189-447: Carl Philipp Gottfried (or Gottlieb ) von Clausewitz ( / ˈ k l aʊ z ə v ɪ t s / KLOW -zə-vits , German: [ˈkaʁl fɔn ˈklaʊzəvɪts] ; 1 July 1780 – 16 November 1831) was a Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the "moral" (in modern terms meaning psychological ) and political aspects of waging war. His most notable work, Vom Kriege ( About War ), though unfinished at his death,
378-479: A "C" in order to identify with the classical Western tradition; writers who use "Karl" are often seeking to emphasize their German (rather than European) identity. "Carl Philipp Gottfried" appears on Clausewitz's tombstone. Nonetheless, sources such as military historian Peter Paret and Encyclopædia Britannica continue to use Gottlieb instead of Gottfried. Clausewitz was born on 1 July 1780 in Burg bei Magdeburg in
567-472: A "dissolution of rationality" amongst decision-makers. The end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century have seen many instances of state armies attempting to suppress insurgencies and terrorism , and engaging in other forms of asymmetrical warfare . Clausewitz did not focus solely on wars between countries with well-defined armies. The era of the French Revolution and Napoleon
756-402: A British military dictionary dating from 1816, an ADC usually held rank equal to, or more senior than, an army captain . "Generals, being field marshals have four [aides-de-camp], lieutenant generals two, [and] major generals one". The sovereign, as head of the army , was entitled to appoint "an indefinite number of aides-de-camp". Under Queen Victoria, appointments were made (from both
945-548: A conflict did occur, presumably both combatants would be annihilated . Heavily influenced by the war in Vietnam and by antipathy to American strategist Henry Kissinger , the American biologist, musician, and game-theorist Anatol Rapoport argued in 1968 that a Clausewitzian view of war was not only obsolete in the age of nuclear weapons, but also highly dangerous as it promoted a "zero-sum paradigm" to international relations and
1134-652: A considerably more moderate policy. Upon Frederick William IV's death in 1861 he succeeded to the Prussian throne as William I . However, shortly after becoming king, he faced a dispute with his parliament over the size of the army. The parliament, dominated by the liberals, balked at William's desire to increase the number of regiments and withheld approval of the budget to pay for its cost. A deadlock ensued, and William seriously considered abdicating in favour of his son, Crown Prince Frederick . Ultimately, he decided to appoint as prime minister Otto von Bismarck , at that time
1323-495: A dynamic, inherently unstable interaction of the forces of violent emotion, chance, and rational calculation. Another example of this confusion is the idea that Clausewitz was a proponent of total war as used in the Third Reich's propaganda in the 1940s. In fact, Clausewitz never used the term "total war": rather, he discussed "absolute war," a concept which evolved into the much more abstract notion of "ideal war" discussed at
1512-536: A famous chapter on "The People in Arms". One prominent critic of Clausewitz is the Israeli military historian Martin van Creveld . In his 1991 book The Transformation of War , Creveld argued that Clausewitz's famous "Trinity" of people, army, and government was an obsolete socio-political construct based on the state, which was rapidly passing from the scene as the key player in war, and that he (Creveld) had constructed
1701-544: A historian and analyst than as a theorist. See for example Wellington's extended essay discussing Clausewitz's study of the Campaign of 1815—Wellington's only serious written discussion of the battle, which was widely discussed in 19th-century Britain. Clausewitz's broader thinking came to the fore following Britain's military embarrassments in the Boer War (1899–1902). One example of a heavy Clausewitzian influence in that era
1890-412: A maximum of three years. Following such appointment, reappointment is not possible for two years. Medical officers of the rank of lieutenant colonel and above can be appointed as honorary physician to the president or honorary surgeon to the president. The tradition dates back to the office of governor of Ceylon . The governor's staff included an aide-de-camp as a permanent appointment drawing pay from
2079-624: A military theorist interested in the examination of war, utilising the campaigns of Frederick the Great and Napoleon as frames of reference for his work. He wrote a careful, systematic, philosophical examination of war in all its aspects. The result was his principal book, On War , a major work on the philosophy of war. It was unfinished when Clausewitz died and contains material written at different stages in his intellectual evolution, producing some significant contradictions between different sections. The sequence and precise character of that evolution
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#17327730592422268-448: A military unit. The badge of office for an aide-de-camp is usually the aiguillette , a braided cord in gold or other colours, worn on the shoulder of a uniform. Whether it is worn on the left or the right shoulder is dictated by protocol. In some countries, aide-de-camp is considered to be a title of honour , which confers the post-nominal letters ADC, A.D.C. or A de C. In Argentina , three officers, one from each armed service, of
2457-429: A monarch in the 20th century. In 1991 the aides-de-camp to the queen numbered sixty: There are also, in addition, specific aide-de-camp appointments held by certain very senior officers, including: These are collectively known as the principal aides-de-camp: the first two are individual naval appointments; then, in the present reign, there have usually been up to three aides-de-camp general ("ADC(Gen)") appointed from
2646-769: A much more peaceable ruler. Other additions to Prussia in the 18th century were the County of East Frisia (1744), the Principality of Bayreuth (1791) and Principality of Ansbach (1791), the latter two being acquired through purchase from branches of the Hohenzollern dynasty. To the east and south of Prussia, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had gradually weakened during the 18th century. Alarmed by increasing Russian influences in Polish affairs and by
2835-401: A new "non-trinitarian" model for modern warfare. Creveld's work has had great influence. Daniel Moran replied, 'The most egregious misrepresentation of Clausewitz's famous metaphor must be that of Martin van Creveld, who has declared Clausewitz to be an apostle of Trinitarian War, by which he means, incomprehensibly, a war of 'state against state and army against army,' from which the influence of
3024-686: A number of administrative reforms, among others reorganising the government by way of ministries, which remained formative for the following hundred years. As to religion, reformed Calvinist Frederick William III—as Supreme Governor of the Protestant Churches —asserted his long-cherished project (started in 1798) to unite the Lutheran and the Reformed Church in 1817, (see Prussian Union ). The Calvinist minority, strongly supported by its co-religionist Frederick William III, and
3213-432: A position Clausewitz doesn't occupy. It is also a pointless attack on a concept that is quite useful in its own right. In any case, their failure to read the actual wording of the theory they so vociferously attack, and to grasp its deep relevance to the phenomena they describe, is hard to credit." Some have gone further and suggested that Clausewitz's best-known aphorism, that war is a continuation of policy with other means,
3402-523: A possible expansion of the Russian Empire , Frederick was instrumental in initiating the first of the Partitions of Poland between Russia, Prussia, and Austria in 1772 to maintain a balance of power . The Kingdom of Prussia annexed most of the Polish province of Royal Prussia , including Warmia , allowing Frederick to finally adopt the title King of Prussia; the annexed Royal Prussian land
3591-494: A result, the grip of the landowning classes, the Junkers , remained unbroken, especially in the eastern provinces. The constitution nevertheless contained a number of liberal elements such as the introduction of jury courts and a catalog of fundamental rights that included freedom of religion, speech and the press. Frederick William suffered a stroke in 1857, and his younger brother, Prince William, became regent . William pursued
