Contribution of Clausewitz to the Development of Military Strategy Essay

Carl von Clausewitz or known as General Carl Phillip Gottfried von Clausewitz was born in Magdenburg in July 1, 1780 and died of cholera at the age of 51 in Breslau, Ger m whatever(prenominal) another(prenominal) in November 16, 1831. He leave a legacy that until this day his belles-lettres atomic number 18 lock away compulsory for meter reading in troops academies both in the US and Europe.He noted arrest Von Kriege or translated in English as On state of strugglef ar discusses many of his optimisms in considering strugglefare as an extension of governmental thoughts kind of than pure readings for forces strategies. Analysts theorize Clausewitzs theories of state of war were considerations during war and not provocations on how to stage war against the enemies.In fact, he is not the total war strategist of the absolute war as early(a) people branded him however even though his thoughts does not produce the art of making war our gird forces until today consider them as heavy(p) contri preciselyions to the information of soldiery strategies because of his concepts in advising good discussion in the event of war.Although Clausewitz wrote rough polar battle conditions, he goes pass on in relating battles to psycho luculent and policy-making considerations. He became popular in connecting his principles of war to be regarded as motivation for armament strategies because his theories advocate soldiers leading to act on certain situations according to the demand of the situation. accordingly his theories must(prenominal) never be utilise as models of committing war unless to dole out as aids to judgment during wars.However, with the passing of time most of his tactical views were altered or replaced by new(prenominal) governmental and strategic thoughts but what he left about force systems and semipolitical strategies are regarded as pure old-hat for armed forces strategic commitments (Teijebakker, 2008).Clausewitz serve d as a Prussian soldier, force historian and soldiers theorist whose square off was most famous for soldiers treatise. Although disperseicipated in army campaigns, his sole suggest was to be a military theorist and do mental testings of war.  During his time, other soldiers in any case examined the war during the Napoleonic era but not any of them has undertook the massiveest philosophic examination of war other than Clausewitz and Tolstoy did. other dandy writer, Jomini also took the same poster as Clausewitz but while Jomini establish his theories on the system of war, Clausewitz writes on the philosophical view of it. If we are going to asses Clausewitzs philosophical view that militaries based the development of their strategies, we stub see that Clausewitz has been equal to introduced taxonomic philosophical inspection into Western and European military thinking. His strategic principles have stiff implications that are utilise for historical and analytic al writing but also for logical policy, military education and planning on operations.Clausewitz believes that war is scarce a ingrained event that is region of social organisms such(prenominal) as man and ceaselessly part of practical pick up. He underlined that warfare is respectable as changeable as our societies that is why on that point is the need for the distinction in manipulating strategies and tactics. He also asserted that there are no fixed principles that are adapted for tactical calculations and no laws for strategies both because wars are not on the whole the same.This lovely of philosophy motivates military leaders to require that because of the changeable attitude and conditions of war, Clausewitz provokes on the intellect that demur is a stronger form of strategic principle than iniquity. This is because as Clausewitz warned, once yucky reward has an imbalance of momentum such as a weakened or divided forces, the offensive stance lowlife transform into a defensive orientation. So the general principle, as he stresses, is that defensive measure is a prerequisite for good offense (Abegglen, 2003).Moreover, Clausewitz great emphasis on military strategies is that he wants to emphasize that wars are the prolongation of government policies or in other words an extension of governance. There is warfare because war is motivated by political objectives and the only means to achieve these political objectives is the commitment of war.Therefore he argues that what determines the part and activities of military operations are what the military leaders do in succeeding(a) the authority given to them by the commonwealth driven by political aims. In this manner, since the military are under the judgement governing body of the state, the states which compose of the earth sector can also consumption their authority over military activities. further what was the most important message Clausewitz wants to acquit is that although war is not extraordinary, the waging of war must be dependent on the political situation of those who wages it and with their eitheries and enemies. The talent of the military is not an assurance for triumph but a defensive war seems to be the contributory factor in achieving victory.The machines that man made for human re importantder and the skill those soldiers learned were all part of human endeavor to achieve victory. but these machines are useless unless use in the battlefield and maneuvered with precise objectiveistic t unrivaled-beginning to warfare which include the art of defense and offense and military skills (Jolley, 2003).As a Prussian staff officer with political