The most famous work of the Prussian general by the name of Karl von Clausewitz is known to every educated person - this is a treatise on war. Despite the fact that Clausewitz’s statements are ubiquitous, very few people manage to read this 700-page work, which turned the idea of military confrontations upside down.
short biography
Karl von Clausewitz was from a noble family of nobles. He began his military career in 1792. Five years later, he became a graduate of the Berlin military school. Then Clausewitz was invited to the post of adjutant, so he began to serve at the court of Prince Augustus of Prussia. The young military took part in the confrontation between Prussia and France, which fell on 1806-1807. When Prussia was defeated, Karl von Clausewitz took an active part in the development of reforms relating to the army. At this time, he also began to teach at the school and write his first research work - "The basic principles of war."
Soon, Europe began to realize the inevitability of a clash between Russia and France. Clausewitz decided to come to Russia and begin his service in the Russian army, where he fought throughout the war under the leadership of General P.P. Palen. Clausewitz participated in the battle of Borodino.
The beginning of theoretical research
Since 1818, a military theorist worked as director of a military school in Berlin. At the same time, he conducts thorough theoretical studies of military affairs. More than 130 wars and clashes - this is the total amount of material that Karl von Clausewitz studied at that time.
“On the War” is the commander’s most ambitious work, although in addition to this work he wrote a number of studies. In his main work, Clausewitz examined concepts such as the purpose of the war, its content, methods of conduct, victory and defeat. Clausewitz is the first researcher to pay attention to the moral factor during the war.
It was Karl von Clausewitz who introduced the concept of “military operation”. Under this term, the theoretician understood the chain of battles, as well as the movement of troops to implement a specific plan. Clausewitz managed to prove that battle is inevitable during the war - an armed clash of two opposing forces. The various tricks of the military leaders and tactical moves can only slightly affect the overall outcome of the war, which is ultimately determined by the balance of power.
"On War" - the main work of the great general
Clausewitz's main work saw the light after his death (the military leader died of cholera). The treatise On War, published in 1832, is an unfinished study. During his life, the general changed some views, but did not manage to redo the work.
It is known that the main theorist who influenced the worldview of many military leaders at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries is Karl von Clausewitz. The books that he wrote in addition to his main work are “Principles of warfare”, “Italian campaign of Napoleon Bonaparte”, “German military thought”. Clausewitz continued to work on this major study, On War, throughout his life.
In his work, the military commander was mostly interested in armed clashes of the last century and a half. It was he who managed to show the futility of the so-called cabinet wars that took place in the XVII - XVIII centuries. He managed to contrast these oppositions with the lightning conquests of Napoleon. Their ultimate task was not the exhaustion of the enemy, but his quick crush. Clausewitz saw the main task of his work “On War” as revealing the secrets of Napoleon’s quick victories.
Clausewitz attitude to Russia
During his stay in the Russian Empire, Clausewitz was neither able to fall in love with the Russian people, nor learn the Russian language - which distinguished him from his compatriot Empress Catherine II. Despite this, his theoretical studies in the Russian Empire for a long time played a much larger role than in his native Germany. The image of this general was used by Leo Tolstoy himself in the famous novel "War and Peace." But there were those servicemen for whom Clausewitz was just a narrow-minded German, from whom they could hardly get new knowledge.