3780-582: A seminar on Clausewitz for the Party leadership in Yan'an . Thus the "Clausewitzian" content in many of Mao's writings is not merely a regurgitation of Lenin but reflects Mao's own study. The idea that war involves inherent "friction" that distorts, to a greater or lesser degree, all prior arrangements, has become common currency in fields such as business strategy and sport. The phrase fog of war derives from Clausewitz's stress on how confused warfare can seem while one
3969-527: A senior non-commissioned officer performs the adjutant's activities. An aiguillette is worn on the right shoulder by aides-de-camp and adjutants as a symbol of their position, the colour of the aiguillette depending on the rank of the person they are serving (there are golden, tan, silver and red aiguillettes, as well as an olive-green one for combat uniform). In Belgium , the Head of the King's Military Household
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#17327730592424158-711: A senior officer; the equivalent appointment in the Royal Navy is flag lieutenant. Certain of the monarch's representatives, including lord-lieutenants of counties, may appoint their own aides-de-camp. In addition, a fixed number of senior officers may be appointed as aides-de-camp to the monarch, an appointment which entitles the holder to the post-nominal letters "ADC". Most of these are serving army, navy, and air force officers, usually of colonel or brigadier rank or equivalent. They are seldom called upon individually to perform specific duties; collectively, they walked in procession at every coronation and state funeral of
4347-515: A series of treaties and compromises, culminating in the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle that restored peace and left Prussia in possession of most of Silesia. Humiliated by the cession of Silesia, Austria worked to secure an alliance with France and Russia (the " Diplomatic Revolution "), while Prussia drifted into Great Britain's camp forming the Anglo-Prussian Alliance . When Frederick preemptively invaded Saxony and Bohemia over
4536-585: A serious invasion until October 1760, when the Russian army briefly occupied Berlin and Königsberg . The situation became progressively grimmer, however, until the death in 1762 of Empress Elizabeth of Russia ( Miracle of the House of Brandenburg ). The accession of the Prussophile Peter III relieved the pressure on the eastern front. Sweden also exited the war at about the same time. Defeating
4725-430: A socio-political phenomenon. He also stressed the complex nature of war, which encompasses both the socio-political and the operational and stresses the primacy of state policy. (One should be careful not to limit his observations on war to war between states, however, as he certainly discusses other kinds of protagonists). The word " strategy " had only recently come into usage in modern Europe, and Clausewitz's definition
4914-526: A strong influence on German military thought specifically. Later Prussian and German generals, such as Helmuth Graf von Moltke , were clearly influenced by Clausewitz: Moltke's widely quoted statement that "No operational plan extends with high certainty beyond the first encounter with the main enemy force" is a classic reflection of Clausewitz's insistence on the roles of chance, friction, "fog," uncertainty, and interactivity in war. Clausewitz's influence spread to British thinking as well, though at first more as
5103-458: A symbol of ceremonial representation such as a member of the honour guard or a position of command on parade. All aides-de-camp also wear the cypher or badge of the principal to whom they are appointed. Honorary appointees to the monarch, such as the royal cypher or the Prince of Wales , wear the appropriate cypher on their uniform epaulette and are entitled to use the post-nominal letters ADC for
5292-611: A unified Kleindeutschland nation, and on 18 January 1871 (the 170th anniversary of the coronation of the first Prussian king, Frederick I), the German Empire was proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles outside of Paris , while the French capital was still under siege . King William became the first emperor ( Kaiser ) of a unified Germany. However, the titles of German Emperor and King of Prussia were to be borne by
5481-724: A unified German domain became an ongoing question . After the Napoleonic Wars led to the creation of the German Confederation , the issue of unifying the German states caused the German revolutions of 1848–1849 , with representatives from all states attempting to unify under their own constitution. Attempts to create a federation remained unsuccessful and the German Confederation collapsed in 1866 when
5670-478: A unified Germany more than they wanted to break the grip of the traditional forces over society. He thus embarked on a drive to form a united Germany under Prussian leadership, and guided Prussia through three wars which ultimately achieved this goal. The first of these wars was the Second War of Schleswig (1864), which Prussia initiated and succeeded in, and in which it gained the assistance of Austria. Denmark
5859-501: Is Spenser Wilkinson , journalist, the first Chichele Professor of Military History at Oxford University, and perhaps the most prominent military analyst in Britain from c. 1885 until well into the interwar period. Another is naval historian Julian Corbett (1854–1922), whose work reflected a deep if idiosyncratic adherence to Clausewitz's concepts and frequently an emphasis on Clausewitz's ideas about 'limited objectives' and
Carl von Clausewitz - Misplaced Pages Continue
6048-563: Is a source of much debate as to the exact meaning behind some seemingly contradictory observations in discussions pertinent to the tactical, operational and strategic levels of war, for example (though many of these apparent contradictions are simply the result of his dialectical method). Clausewitz constantly sought to revise the text, particularly between 1827 and his departure on his last field assignments, to include more material on "people's war" and forms of war other than high-intensity warfare between states, but relatively little of this material
6237-571: Is a two, three or four-star General who helps the King exercise the powers vested in him by the constitution in the field of defence. He monitors the international security situation and informs the King accordingly. He keeps the King posted of the situation, means and resources, functioning and missions of the Belgian Armed Forces, in close cooperation with the King's Cabinet. The Head of the Military Household also oversees
6426-485: Is considered a seminal treatise on military strategy and science . Clausewitz stressed the multiplex interaction of diverse factors in war, noting how unexpected developments unfolding under the " fog of war " (i.e., in the face of incomplete, dubious, and often erroneous information and great fear , doubt, and excitement) call for rapid decisions by alert commanders. He saw history as a vital check on erudite abstractions that did not accord with experience. In contrast to
6615-500: Is especially important, as these wars demonstrated that such energies could be of decisive importance and for a time led to a democratisation of the armed forces much as universal suffrage democratised politics. While Clausewitz was intensely aware of the value of intelligence at all levels, he was also very skeptical of the accuracy of much military intelligence: "Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory; even more are false, and most are uncertain.... In short, most intelligence
6804-598: Is evident in his first extended study, written when he was 25, of the Thirty Years' War . He rejects the Enlightenment 's view of the war as a chaotic muddle and instead explains its drawn-out operations by the economy and technology of the age, the social characteristics of the troops, and the commanders' politics and psychology. In On War , Clausewitz sees all wars as the sum of decisions, actions, and reactions in an uncertain and dangerous context, and also as
6993-406: Is false." This circumstance is generally described as part of the fog of war . Such skeptical comments apply only to intelligence at the tactical and operational levels; at the strategic and political levels he constantly stressed the requirement for the best possible understanding of what today would be called strategic and political intelligence. His conclusions were influenced by his experiences in
