Clausewitz, Carl (Philipp Gottlieb) von

Clausewitz, Carl (Philipp Gottlieb) von
born June 1, 1780, Burg, near Magdeburg, Prussia
died Nov. 16, 1831, Breslau, Silesia

Prussian general and author.

Born to a poor middle-class professional family, he joined the Prussian army at age 12 and entered the War College in Berlin in 1801. After serving with distinction in the Napoleonic Wars, he became a general and was appointed director of the War College (1818). His major work on strategy, On War (1832–37), analyzed the workings of military genius by isolating the factors that decide success in war. Rather than producing a rigid system of strategy, he emphasized the necessity of a critical approach to strategic problems. He asserted that war is a tool for achieving political aims rather than an end in itself ("merely the continuation of policy by other means") and argued that defensive warfare is both militarily and politically the stronger position. He also advocated the concept of total war. Published posthumously, On War had a profound influence on modern military strategy.

Carl von Clausewitz, lithograph by Franz Michelis after an oil painting by Wilhelm Wach, 1830.

By courtesy of the Staatsbibliothek, West Berlin

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • von — /von/; Ger. /fawn/, unstressed /feuhn/, prep. from; of (used in German and Austrian personal names, originally to indicate place of origin and later to indicate nobility): Paul von Hindenburg. * * * (as used in expressions) Friedrich Leopold… …   Universalium

  • carl — carlish, adj. carlishness, n. /kahrl/, n. 1. Scot. a. a strong, robust fellow, esp. a strong manual laborer. b. a miser; an extremely thrifty person. 2. Archaic. a churl. 3. Obs. a bondman. Also, carle. [bef. 1000 (in compounds; see HOUSECARL);… …   Universalium

  • Carl — /kahrl/, n. a male given name, form of Charles. * * * (as used in expressions) Andre Carl Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Carl XVI Gustaf Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus Clausewitz Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Correns Carl Erich Cuno Wilhelm Carl Josef Ditters …   Universalium

  • Carl — ► (1895 1982) Compositor, director de orquesta y profesor alemán. Obras: Carmina Burana (1937), Catulli Carmina, El triunfo de Afrodita (1951) y Comoedia de Christi resurrectione (1955). * * * (as used in expressions) Andre, Carl Bach, Carl… …   Enciclopedia Universal

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  • Philipp — (as used in expressions) Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Clausewitz, Carl (Philipp Gottlieb) von Haeckel, Ernst (Heinrich Philipp August) Melanchthon, Philipp Philipp Schwartzerd Semmelweis, Ignaz (Philipp) Telemann, Georg Philipp …   Enciclopedia Universal

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