The law of the extreme, the view to disarm the adversary, to overthrow him, has hitherto to a certain extent usurped the place of this end or object. If you have always believed that everyone should play by the same rules and be judged by the same standards, that would have gotten you labeled a radical 60 years ago, a liberal 30 years ago and a racist today. Violence, that is to say, physical force (for there is no moral force without the conception of States and Law), is therefore the means; the compulsory submission of the enemy to our will is the ultimate object. Shall theory leave it here, and move on, self-satisfied with absolute conclusions and rules? We shall not enter into any of the abstruse definitions of War used by publicists. We see that the conception of an equilibrium cannot explain a suspension of arms, but that it ends in the question of the expectation of a more favourable moment. Here is the passage in full: We see, therefore, that War is not merely a political act, but also a real political instrument, a continuation of political commerce, a carrying out of the same by other means. WAR IS A MERE CONTINUATION OF POLICY BY OTHER MEANS. The problem is, therefore, that theory shall keep itself poised in a manner between these three tendencies, as between three points of attraction. Primarily the element in which the operations of War are carried on is danger; but which of all the moral qualities is the first in danger? This is expressed by the product of two factors which cannot be separated, namely, the sum of available means and the strength of the Will. The range which the display of courage and talents shall get in the realm of probabilities and of chance depends on the particular characteristics of the General and his Army, but the political objects belong to the Government alone. Let us suppose, therefore, that one of two States has a positive object, as, for instance, the conquest of one of the enemy’s provinces—which is to be utilised in the settlement of peace. Polarity therefore lies in that to which both bear a relation, in the decision, but not in the attack or defence itself. "When politics develops to a certain stage beyond which it cannot proceed by usual means, ware breaks out to sweep the obstacles from the way. Courage and self-reliance are, therefore, principles quite essential to War; consequently, theory must only set up such rules as allow ample scope for all degrees and varieties of these necessary and noblest of military virtues. logically to Clausewitz'sfamous dictum that war is "a true political instru­ ment, a continuation ofpolitical activity by other means.,,10 With the addition ofthis third dimension-thesubordination ofwar to policy-tohis earlier construct ofa duality ofwar, Clausewitz refines his concept by concluding that "as a total phenomenon its dominant tendencies But the adversary does the same; therefore, there is a new mutual enhancement, which, in pure conception, must create a fresh effort towards an extreme. But, now, man with his incomplete organisation is always below the line of absolute perfection, and thus these deficiencies, having an influence on both sides, become a modifying principle. The aphorism encapsulates the turmoil our nation is going through today. It is easy to see that thus the result may be very different according as these masses are animated with a spirit which will infuse vigour into the action or otherwise. Now, the first, the grandest, and most decisive act of judgment which the Statesman and General exercises is rightly to understand in this respect the War in which he engages, not to take it for something, or to wish to make of it something, which by the nature of its relations it is impossible for it to be. "War is the continuation of politics by other means." If these qualities are forthcoming in a high degree, the margin left may likewise be great. From this it follows that the disarming or overthrow of the enemy, whichever we call it, must always be the aim of Warfare. CWT Cognitive Samples of Behavior - State the three enduring truths that describe the fundamental nature of war. (2) If it is limited to a single solution, or to several simultaneous solutions. If we would conceive as a unit the countless number of duels which make up a War, we shall do so best by supposing to ourselves two wrestlers. We see, therefore, that War is not merely a political act, but also a real political instrument, a continuation of political commerce, a carrying out of the same by other means. There is therefore everywhere a margin for the accidental, and just as much in the greatest things as in the smallest. Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies. The second point gives rise to the following considerations:—. However plausible this may appear, still it is an error which must be extirpated; for in such dangerous things as War, the errors which proceed from a spirit of benevolence are the worst. To Clausewitz, wars were multi-causal, but there was always a political purpose to them. Then it is of no practical use. Two motives lead men to War: instinctive hostility and hostile intention. About this more or less we shall not trouble ourselves here. This is, therefore, the first, the most comprehensive, of all strategical questions. Therefore, if we find civilised nations do not put their prisoners to death, do not devastate towns and countries, this is because their intelligence exercises greater influence on their mode of carrying on War, and has taught them more effectual means of applying force than these rude acts of mere instinct. - Define war according to Clausewitz. For Clausewitz, “war is not