Back Carl von Clausewitz Afrikaans Carl von Clausewitz AN كارل فون كلاوزفيتز Arabic كارل فون كلاوزفيتز ARZ Carl von Clausewitz AST Karl fon Klauzevits Azerbaijani کارل فون کلاوزویتس AZB Карл фон Клаўзевіц Byelorussian Карл фон Клаузевиц Bulgarian Carl von Clausewitz Breton
Carl von Clausewitz | |
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 Carl von Clausewitz in Prussian service; portrait by Wilhelm Wach, early 1830s | |
| Birth name | Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz |
| Born | 1 June 1780 Burg bei Magdeburg, Kingdom of Prussia, Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 16 November 1831 (aged 51) Breslau, Province of Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia |
| Allegiance |
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| Service | Prussian Army |
| Years of service | 1792–1831 |
| Rank | Major general |
| Unit | Russian–German Legion (III Corps) |
| Commands | Kriegsakademie |
| Battles / wars | |
| Spouse(s) | |
Carl Philipp Gottfried (or Gottlieb) von Clausewitz[note 1] (/ˈklaʊzəvɪts/ KLOW-zə-vits, German: [ˈkaʁl fɔn ˈklaʊzəvɪts] ⓘ; 1 July 1780 – 16 November 1831)[1] 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 (About War), though unfinished at his death, is considered a seminal treatise on military strategy and science.
Clausewitz stressed the multiplex interaction of diverse factors in war, 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 one of the most famous is, "War is the continuation of policy with other means."[2]: 87
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- ^ Bassford, Christopher (March 8, 2016). "Clausewitz and His Works". Clausewitz.com. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
- ^ Clausewitz, Carl von (1984) [1832]. Howard, Michael; Paret, Peter (eds.). On War [Vom Krieg] (Indexed ed.). New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-691-01854-6.