7182-416: Is free to roam; and its element of subordination, as an instrument of policy, which makes it subject to pure reason." Christopher Bassford says the best shorthand for Clausewitz's trinity should be something like "violent emotion/chance/rational calculation." However, it is frequently presented as "people/army/government," a misunderstanding based on a later paragraph in the same section. This misrepresentation
7371-472: Is immersed within it. The term center of gravity , used in a military context derives from Clausewitz's usage, which he took from Newtonian mechanics . In U.S. military doctrine, "center of gravity" refers to the basis of an opponent's power at the operational, strategic, or political level, though this is only one aspect of Clausewitz's use of the term. The deterrence strategy of the United States in
7560-412: Is in fact merely his dialectical antithesis: "War is merely the continuation of policy with other means." The synthesis of his dialectical examination of the nature of war is his famous "trinity," saying that war is "a fascinating trinity—composed of primordial violence, hatred, and enmity, which are to be regarded as a blind natural force; the play of chance and probability, within which the creative spirit
7749-492: Is inconsistent with Clausewitzian thought. He claims that Clausewitz was morally indifferent to war (though this probably reflects a lack of familiarity with personal letters from Clausewitz, which demonstrate an acute awareness of war's tragic aspects) and that his advice regarding politics' dominance over the conduct of war has nothing to do with pacifist ideas. Other notable writers who have studied Clausewitz's texts and translated them into English are historians Peter Paret of
Carl von Clausewitz - Misplaced Pages Continue
7938-593: Is not only irrelevant today but also inapplicable historically. For an opposing view see the sixteen essays presented in Clausewitz in the Twenty-First Century edited by Hew Strachan and Andreas Herberg-Rothe. In military academies, schools, and universities worldwide, Clausewitz's Vom Kriege is often (usually in translation) mandatory reading. Some theorists of management look to Clausewitz - just as some look to Sun Tzu - to bolster ideas on
8127-971: Is one of the people who are physically closest to the president. The President of the Hellenic Republic as Head of State of the Hellenic Armed Forces is served by aide-de-camp. They have the Hellenic Air Force , Hellenic Navy , and the Hellenic Army . The Hong Kong Police Force, the Fire Services Department, the Customs and Excise Department, the Immigration Department, the Government Flying Service,
8316-413: Is quite narrow: "the use of engagements for the object of war" (which many today would call "the operational level" of war). Clausewitz conceived of war as a political, social, and military phenomenon which might—depending on circumstances—involve the entire population of a political entity at war. In any case, Clausewitz saw military force as an instrument that states and other political actors use to pursue
8505-505: Is the antithesis in a dialectical argument whose thesis is the point—made earlier in the analysis—that "war is nothing but a duel [or wrestling match, the extended metaphor in which that discussion was embedded] on a larger scale." His synthesis, which resolves the deficiencies of these two bold statements, says that war is neither "nothing but" an act of brute force nor "merely" a rational act of politics or policy. This synthesis lies in his "fascinating trinity" [ wunderliche Dreifaltigkeit ]:
8694-423: Is to transport the briefcase permitting the use of nuclear weapons . They can also provide general assistance to the president: For instance, at times aides-de-camp are seen placing the president's speech on his lectern when he arrives, or holding up cue cards for the president during award ceremonies. When the president travels, an aide-de-camp often rides in the front passenger seat of the presidential car. He
8883-574: The Austro-Prussian War ensued between its two most powerful member states. Prussia was subsequently the driving force behind establishing in 1866 the North German Confederation , transformed in 1871 into the unified German Empire and considered the earliest continual legal predecessor of today's Federal Republic of Germany . The North German Confederation was seen as more of an alliance of military strength in
9072-639: The Battle of Stresow on the island of Rügen , as the war had already been practically decided in the 1709 Battle of Poltava . In the Treaty of Stockholm Prussia gained all of Swedish Pomerania east of the River Oder . Sweden would however keep a portion of Pomerania until 1815. The Great Northern War not only marked the end of the Swedish Empire but also elevated Prussia and Russia at the expense of
9261-656: The Congress of Vienna . It regained most of its pre-1806 territory. Notable exceptions included part of the territory annexed in the Second and Third Partitions of Poland, which became Congress Poland under Russian rule (though it did retain Danzig, acquired in the Second Partition). It also did not regain several of its former towns in the south. However, as compensation it picked up some new territory, including 40% of
9450-714: The First French Empire , was defeated in the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt (14 October 1806), Frederick William III was forced to temporarily flee to remote Memel . After the Treaties of Tilsit in 1807, Prussia lost about half of its territory, including the land gained from the Second and Third Partitions of Poland (which now fell to the Duchy of Warsaw ) and all land west of the Elbe river. France recaptured Prussian-occupied Hanover, including Bremen-Verden. The remainder of
9639-833: The Imperial Russian Army from 1812 to 1813 during the Russian campaign , taking part in the Battle of Borodino (1812). Like many Prussian officers serving in Russia, he joined the Russian–German Legion in 1813. In the service of the Russian Empire , Clausewitz helped negotiate the Convention of Tauroggen (1812), which prepared the way for the coalition of Prussia, Russia, and the United Kingdom that ultimately defeated Napoleon and his allies. In 1815
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#17327730592429828-636: The Institute for Advanced Study and Sir Michael Howard . Howard and Paret edited the most widely used edition of On War (Princeton University Press, 1976/1984) and have produced comparative studies of Clausewitz and other theorists, such as Tolstoy. Bernard Brodie 's A Guide to the Reading of "On War," in the 1976 Princeton translation, expressed his interpretations of the Prussian's theories and provided students with an influential synopsis of this vital work. The 1873 translation by Colonel James John Graham
10017-618: The Kingdom of Saxony and much of Westphalia and the Rhineland. Prussia now stretched uninterrupted from the Niemen in the east to the Elbe in the west, and possessed a chain of disconnected territories west of the Elbe. This left Prussia as the only great power with a predominantly German-speaking population. With these gains in territory, the kingdom was reorganized into 10 provinces. Most of
10206-540: The Napoleonic Wars from 1806 to 1815. He entered the Kriegsakademie (also cited as "The German War School", the "Military Academy in Berlin", and the "Prussian Military Academy," later the "War College") in Berlin in 1801 (aged 21), probably studied the writings of the philosophers Immanuel Kant and/or Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Friedrich Schleiermacher and won the regard of General Gerhard von Scharnhorst ,
10395-556: The National War College of the United States: One of the main sources of confusion about Clausewitz's approach lies in his dialectical method of presentation. For example, Clausewitz's famous line that "War is the continuation of policy with other means," (" Der Krieg ist eine bloße Fortsetzung der Politik mit anderen Mitteln ") while accurate as far as it goes, was not intended as a statement of fact. It
10584-577: The Orangist stadtholderate against the increasingly rebellious Patriots , who sought to overthrow the House of Orange-Nassau and establish a democratic republic . The direct cause of the invasion was the arrest at Goejanverwellesluis , where Frederick William II's sister Wilhelmina of Prussia , also stadtholder William V of Orange 's wife, was stopped by a band of Patriots who denied her passage to The Hague to reclaim her husband's position. In 1795,
