Clausewitz was born in 1780 to a family of tax officials in Prussia. He loved the army since he was a child. /kloc-joined the prussian army at the age of 0/2,/kloc-set foot on the battlefield against France at the age of 0/3, and was promoted to second lieutenant soon. 180 1 was selected for further study at Berlin army university. In the military academy, he studied hard and was diligent in thinking, which won the appreciation of President General Shane holst. After graduating from military school, he was recommended to serve as an adjutant in Prince Auguste's army.
At that time, the troops of the anti-French alliance countries and Napoleon's army were at war. 1806, clausewitz participated in the famous Battle of Jena and the Battle of Olstadt with the prince. Pu Jun's army was defeated, and he was captured after the defeat. After being released to China the following year, he deeply felt that the old military system could not adapt to the modern war, so he actively called for and participated in the reform of the Prussian army. 18 10, clausewitz was appointed as an instructor at the Berlin Army University. During his teaching, he wrote "Introduction to Military Training" and taught military courses to Prince Prussia. 18 12, William III, king of Prussia, made an alliance with Napoleon, who was preparing to launch a war of aggression against Russia. Clausewitz resigned from his teaching post in a fit of pique and went to Russia to take part in the war against Napoleon. After Napoleon's defeat, he returned to the Prussian army and began to study war theory. 18 18 became president of Berlin Military Academy and promoted to general. He is 38 years old. 12 years, he devoted himself to the research of military theory and war history, and wrote books.
/kloc-The French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and the national liberation movement of the European people at the beginning of the 9th century had a decisive influence on the formation of clausewitz's world outlook and military outlook. Although clausewitz opposed the French Revolution, he also clearly saw the fundamental changes in the military caused by this revolution and made a sharp attack on the feudal military theory.
However, clausewitz's view is still bourgeois moderation, and his progressive view is mixed with reactionary thoughts, Prussian nationalism and militarism. The theoretical basis of clausewitz's view is the idealism philosophy of German Kant, Fichte and Hegel. Under the guidance of this idealistic philosophy, he first analyzed the interrelation and development of a series of phenomena such as war and military art in bourgeois military science. Clausewitz studied more than 30 wars and battles in 1566- 18 15, and wrote about the Dutch War of Independence, Gustav II Adolf War, Louis XIV War, Frederick II War, Napoleonic War,18/kloc. But his main work is about war.
The conclusion of On War is: "War is a political tool, which inevitably has political characteristics ... War is politics itself in its main aspect, but it does not stop thinking according to its own laws." Lenin once spoke highly of clausewitz's argument.
However, as an idealist, clausewitz regarded his country's politics as the representative of the whole social interests, but did not understand that the driving force of politics itself was class struggle. He thinks that war is only the continuation of foreign policy, but he doesn't realize the connection between war and domestic policy, which separates politics from economy, politics from social system and politics from class struggle. Because he did not reveal the sociality and class nature of war, he could not explain the aggressiveness or justice of war when discussing specific wars.
Clausewitz believes that "every era should have its own specific war", and the change of military art is caused by "new social conditions and social relations". Clausewitz has done a lot of work in studying military art theory and its components-strategy and Science of Tactics. He opposed the "eternal principle" in military art and believed that the phenomenon of war was constantly developing. At the same time, he denied the regularity in military development and asserted that "war is a field full of contingency and uncertainty".
Clausewitz was the first in western military science to clearly put forward some implementation principles of engagement, war situation and even the whole war: using all forces to the maximum; Concentrate as many troops as possible in the main attack direction; Give play to the suddenness, rapidity and firmness of military action; Make effective use of what has been achieved.
Clausewitz revealed the winning role of spiritual factors, which is also his great contribution to military theory. Clausewitz believes that the main spiritual strength is: the ability of the commander-in-chief, the military morality of the army and its national spirit. However, because clausewitz didn't understand the social essence of war and the decisive role of people in the process and result of war, he exaggerated the role of commander-in-chief, so he couldn't recognize the real source of spiritual factors.
Clausewitz's works constitute a complete stage in the development history of western military thought. His war theory is an important insight into the nature of war and other issues. "On War" explores the mysteries of war to a depth that no military theorist has reached for more than 100 years after the death of clausewitz. It is regarded as a classic of modern western military theory and has attracted the attention of all countries. In the introduction of the fifth edition of On War, Count von steffen, who was the chief of staff of the German Army and the planner of the "steffen Plan", wrote: "It is the highest opinion on war in history, both in form and content" and "through it, a whole generation of outstanding soldiers have been trained". General Dahl O. Smith, the author of American Military Doctrine, wrote: "Although clausewitz's theory did not originate in the United States, it has an important influence on American combat methods and policies." No matter in the western camp or the communist camp, clausewitz's theory is highly valued and has a large number of supporters. Clausewitz himself is therefore regarded as the originator of modern western military theory.