Von Clausewitz, Karl (1780–1831)

Prussian soldier and thinker, author of On War, one of the most influential books on military strategy. The book introduced to the field of military theory concepts such as friction, fog of war, and center of gravity, which became common currency in military strategy as well as in other military fields. In the United States, von Clausewitz became particularly prominent after the Vietnam War. On War was adopted as a key text at the Naval War College (NWC) in 1976, the Air War College in 1978, and the Army War College (AWC) in 1981.

Life

Karl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz was born on June 1, 1780, near Magdeburg, Germany, part of the former Prussian empire. Coming from middle-class origins, the von Clausewitz family reached nobility in 1827, thanks to Karl's achievements. At age 12, von Clausewitz entered the Prussian army and spent five years in garrison duties while broadening his education beyond military topics. He studied art, science, and education and entered the Institute for Young Officers in Berlin in 1801.

Prussia declared war on France in 1806, and von Clausewitz was eager to fight. Prussians were defeated in battles at Jena and Auerstadt, and von Clausewitz was captured and detained until 1808. In the peace settlement at the end of the war, Prussia lost half of its population and territory and became a French satellite. Writing in the 1820s, von Clausewitz offered a strong critique of 1806 Prussia called Observations on Prussia in its Great Catastrophe.

When Prussia provided an army corps to Napoleon's France to assist in the 1812 invasion of Russia, von Clausewitz, along with many other Prussian officers, resigned from the Prussian army. He then accepted a commission in the Russian army, fought in the battle of Borodino, and witnessed the disastrous French retreat from Moscow.

After Prussia changed sides in the French-Russian struggle, von Clausewitz was reintegrated in the Prussian army as a colonel. Between 1813 and 1814, he participated in many battles of the War of Liberation. At Lützen, he led several cavalry charges and was wounded. In 1818, von Clausewitz was promoted to general and became administrative head of the General War College in Berlin. During those years, he began to draft some theoretical work that eventually became On War.

Von Clausewitz returned to active duty with the army in 1830, when he was appointed commander of a group of artillery brigades stationed in eastern Prussia. He was later sent to the Polish border. Before leaving, he sealed his unfinished manuscripts. Back from Poland in 1831, he fell ill with cholera and died on November 16, at the age of 51, leaving a number of manuscripts unfinished.

On War

In the first pages of On War, von Clausewitz introduced the term absolute war, a concept that does not exist in the real world. It means war in a pure form—unlimited by frictional effects of time, space, and [Page 800]human behavior—that takes place in one instantaneous maximum effort by both warring parties. In the rest of the book, von Clausewitz dealt with real war—war as it exists in the real world. Real war is constrained by social and political context, by human nature, and by the restrictions imposed by time and space.

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