Carl von Clausewitz was a Prussian military strategist born in 1780. He served in the Prussian and Russian armies against Napoleon. He is most famous for his book "On War" published after his death, which analyzed the political and moral aspects of war. He believed that war is a continuation of politics and developed theories of "absolute war" and the role of the state in limiting war to achieve political goals. His ideas on the nature of war and the relationship between war and politics have been highly influential in military and international relations theory.

1. Carl von Clausewitz
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2. Main topic
• Who was Carl von Clausewitz?
• Why is he so famous?
• What are Clausewitz's ideas?
• What Have We Learned
• Conclusion
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3. Carl von Clausewitz
– Prussian officer born in 1780.
– He came from a middle-class
social background.
– Clausewitz first entered combat
as a cadet at the age of 13.
– He served as a staff officer, and
as a prominent military educator.
– rose to the rank of Major-
General at 38.
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4. Cont…
– Married and moved in Berlin.
– wrote a military philosophy book “ On War”.
– Resigned his commission in 1812 and joined
the Russian Army to fight Napoleon.
– Idea’s of “on war” were heavily influenced by
the mass popular warfare of the French
Revolutionary period.
– Died in 1831 and his wife published his On
War in 1832.
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5. Why is he so famous?
• Clausewitz's fame is largely due to the
importance and influence of his book ”On War”.
• He wrote on the theory of warfare and strategy
that stressed the moral and political aspects of
war.
• His theories attract the interest of many.
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6. What are Clausewitz's
ideas?
• Pure War: Elimination or Complete Subjugation
of the Enemy by Force.
• Real War: All conditions and factors that impede
or block the realization of “Pure War”.
• The political objectives of using force by the
state is typically the principal constraint or limit to
“Pure War”.
• “Pure War” as such is politically and morally
without sense or meaning because all other
human values, interests, or preferences are
excluded.
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7. Cont…
• A system of nation-states, the monopoly of
violence under conditions in which no power or
authority rules the system, has implicitly a
tendency to move toward pure war if conflict
arises between states.
• “War of all against all” is projected by Clausewitz
from an individual or group level to state
relations and conflict.
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8. Cont..
• Force is the means of war, but to impose our will
on the enemy is its object.
• To secure that object we must render the enemy
powerless, and that in theory, is the true aim of
warfare.
• That aim takes the place of the object,
discarding it as something not actually part of
war itself.
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9. What Have We Learned
• The state is the principal unit of political
organization of the world’s diverse and
divided populations.
• Each state claims to be sovereign: that is,
it is the final authority over the population
living within a defined territory over which
it rules.
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10. Cont…
• The result is a state political system that is in
anarchy, since there is no world government
that has either the authority to rule the states
of the system.
• Thus the nation-state system is in principle a
warfare system.
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11. Conclusion
• Clausewitz is a very talented leader
• He has came out with a great philosophy
that is being used until today.
• Clausewitz ideas have been widely
influential in military theory.
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12. Q&A
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