10773-525: The Peace of Westphalia . In 1618, the electors of Brandenburg also inherited the Duchy of Prussia , since 1511 ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hohenzollern. In 1525, Albrecht of Brandenburg , the last grand master of the Teutonic Order , secularized his territory and converted it into a duchy. It was ruled in a personal union with Brandenburg, known as " Brandenburg-Prussia ". A full union
10962-710: The Province of Hohenzollern . During the half-century that followed the Congress of Vienna, a conflict of ideals took place within the German Confederation between the formation of a single German nation and the conservation of the current collection of smaller German states and kingdoms. The main debate centered around whether Prussia or the Austrian Empire should be the leading member of any unified Germany. Those advocating for Prussian leadership contended that Austria had far too many non-German interests to work for
11151-457: The Province of Pomerania , uniting the kingdom's eastern territories. After Frederick died in 1786, his nephew Fredrick William II continued the partitions, gaining a large part of western Poland in 1793; Thorn (Toruń) and Danzig (Gdańsk), which had remained part of Poland after the first partition, were incorporated into West Prussia, while the remainder became the province of South Prussia . In 1787, Prussia invaded Holland to restore
11340-559: The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). Selected SAF officers typically hold the rank of major or military expert 5 , selected SCDF officers hold the rank of major, and selected SPF officers typically hold the rank of assistant superintendent of police. Both male and female officers may serve as aides-de-camp. Their duties include assisting in liaison for important guests on behalf of the president and taking care of visiting foreign dignitaries. In Sri Lanka ,
11529-424: The [military] camp " ) is a personal assistant or secretary to a person of high rank , usually a senior military , police or government officer , or to a member of a royal family or a head of state . An aide-de-camp may participate at ceremonial functions, and the first aide-de-camp is typically the foremost personal aide. This is not to be confused with an adjutant , who is the senior administrator of
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#173277305924211718-527: The defeat of Napoleon in Russia in 1812, Prussia quit the alliance and took part in the Sixth Coalition during the "Wars of Liberation" ( Befreiungskriege ) against the French occupation. Prussian troops under Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher contributed crucially in the Battle of Waterloo of 1815 to the final victory over Napoleon. Prussia's reward for its part in France's defeat came at
11907-417: The king can be granted by the royal court for services rendered. Notable people include Major General Baron Édouard Empain , Count Charles John d'Oultremont, and Lieutenant General Baron Albert du Roy de Blicquy . In Commonwealth of Nations countries, aides-de-camp are mostly appointed from military or auxiliary services. They are entitled to use the letters ADC or A de C after their names. The emblem of
12096-625: The lord lieutenant of Ireland also appointed aides-de-camp, who had a functional role akin to that of equerries in the Royal Household in which aides-de-camp have a primarily honorific role. A distinctive and elaborate full dress uniform used to be worn by army aides-de-camp; however, its use was largely discontinued after World War I . In the British Army and the RAF , a junior officer may be appointed to serve as aide-de-camp to
12285-427: The monarch is head of state, personnel from the New Zealand Defence Force serve as aides-de-camp to royal and vice-regal personages. The governor-general of New Zealand has two full-time aides-de-camp of the rank of army captain , lieutenant RNZN or RNZAF flight lieutenant . Additional and honorary aides-de-camp to the governor-general are of the rank of lieutenant colonel or equivalent. Aiguillettes are of
12474-411: The monarch is head of state, the governor-general of Papua New Guinea has two full-time aides-de-camp. One is from the Papua New Guinea Defence Force and one from the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary of the ranks of PNGDF captain and RPNGC superintendent . In Singapore , the president appoints aides-de-camp from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and
12663-498: The president has an aide-de-camp and an extra aide-de-camp from the three armed services. All general , flag and air officers are entitled to an aide-de-camp, usually selected from their parent regiment or unit. In the navy, an aide-de-camp is called a flag lieutenant. Junior officers (of the rank of major and below) of the armed services who have completed three years of service can be appointed for (extra-regimental) special appointments as an aide-de-camp or extra aide-de-camp for
12852-450: The region called Prussia , it was based in the Margraviate of Brandenburg . Its capital was Berlin . The kings of Prussia were from the House of Hohenzollern . Brandenburg-Prussia , predecessor of the kingdom, became a military power under Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg , known as "The Great Elector". As a kingdom, Prussia continued its rise to power, especially during the reign of Frederick II "the Great" . Frederick
13041-404: The 1950s was closely inspired by President Dwight Eisenhower 's reading of Clausewitz as a young officer in the 1920s. Eisenhower was greatly impressed by Clausewitz's example of a theoretical, idealized "absolute war" in Vom Kriege as a way of demonstrating how absurd it would be to attempt such a strategy in practice. For Eisenhower, the age of nuclear weapons had made what was for Clausewitz in
13230-460: The Austrian army at the Battle of Burkersdorf and relying on continuing British success against France in the war's colonial theatres, Prussia was finally able to force a status quo ante bellum on the continent. This result confirmed Prussia's major role within the German states and established the country as a European great power . Frederick, appalled by the near-defeat of Prussia and the economic devastation of his kingdom, lived out his days as
13419-408: The Bundesrat, with 17 votes out of 58 (17 out of 61 after 1911); no other state had more than six votes. As before, it could effectively control the proceedings with the support of its allies in the secondary states. As mentioned above, Bismarck served as foreign minister of Prussia for almost his entire career, and in that role instructed the Prussian deputies to the Bundesrat. The Imperial German Army
13608-566: The Canadian Forces, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and, depending on the province, aides may also be appointed from other uniformed organizations such as municipal or provincial police and emergency services. In certain instances, civilians may be appointed. Non-uniformed civilians do not wear the aiguillette, but do wear their lieutenant governor's badge as a symbol of their appointment. On 29 November 1973, Governor General Roland Michener concluded his initiative to permit aides-de-camp to
13797-832: The Civil Aid Service, the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force, the Auxiliary Medical Service, the St. John Ambulance Brigade, and the Correctional Services Department each sends an aide-de-camp to the territory's chief executive, which replaced the governor in 1997. On the last day of British rule in Hong Kong on 30 June 1997, the police aide-de-camp to Governor Chris Patten , presented Patten with
13986-570: The Communist Soviet and Chinese traditions, as Lenin emphasized the inevitability of wars among capitalist states in the age of imperialism and presented the armed struggle of the working class as the only path toward the eventual elimination of war. Because Lenin was an admirer of Clausewitz and called him "one of the great military writers," his influence on the Red Army was immense. The Russian historian A.N. Mertsalov commented that "It
14175-838: The First French Republic and Prussia had stipulated that the latter would ensure the Holy Roman Empire's neutrality in all the latter's territories north of the demarcation line of the River Main , including the British continental dominions of the Electorate of Hanover and the Duchies of Bremen-Verden . To this end, Hanover (including Bremen-Verden) also had to provide troops for the so-called demarcation army maintaining this state of armed neutrality . In
