his death, is considered a seminal treatise on military strategy. Clausewitz was a realist in many different senses, including realpolitik, and while in some respects a romantic, he also drew heavily on the rationalist ideas of the European Enlightenment. Clausewitz's thinking is often described as Hegelian because of his dialectical method; but, although he was probably personally acquainted with Hegel, there remains debate about whether Clausewitz was influenced by him.: 183–232 He stressed the dialectical interaction of diverse factors, noting how unexpected developments unfolding under the "fog of war" (i.e., in the face of incomplete, dubious, and often erroneous information and great fear, doubt, and excitement) call for rapid decisions by alert commanders. He saw history as a vital check on erudite abstractions that did not accord with experience. In contrast to the early work of Antoine-Henri Jomini, he argued that war could not be quantified or …
Carl von Clausewitz
Author details
- Born:
- June 1, 1780
- Died:
- Nov. 16, 1831
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Carl Philipp Gottfried (or Gottlieb) von Clausewitz (German pronunciation: [ˌkaʁl fɔn ˈklaʊ̯zəvɪt͡s] (listen); 1 June 1780 – 16 November 1831) was a Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the "moral", in modern terms meaning psychological, and political aspects of waging war. His most notable work, Vom Kriege ("On War"), though unfinished at his death, is considered a seminal treatise on military strategy. Clausewitz was a realist in many different senses, including realpolitik, and while in some respects a romantic, he also drew heavily on the rationalist ideas of the European Enlightenment. Clausewitz's thinking is often described as Hegelian because of his dialectical method; but, although he was probably personally acquainted with Hegel, there remains debate about whether Clausewitz was influenced by him.: 183–232 He stressed the dialectical interaction of diverse factors, noting how unexpected developments unfolding under the "fog of war" (i.e., in the face of incomplete, dubious, and often erroneous information and great fear, doubt, and excitement) call for rapid decisions by alert commanders. He saw history as a vital check on erudite abstractions that did not accord with experience. In contrast to the early work of Antoine-Henri Jomini, he argued that war could not be quantified or reduced to mapwork, geometry, and graphs. Clausewitz had many aphorisms, of which the most famous is "War is the continuation of policy with other means." (often misquoted as "... by other means").: 87
