It is difficult to find a more demanding profession in terms of mental agility, psychological penetration and discernment of situations than that of a military strategist.

Newsroom (20/08/2023 09:00, Gaudium Press) The different domains of human artistic, cultural or intellectual production differ from one another not only because of their own object, derived from a specific purpose, or based on any human need or convenience. Behind each skill, a universe of principles, a determined method and a manifest objective will demand of those who tread a certain path an application – sometimes immense – that is completely different from that required of someone who has decided to take another route.

It is clear that a pediatrician may know absolutely nothing about cooking, while a cook will not know more than the basics about childhood viruses. But it is also true that, as well as the methods involved in progressing in one career differing from those of another, the circumstances and difficulties involved in each will also have their own peculiar developments and consequences.

In this sense, it is difficult to find a more demanding profession in terms of mental agility, psychological penetration and discernment of situations than that of a military strategist. Because “in war, more than anywhere else, things happen in a different way to how someone had imagined them, and they look different up close to how they look from a distance. How calmly the architect can set up his work and move forward with his design! The doctor, even when faced with a much greater number of contingencies and unfathomable facts than the architect, knows exactly the form and effects of the means he employs.

“In war, on the other hand, the guide of a large ensemble finds himself in a tumultuous sea of true and false news, of faults committed out of fear, negligence, rashness; of recurrences, which are presented to him with the false or true appearance of ill will, feelings of apparent or real duty, laziness or exhaustion; of contingencies that no one had foreseen.”

The text transcribed above is taken from “Vom Kriege” – “On War”, a true masterpiece, a classic of military strategy. Its author, von Clausewitz, was a 19th century Prussian military strategist and one of the greatest experts in military art of his time.

Biographical features

Carl von Clausewitz was born in Burg, Prussia, on 1 June 1780, to a petty bourgeois family. A reform undertaken in the Prussian armed forces after the death of Frederick the Great allowed commoners to join their ranks, which led to Carl and two of his brothers being accepted as cadets.

His military life began before the age of thirteen, when he took part in the fight against the French in the Rhineland and then in the reconquest of Moguldom, between 1793 and 1795. Possessing a broad and acute vision, he took the opportunity to observe and reflect on the methods used, acquiring a taste for the art of military strategy.

He enriched his knowledge by entering the hotly contested military school in Berlin in 1801. As a graduate, he confronted the prevailing theories of traditional military strategy and emphasised the need for political involvement for the success of any campaign.

Innovation in tactics and strategy

His genius and military acumen were the starting point for a series of reforms in war tactics, which emphasised the importance of the process of instruction and training for soldiers. In fact, the failure inflicted by Napoleonic troops on the Prussian army at Auerstedt (1806) was attributed to the government’s lack of involvement in military affairs and obsolete war tactics.

From then on, Clausewitz’s work in the military became increasingly intense, with his participation in important functions. Amongst these, he was a member of the commission responsible for drawing up new operational and tactical regulations for the army.

His conception of military strategy encompassed, in addition to the practical sphere, a profound philosophical reflection on war and peace. This reflection led to the consideration of the moral character of war; for example, advocating the execution of the adversary on occasions when he could simply be disarmed rather than killed is no longer ethical.

Also in this line of value principles, defended by the Prussian strategist, are the precise understanding of objectives, the availability of means, the rational calculation of opportunities and ethical limits.

One of the points developed in “Vom Kriege”, on the relationship between offensive and defensive tactics, is the list of three essential elements: surprise effect, knowledge of the terrain and multiple attack.

This implies an understanding of defence as naturally advantageous, given prior knowledge of the terrain, which allows the most effective use of the surprise effect by deploying certain contingents in unexpected places. Therefore, the army proposing the attack must judge its forces and conditions well: these must be more favourable than those which, as a rule, require the defensive situation.

Revenge against Napoleon

Clausewitz also served the Russian crown by joining its ranks in 1812. Using the rank of colonel, he defeated Napoleon’s troops that same year and expelled the French from the Baltic Sea shortly afterwards. Back in Prussia, he led the staff of the 3rd Corps that defeated Grouchy’s troops in June 1815, preventing them from joining Napoleon’s ranks at Waterloo during the Hundred Days.

The last years of his life were devoted to revising “Vom Kriege”, a masterly work in which he presented practically his entire concept of military theory in its most diverse areas.

At the age of 51, stricken with cholera, he died in Breslau before completing the revision of the book, on 16 November 1831.

Perseverance: an essential characteristic of the fighter

Particularly interesting is the chapter of “Vom Kriege” in which Clausewitz discusses perseverance as a decisive factor for victory. In reality, the principles listed there transcend the fields of military life and can be perfectly applied to the daily life of any human being.

Below is an extract from that chapter:

“He [the man during the war] will find himself delivered to thousands of unforeseen events: the smallest number, the encouraging ones; with an alarmist tendency, the majority. Long experience of war gives the necessary tact to quickly appreciate the value of each one of them; a high spirit and great personal energy resist them, like a rock against the waves.

He who yields to these impressions will not realise any of his undertakings, and that is why perseverance in the agreed plan is a necessary counterweight […]. On the other hand, there is hardly a famous enterprise in war that has not been carried out through infinite effort, hardship and privation, and when a man’s physical and moral weakness is willing to give way, a great force of will can carry it through to the end, announcing to the world and to posterity his admirable constancy.“

By Rodrigo Siqueira

With files taken from: CLAUSEWITZ, Carl von. On War. Barcelona: Obelisco, 2021, p. 186-187. (Our translation).

Compiled by Sandra Chisholm