14364-469: The First World War had been embraced by many European general staffs and emulated by the British. More recent scholars typically see that war as so confused in terms of political rationale that it in fact contradicts much of On War. That view assumes, however, a set of values as to what constitutes "rational" political objectives—in this case, values not shaped by the fervid Social Darwinism that
14553-481: The German alliances put in place after the Austro-Prussian War, the German states, aside from Austria, came together and swiftly defeated France, even managing to take Napoleon III prisoner (2 September 1870). Even before then, Bismarck was able to complete the work of unifying Germany under Prussian leadership. The patriotic fervour aroused by the war against France overwhelmed the remaining opponents of
14742-576: The German states. In 1848, actions taken by Denmark towards the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein led to the First War of Schleswig (1848–51) between Denmark and the German Confederation, resulting in a Danish victory. Frederick William issued Prussia's first constitution by his own authority in 1848, modifying it in the Constitution of 1850 . These documents—moderate by the standards of
14931-586: The Great , King of Prussia , held a minor post in the Prussian internal-revenue service. Clausewitz entered the Prussian military service at the age of twelve as a lance corporal , eventually attaining the rank of major general. Clausewitz served in the Rhine campaigns (1793–1794) including the siege of Mainz , when the Prussian Army invaded France during the French Revolution , and fought in
15120-609: The Great was instrumental in starting the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), holding his own against Austria , Russia , France and Sweden and establishing Prussia's dominant role among the German states, as well as establishing the country as a European great power through the victories of the powerful Prussian Army . Prussia made attempts to unify all the German states (excluding the German cantons in Switzerland ) under its rule, and whether Austria would be included in such
15309-598: The Great) came to the throne. Using the pretext of a 1537 treaty (vetoed by Emperor Ferdinand I ) by which parts of Silesia were to pass to Brandenburg after the extinction of its ruling Piast dynasty , Frederick invaded Silesia, thereby beginning the War of the Austrian Succession . After rapidly occupying Silesia, Frederick offered to protect Queen Maria Theresa if the province were turned over to him. The offer
15498-737: The Navy and the Air Force). There is also one honorary aide-de-camp from the Territorial Army . The president may at his or her pleasure appoint any distinguished officer from the armed forces including the service chiefs as honorary aide-de-camp. The governors of the states have two aides-de-camp, one each from the Indian Armed Forces and the Indian and state police services except for the state of Jammu and Kashmir , where both
15687-600: The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ceased to exist and a large area (including Warsaw ) to the south and east of East Prussia became part of Prussia. Most of the new territories (and the part of South Prussia north of the Vistula ) were organised into the province of New East Prussia ; South Prussia gained the area immediately south of the Vistula, Narew and Bug , including Warsaw; a small area to
15876-586: The Prussian Duchy of Magdeburg as the fourth and youngest son of a family that made claims to a noble status which Carl accepted. Clausewitz's family claimed descent from the Barons of Clausewitz in Upper Silesia , though scholars question the connection. His grandfather, the son of a Lutheran pastor, had been a professor of theology. Clausewitz's father, once a lieutenant in the army of Frederick
16065-558: The Prussian Army, which was often in an intelligence fog due partly to the superior abilities of Napoleon's system but even more simply to the nature of war. Clausewitz acknowledges that friction creates enormous difficulties for the realization of any plan, and the fog of war hinders commanders from knowing what is happening. It is precisely in the context of this challenge that he develops the concept of military genius ( German : der kriegerische Genius ), evidenced above all in
16254-412: The Prussian ambassador to France. Bismarck took office on 23 September 1862. Although Bismarck had a reputation as an unyielding conservative, he initially inclined to seek a compromise over the budget issue. However, William refused to consider it; he viewed defence issues as the crown's personal province. Forced into a policy of confrontation, Bismarck came up with a novel theory. Under the constitution,
16443-693: The Prussian duchy by September 1657. In return for an alliance against France in the War of the Spanish Succession , the Great Elector's son, Frederick III, was allowed to elevate Prussia to a kingdom in the Crown Treaty of 16 November 1700. Frederick crowned himself " King in Prussia " as Frederick I on 18 January 1701. Legally, no kingdoms could exist in the Holy Roman Empire except for Bohemia and Italy . However, Frederick took
16632-599: The Prussian state, ultimately boosting their national self-awareness and eliciting their national resistance against Prussian rule. Following the French Revolution and the Execution of Louis XVI , Prussia declared war on the French First Republic . When Prussian troops attempted to invade France, they were beaten back and the Treaty of Basel (1795) ended the War of the First Coalition . In it,
16821-816: The Prussian-Saxon army commanded by Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand , Duke of Brunswick —he was captured, one of the 25,000 prisoners taken that day as the Prussian army disintegrated. He was 26. Clausewitz was held prisoner with his prince in France from 1807 to 1808. Returning to Prussia, he assisted in the reform of the Prussian army and state. Johann Gottlieb Fichte wrote On Machiavelli, as an Author, and Passages from His Writings in June 1807. (" Über Machiavell, als Schriftsteller, und Stellen aus seinen Schriften " ). Carl Clausewitz wrote an interesting and anonymous Letter to Fichte (1809) about his book on Machiavelli. The letter
17010-603: The Russian-German Legion became integrated into the Prussian Army and Clausewitz re-entered Prussian service as a colonel. He was soon appointed chief-of-staff of Johann von Thielmann 's III Corps. In that capacity he served at the Battle of Ligny and the Battle of Wavre during the Waterloo campaign in 1815. An army led personally by Napoleon defeated the Prussians at Ligny (south of Mont-Saint-Jean and
17199-466: The United States was able and willing at all times to use nuclear weapons. In this way, through the massive retaliation doctrine and the closely related foreign-policy concept of brinkmanship , Eisenhower hoped to hold out a credible vision of Clausewitzian nuclear "absolute war" in order to deter the Soviet Union and/or China from ever risking a war or even conditions that might lead to a war with
17388-407: The United States. ...Philanthropists may easily imagine there is a skillful method of disarming and overcoming an enemy without causing great bloodshed, and that this is the proper tendency of the art of War. 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 just the worst. As
17577-450: The addition of other means. We deliberately use the phrase 'with the addition of other means' because we also want to make it clear that war in itself does not suspend political intercourse or change it into something entirely different. In essentials that intercourse continues, irrespective of the means it employs. The main lines along which military events progress, and to which they are restricted, are political lines that continue throughout
17766-572: The aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War but many of its laws were later used in the German Empire. The German Empire successfully unified all of the German states aside from Austria and Switzerland under Prussian hegemony due to the defeat of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. The war united all the German states against a common enemy, and with the victory came an overwhelming wave of nationalism which changed