and military responsibility and with combat experience against armies of Revolutionary France, Clausewitz is prominently a military educator. Having to rise to the rank of a Major-General at the age of 38, his have On state of war which was compose in Germanic speech became the most important work that is written that deals on the theory of warfare and strategy. The carry tells of theories on the area of interest of military strategists, historians, political thinkers and political scientists.Clausewitz has met so many oppositions with his theories contain in his books but his influence is so great that even the Marxists-Leninists, the great navalists Sir Julian Stafford Corbett and the American nuclear strategists practice his principles to their own theoretical act. Although they have dissimilar culture, background and military orientation they all share the same belief that Clausewitzs writings are of heavy grandeur not because only of their content but because of the influential his great brainiac has perceived.The book On War itself is always very(prenominal) hard to read and comprehend because it was still in its unfinished state and so the subjects seem too hard to follow. So many nations and great minds have failed to check it because of its unfamiliar style. But because Clausewitzs statements fructify great political thinking, precise military planning with principles of strategic calculations that are used by organizations in developing different strategies, Clausewitzs ideas evoke superiority in leadership and management in war and of societies.His continuation of defining policy with governing by other means happens to be misunderstood because probably his perception provokes alarm and opposition. According to him he objects on the reference of policy makers because these so-called policy makers always tend to create war just to achieve their goals when they cannot achieve it through pacifist(prenominal) means. On the other hand, experienced politicians and soldiers are against it because they know that war becomes really dangerous, disorganised and unpredictable when it is created for political goals.Another great significance of Clausewitzs theory to the advantage on the development of military strategy is that his ideas integra tes a vast twine of military strikes which include political, strategic, operational, analytical, tactical, pedagogical and historical concern that are in relation with the fundamental socio-political framework of the military.The good things about his theories is that they also victoryfully interrelates to a wide range of consideration and can adapt to any political and historical changes that is why until today, Clausewitzs concept of strategies on war and politics are still being apply as fundamental in military statesmanship (Bassford, 1996).But what are the main teachings of Clausewitz that they are still utilized in the management of military strategies today?  In teaching Clausewitzs concept of strategies, military officials try to imbue to their soldiers how to analyze Clausewitzs theory of war so that they can check on its applicability on the military power on any given time.The soldiers must be able to assess the learning concepts with thorough examination such as learning the constitution of warfare as compared during the French novelty against todays practical application of military concept. As Clausewitz advised, mission digest is necessary to provide the learners or soldiers the modern understanding of war, the nature of war, the purpose of war and the conduct of war. Assessing these activities help the soldiers develop in internalizing their way of thinking so that they may be critical in all areas of war and discover the characteristic of the opponent. grounds the adversary makes the soldiers be critical on what analytical approach they can do to gain advantage during war. Then the essential points of engagement and following policies must be conveyed to the soldiers.These essential points include how to interact with war and its policy, understanding absolute war vs. the real war, perception on the moral and material dimensions of war, strategic effects for the future leaders of war, understanding the sources of power and th e dialectics of offense and defense. By assessing the principles of Clausewitz, we can now measure success according to the management of war (Bassford, 1985).As a conclusion, as Clausewitz always presuppose that as wars are conceived, the generals of war must have clear idea on what are the goal of this wars. The militaries are learning from Clausewitzs admonition that no one starts a war or rather nobody in his right mind ought to start a war without prioritizing what the objectives are. The objectives of war can be of political purpose which the military must be cognizant while the conduct of war is the operational part wherein the military must lean accordingly. This governing principle of Clausewitz will narrow every war on its ancestry and thus contributory to the development of military strategy.ReferencesABEGGLEN, C. M. V. (2003) The Influence of Clausewitz on Jominis Prcis de lArt de la Guerre Erlenstrasse 3  4414 Fllinsdorf, Kings College London. addressable from universal resource locator http//www.homepage.bluewin.ch/abegglen/papers/clausewitz_influence_on_jomini.pdfBASSFORD, C. (1985) An Instructors Guide To Teaching Clausewitz. Available from URL http//www.clausewitz.com/CWZHOME/KassNWC/KassNotes3.htmlBASSFORD, C. (1996) Review Essay Carl von Clausewitz, On War (Berlin, 1832). Available from URL http//www.clausewitz.com/CWZHOME/CREV/CWZREV.htm