merely a political act but a real political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse, a carrying out of the same by other means,” (On War (1943), pp. Each Commander can only fully know his own position; that of his opponent can only be known to him by reports, which are uncertain; he may, therefore, form a wrong judgment with respect to it upon data of this description, and, in consequence of that error, he may suppose that the power of taking the initiative rests with his adversary when it lies really with himself. The political object will be so much the more the standard of aim and effort, and have more influence in itself, the more the masses are indifferent, the less that any mutual feeling of hostility prevails in the two States from other causes, and therefore there are cases where the political object almost alone will be decisive. Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) was a Prussian general and military theorist who once declared that “War is the continuation of politics by other means”. The former then dictates the law to the latter, and both proceed to extremities to which the only limitations are those imposed by the amount of counteracting force on each side. If the whole consideration is a calculation of probability based on definite persons and relations, then the political object, being the original motive, must be an essential factor in the product. War therefore is an act of violence intended to compel our opponent to fulfil our will. A healthy democracy requires a decent society; it requires that we are honorable, generous, tolerant and respectful. This Will is not an entirely unknown quantity; it indicates what it will be to-morrow by what it is to-day. Another important principle introduced by Clausewitz was that of ‘trinitarian war’. Just as this law loses its force, the political object must again come forward. This is the second reciprocal action, and leads to a second extreme (second reciprocal action). [* ]It must be remembered that all this antedates by some years the introduction of long-range weapons. This want of perfect insight might certainly just as often occasion an untimely action as untimely inaction, and hence it would in itself no more contribute to delay than to accelerate action in War. Carl von Clausewitz, Prussian general and military thinker, whose work Vom Kriege (1832; On War) has become one of the most respected classics on military strategy. The most famous assertion of war's status as a means occurs in Carl von Clausewitz's On War, where war is identified as “a political instrument, a continuation of po-litical activity by other means” – politics being defined, elsewhere in the same work, as the “trustee” and “repre- But if the result is made up from several successive acts, then naturally that which precedes with all its phases may be taken as a measure for that which will follow, and in this manner the world of reality again takes the place of the abstract, and thus modifies the effort towards the extreme. But the slower the action proceeds in War, the more frequent and longer the periods of inaction, so much the more easily can an error be repaired; therefore, so much the bolder a General will be in his calculations, so much the more readily will he keep them below the line of the absolute, and build everything upon probabilities and conjecture. For the present we content ourselves with having brought the subject up to this point, and having thereby fixed the chief point of view from which War and its theory are to be studied. Clausewitz: War as Politics by other Means, Politics and the Army in the English Civil War Part 1, Politics and the Army in the English Civil War Part 2, Politics and the Army in the English Civil War Part 3, Sumner, The Conquest of the US by Spain (1898). The more violent the excitement which precedes the War, by so much the nearer will the War approach to its abstract form, so much the more will it be directed to the destruction of the enemy, so much the nearer will the military and political ends coincide, so much the more purely military and less political the War appears to be; but the weaker the motives and the tensions, so much the less will the natural direction of the military element—that is, force—be coincident with the direction which the political element indicates; so much the more must, therefore, the War become diverted from its natural direction, the political object diverge from the aim of an ideal War, and the War appear to become political. If it is A’s interest not to attack his enemy at present, but four weeks hence, then it is B’s interest to be attacked, not four weeks hence, but at the present moment. The smaller the sacrifice we demand from our opponent, the smaller, it may be expected, will be the means of resistance which he will employ; but the smaller his preparation, the smaller will ours require to be. There would be in many cases an unnecessary waste of power, which would be in opposition to other principles of statecraft; an effort of Will would be required disproportioned to the proposed object, which therefore it would be impossible to realise, for the human will does not derive its impulse from logical subtleties. If the adversary is also contented with this solution, he will make peace; if not, he must act. There are circumstances in which the equivalent must be much greater than the political object, in order to secure the latter. 2), viz., the political object of the War. These forces are the armies actually on foot, the country, with its superficial extent and its population, and the allies. 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