17955-840: The aides-de-camp to the governor are appointed from the Indian Army . An aide-de-camp or adikung as it known locally in Malaysia is appointed by the federal government or the state government from officers of the Royal Malaysian Police or from the Malaysian Armed Forces officers comprising the Malaysian Army , Royal Malaysian Air Force or from Royal Malaysian Navy . There were also non-military or police officers who were appointed as aide-de-camp. As in other Commonwealth countries where
18144-591: The amount of counteracting force on each side. After 1970, some theorists claimed that nuclear proliferation made Clausewitzian concepts obsolete after the 20th-century period in which they dominated the world. John E. Sheppard Jr., argues that by developing nuclear weapons, state-based conventional armies simultaneously both perfected their original purpose, to destroy a mirror image of themselves, and made themselves obsolete. No two powers have used nuclear weapons against each other, instead using diplomacy , conventional means , or proxy wars to settle disputes. If such
18333-657: The capital Berlin , which was only 80 km (50 mi) away. The Great Northern War was the first major conflict in which the Kingdom of Prussia was involved. Starting in 1700, the war involved a coalition led by Tsarist Russia against the dominant North European power at the time, the Swedish Empire . Crown Prince Frederick William tried in 1705 to get Prussia involved in the war, stating "best Prussia has her own army and makes her own decisions." His views, however, were not considered acceptable by his father, and
18522-412: The cases of personal aide-de-camp to the monarch and the principal aides-de-camp, the officers concerned continue to wear the royal cypher after relinquishing the appointment; and if he or she has held the appointment under more than one sovereign then the cypher of each is worn. Otherwise, an officer would cease to wear the accoutrements after his or her appointment as aide-de-camp is relinquished (with
18711-569: The civil list, usually held by a retired junior officer from a British Army regiment. In addition the governor's staff included the head mudaliyar who served as the native aide-de-camp to the governor on a permanent and honorary (non-paid) basis; as well as several extra aide-de-camp appointed from regiments of the Ceylon Defense Force and later from the Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve . With
18900-466: The concept of leadership . Informational notes Citations Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia ( German : Königreich Preußen , pronounced [ˈkøːnɪkʁaɪç ˈpʁɔʏsn̩] ) constituted the German state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. It was the driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1866 and was the leading state of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918 . Although it took its name from
19089-644: The coordination with the security detail of the Royal Palace and runs the Information Technology Service. The Aides de Camp to the King are general or senior officers assigned by the King to accompany important visitors or to represent him on occasions when he cannot be present himself. The Equerries to the King are at the King's constant disposal on a rotational basis; they accompany him on his travels and assist him in performing his daily tasks. The title of honorary aide-de-camp to
19278-445: The course of a few months in 1756–1757, he began a Third Silesian War and initiated the Seven Years' War . This war was a desperate struggle for the Prussian Army, and the fact that it managed to fight much of Europe to a draw bears witness to Frederick's military skills. Facing Austria, Russia , France, and Sweden simultaneously, and with only Hanover (and the non-continental British) as notable allies, Frederick managed to prevent
19467-580: The course of the War of the Second Coalition against France (1799–1802), Napoleon Bonaparte urged Prussia to occupy Hanover. In 1801, 24,000 Prussian soldiers invaded, surprising Hanover, which surrendered without a fight. In April 1801 the Prussian troops arrived in Bremen-Verden's capital Stade and stayed there until October that year. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland first ignored Prussia's hostility, but when it joined
19656-436: The crown of a united Germany. Frederick William refused the offer on the grounds that revolutionary assemblies could not grant royal titles. But he also refused for two other reasons: to do so would have done little to end the internal power-struggle between Austria and Prussia, and all Prussian kings (up to and including William I ) feared that the formation of a German Empire would mean the end of Prussia's independence within
19845-469: The declining Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as new powers in Europe. The Great Elector had incorporated the Junkers , the landed aristocracy, into the kingdom's bureaucracy and military machine, giving them a vested interest in the Prussian Army and compulsory education . King Frederick William I inaugurated the Prussian compulsory conscription system in 1717. In 1740, King Frederick II (Frederick
20034-459: The dominant state in this new entity, with four-fifths of its territory and population—more than the other members of the confederation combined. Its near-total control was cemented in a constitution written by Bismarck. Executive power was vested in a president —a hereditary office of the rulers of Prussia. He was assisted by a chancellor responsible only to the president. There was also a bicameral parliament. The lower house, or Reichstag (Diet),
20223-478: The duration of their appointment. Aides-de-camp to the governor general wear the governor general's badge, known as the crest of the arms of Canada , and aides-de-camp to a lieutenant governor wear the lieutenant governor's badge (the shield of the province surmounted by a crown). They are appointed from officers of the Canadian Forces . Aides-de-camp to lieutenant governors are appointed from officers of
20412-574: The early work of Antoine-Henri Jomini , he argued that war could not be quantified or reduced to mapwork, geometry, and graphs. Clausewitz had many aphorisms , of which one of the most famous is, "War is the continuation of policy with other means." Or “Der Krieg ist eine bloße Fortsetzung der Politik mit anderen Mitteln” with the word 'bloße' indicating 'merely' and 'politik' indicating 'diplomacy'. Clausewitz's Christian names are sometimes given in non-German sources as "Karl", "Carl Philipp Gottlieb", or "Carl Maria". He spelled his own given name with
20601-554: The early-19th century only a theoretical vision an all too real possibility in the mid-20th century. From Eisenhower's viewpoint, the best deterrent to war was to show the world just how appalling and horrific a nuclear "absolute war" would be if it should ever occur, hence a series of much-publicized nuclear tests in the Pacific, giving first priority in the defense budget to nuclear weapons and to their delivery-systems over conventional weapons, and making repeated statements in public that
20790-528: The emperor within the parts of their domains that were part of the empire, they continued to use the additional title of Elector of Brandenburg until the empire was dissolved. It was not until 1772 that the title "King of Prussia" was adopted, following the acquisition of Royal Prussia in the First Partition of Poland . The Kingdom of Prussia was still recovering from the devastation of the Thirty Years' War and poor in natural resources. Its territory
20979-424: The ends of their policy, in a dialectic between opposing wills, each with the aim of imposing his policies and will upon his enemy. Clausewitz's emphasis on the inherent superiority of the defense suggests that habitual aggressors are likely to end up as failures. The inherent superiority of the defense obviously does not mean that the defender will always win, however: there are other asymmetries to be considered. He
21168-635: The enthusiastic acceptance by the Prussian military establishment—especially Moltke the Elder , a former student of Clausewitz —of what they believed to be Clausewitz's ideas, and the subsequent widespread adoption of the Prussian military system worldwide, had a deleterious effect on military theory and practice , due to their egregious misinterpretation of his ideas: As so often happens, Clausewitz's disciples carried his teaching to an extreme which their master had not intended.... [Clausewitz's] theory of war
21357-529: The exception that former aides-de-camp to the sovereign appointed before 1988 may also continue to wear the royal cypher). In France , the president, as commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces , is served by aides-de-camp. In general, there are three, traditionally including one who is a member of the French Army , and all of whom are lieutenant colonels . In essence, their mission
21546-568: The execution of operations. 'Military genius' is not simply a matter of intellect, but a combination of qualities of intellect, experience, personality, and temperament (and there are many possible such combinations) that create a very highly developed mental aptitude for the waging of war. Key ideas discussed in On War include: Clausewitz used a dialectical method to construct his argument, leading to frequent misinterpretation of his ideas. British military theorist B. H. Liddell Hart contends that
21735-460: The fact that Jomini produced a system of war, Clausewitz a philosophy. The one has been outdated by new weapons, the other still influences the strategy behind those weapons." Jomini did not attempt to define war but Clausewitz did, providing (and dialectically comparing) a number of definitions. The first is his dialectical thesis: "War is thus an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will." The second, often treated as Clausewitz's 'bottom line,'
21924-441: The first time, female officers as her aides-de-camp. In each of the armed forces, the chief of staff and other senior officers have their own adjutants, normally of the rank of major or lieutenant colonel, or its equivalent. At unit level, the unit S1 (personnel officer) doubles as the unit commander's adjutant, although in recent times in many units this practice has been left only for ceremonial purposes, while for everyday duties
22113-553: The formation of the office of the Governor-General of Ceylon the practice continued with Ceylon Army officers replacing the British Army officers. At present an officer of the rank of brigadier serves as aide-de-camp to the president, while an officer of the rank of colonel or equivalent serves as aide-de-camp to the defence secretary. In 1992, two Sri Lankan ADCs were killed in active service, and in 2006 an ADC
22302-408: The fundamental law of the kingdom. However, Bismarck's real plan was an accommodation with liberalism. Although he had opposed German unification earlier in his career, he had now come to believe it inevitable. To his mind, the conservative forces had to take the lead in the drive toward creating a unified nation in order to keep from being eclipsed. He also believed that the middle-class liberals wanted
22491-512: The future first chief-of-staff of the newly reformed Prussian Army (appointed 1809). Clausewitz, Hermann von Boyen (1771–1848) and Karl von Grolman (1777–1843) were among Scharnhorst's primary allies in his efforts to reform the Prussian army between 1807 and 1814. Clausewitz served during the Jena Campaign as aide-de-camp to Prince August . At the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt on 14 October 1806—when Napoleon invaded Prussia and defeated
22680-493: The general's mouthpiece must be implicitly obeyed". In garrison or quarters, however, his duties were more of a social character: "he superintends the general's household, writes and answers invitations, &c." Historically, the appointment pertained only to the Army (in the Navy a flag lieutenant performed equivalent duties: "communicating the admiral's orders to the various ships either personally or by signal"). According to
22869-569: The governor general and lieutenant governors to use the post-nominal letters A de C for the duration of their appointment. Aides-de-camp to royal and vice-regal personages wear the aiguillette on the right shoulder. Aides-de-camp to all others wear their aiguillette on the left shoulder. In India , officers of the rank of major general and equivalent and above in the sister services who are in command of divisions or of peacetime commands have aides-de-camp who usually belong to their general's parent regiment/battalion. There have been instances where
23058-425: The governor general, several other flag, general, and senior officers are appointed ex officio as honorary aides-de-camp to the governor general or members of the royal family including: Most aides-de-camp wear a gold-pattern aiguillette when acting in their official capacity; however, members of St. John Ambulance Canada wear silver aiguillettes consistent with their other accoutrements as aides-de-camp or as
23247-643: The greater good of Germany. They argued that Prussia, as by far the most powerful state with a majority of German-speakers, was best suited to lead the new nation. The establishment of the German Customs Union ( Zollverein ) in 1834, which excluded Austria, increased Prussian influence over the member states. In the wake of the Revolutions of 1848 , the Frankfurt Parliament in 1849 offered King Frederick William IV of Prussia
23436-483: The grounds of Government House. Aides-de-camp in Canada are appointed to the monarch and some members of the royal family , the governor general , lieutenant governors , and to certain other appointments (e.g., Minister of National Defence , flag and general officers , Canadian heads of mission, foreign heads of state visiting Canada). In addition to the military officers appointed as full-time aides-de-camp to
23625-406: The highest circles, socialising with Berlin's political, literary, and intellectual élite. Marie was well-educated and politically well-connected—she played an important role in her husband's career progress and intellectual evolution. She also edited, published, and introduced his collected works. Opposed to Prussia's enforced alliance with Napoleon , Clausewitz left the Prussian army and served in
23814-402: The idea. While Bismarck wanted Austria to play no future role in German affairs, he foresaw that Austria could be a valuable future ally. With these gains in territory, the Prussian possessions in the Rhineland and Westphalia became geographically connected to the rest of the kingdom for the first time. Counting the de facto annexation of Saxe-Lauenburg, Prussia now stretched uninterrupted across
24003-480: The imperial chancellor was, except for two periods (January–November 1873 and 1892–94) also prime minister of Prussia, this meant that for most of the empire's existence, the king/emperor and prime minister/chancellor had to seek majorities from legislatures elected by two completely different franchises. Aide-de-camp An aide-de-camp ( UK : / ˌ eɪ d d ə ˈ k ɒ̃ / , US : /- ˈ k æ m p / ; French expression meaning literally "helper in
24192-429: The inherent strengths of the defensive form of war. Corbett's practical strategic views were often in prominent public conflict with Wilkinson's—see, for example, Wilkinson's article "Strategy at Sea", The Morning Post , 12 February 1912. Following the First World War, however, the influential British military commentator B. H. Liddell Hart in the 1920s erroneously attributed to him the doctrine of "total war" that during
24381-463: The introduction to his magnum opus on the philosophy of war in 1832. (He had started working on the text in 1816 but had not completed it.) She wrote the preface for On War and had published most of his collected works by 1835. She died in January 1836. Clausewitz was a professional combat soldier and a staff officer who was involved in numerous military campaigns, but he is famous primarily as
24570-526: The king and the parliament were responsible for agreeing on the budget. Bismarck argued that since they had failed to come to an agreement, there was a "hole" in the constitution, and the government had to continue to collect taxes and disburse funds in accordance with the old budget in order to keep functioning. The government thus operated without a new budget from 1862 to 1866, allowing Bismarck to implement William's military reforms. The liberals violently denounced Bismarck for what they saw as his disregard for
24759-732: The kingdom was occupied by French troops (at Prussia's expense) and the king was obliged to make an alliance with France and join the Continental System . The Prussian reforms were a reaction to the Prussian defeat in 1806 and the Treaties of Tilsit. It describes a series of constitutional, administrative, social and economic reforms of the kingdom of Prussia. They are sometimes known as the Stein-Hardenberg Reforms after Karl Freiherr vom Stein and Karl August Fürst von Hardenberg , their main instigators. After
24948-462: The kingdom, aside from the provinces of East Prussia , West Prussia , and the autonomous Grand Duchy of Posen but including the formerly Polish Lauenburg and Bütow Land and the Draheim territory , became part of the new German Confederation , a confederacy of 39 sovereign states (including Austria and Bohemia) replacing the defunct Holy Roman Empire. Frederick William III submitted Prussia to
25137-410: The left shoulder. In Pakistan , the president , prime minister , and governors have their own aides-de-camp. The aide-de-camp can be from any one of the three Armed Forces and typically are of the rank of captain (army), lieutenant (navy) or flight lieutenant (air force). The aide-de-camp to Justice Khan Habibullah Khan , while he was chief minister and leader of the house of West Pakistan ,
25326-555: The line that since Prussia had never been part of the empire and the Hohenzollerns were fully sovereign over it, he could elevate Prussia to a kingdom. Emperor Leopold I , keen to secure Frederick's support in the impending War of the Spanish Succession , acquiesced. The style "King in Prussia" was adopted to acknowledge the legal fiction that the Hohenzollerns were legally kings only in their former duchy. In Brandenburg and
25515-424: The military objectives in real war that support political objectives generally fall into two broad types: limited aims or the effective "disarming" of the enemy "to render [him] politically helpless or militarily impotent. Thus, the complete defeat of the enemy may not be necessary, desirable, or even possible. In modern times the reconstruction of Clausewitzian theory has been a matter of much dispute. One analysis
25704-483: The monarch at memorial services and on other occasions. Aides-de-camp, along with equerries , military assistants , military attachés and certain other officers, are distinguished by the addition of aiguillettes to their dress uniforms; these differ in size, colour and position of wear, depending on the appointment. In addition, aides-de-camp to the sovereign wear the monarch's royal cypher on their shoulder straps or shoulder boards in various orders of dress. In
25893-475: The most in taxes) included 4% of voters and the third class (with those who paid the least) had 82%, yet each group chose the same number of electors. The system all but assured dominance by the more well-to-do men of the population. The upper house, later renamed the Herrenhaus ("House of Lords"), was appointed by the king. He retained full executive authority, and ministers were responsible only to him. As
26082-459: The northern two-thirds of Germany. It would remain at this size until the overthrow of the monarchy in 1918. Bismarck used this opportunity to end the budget dispute with parliament. He proposed a bill of indemnity granting him retroactive approval for governing without a legal budget. He guessed, correctly as it turned out, that this would lead to a split between his liberal adversaries. While some of them argued that there could be no compromise with
26271-464: The office is the aiguillette worn on their uniform. In Australia , Australian Defence Force officers serve as aides-de-camp to specific senior appointments, such as the monarch , governor-general , state governors, chief of the Defence Force , and other specified Army, Navy and Air Force command appointments. Honorary aides-de-camp to the governor-general or state governors are entitled to
26460-649: The opinions of some of those who had been against unification. With the German Revolution of 1918–1919 , the Kingdom of Prussia was transformed into the Free State of Prussia . Prussia as a whole was abolished in 1947 . The Hohenzollerns were made rulers of the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1518. In 1529, the Hohenzollerns secured the reversion of the Duchy of Pomerania after a series of conflicts , and acquired its eastern part following
26649-584: The partially reluctant Lutheran majority formed the united Protestant Evangelical Church in Prussia . However, ensuing quarrels causing a permanent schism among the Lutherans into united and Old Lutherans by 1830. As a consequence of the Revolutions of 1848 , the Principalities of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Hohenzollern-Hechingen (ruled by a Catholic cadet branch of the House of Hohenzollern) were annexed by Prussia in 1850, later united as
26838-399: The people is entirely excluded." Christopher Bassford went further, noting that one need only read the paragraph in which Clausewitz defined his Trinity to see "that the words 'people,' 'army,' and 'government' appear nowhere at all in the list of the Trinity's components.... Creveld's and Keegan's assault on Clausewitz's Trinity is not only a classic 'blow into the air,' i.e., an assault on
27027-441: The political." Henry A. Kissinger , however, described Lenin's approach as being that politics is a continuation of war by other means, thus turning Clausewitz's argument "on its head." Rapoport argued that: As for Lenin's approval of Clausewitz, it probably stems from his obsession with the struggle for power. The whole Marxist conception of history is that of successive struggles for power, primarily between social classes. This
27216-413: The portions of their domains that were within the Empire, they were still legally only electors under the overlordship of the emperor. However, by this time the emperor's authority was only nominal. The rulers of the empire's various territories acted largely as the rulers of sovereign states , and only acknowledged the emperor's suzerainty in a formal way. In addition, the duchy was only the eastern bulk of
27405-503: The post-nominal ADC during their appointment. Officers of and above the ranks of rear admiral, major general, and air vice-marshal in specifically designated command appointments are entitled to an aide-de-camp with the army rank of captain (or equivalent). Within the navy, an aide-de-camp is called a "flag lieutenant" and senior naval officers are called " flag officers ". In 1973, Sir Richard Sharples , then governor of Bermuda , and his aide-de-camp, Captain Hugh Sayers, were murdered on
27594-532: The principle of constitutional government, most of the liberals decided to support the bill in hopes of winning more freedom in the future. The German Confederation was dissolved as part of the war. In its place, Prussia cajoled the 21 states north of the Main into forming the North German Confederation in 1866. Prussia entered the Confederation as a whole (including the East Prussian cradle of its statehood, as well as its share of dismembered Poland consisting of Province of Posen and West Prussia ), thus becoming
27783-529: The pro-French Second League of Armed Neutrality alongside Denmark–Norway and Russia, Britain started to capture Prussian sea vessels. After the Battle of Copenhagen the coalition fell apart and Prussia again withdrew its troops. At Napoleon's instigation, Prussia recaptured British Hanover and Bremen-Verden in early 1806. On 6 August that year the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved as a result of Napoleon's victories over Austria . The title of Kurfürst ( Prince-elector ) of Brandenburg became meaningless, and
27972-612: The rank of lieutenant colonel or its equivalent, are appointed as aide-de-camp to the president of the republic and three others to the minister of defence , these six being the only ones to be called edecán , which is one Spanish translation for aide-de-camp ( edecán is a phonetic rendition of the French term; ayuda or ayudante de campo is a calque ). A controversy was raised in 2006, when president Néstor Kirchner promoted his army aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Colonel Graham, to colonel, one year ahead of his class. Upon becoming president, Cristina Kirchner decided to have, for
28161-431: The region of Prussia; the westernmost fragment constituted the part of Royal Prussia east of Vistula, held along with the title King of Prussia by the King of Poland . While the personal union between Brandenburg and Prussia legally continued until the end of the empire in 1806, from 1701 onward, Brandenburg was de facto treated as an integral part of the kingdom. Since the Hohenzollerns were nominally still subjects of
28350-411: The regular Army and the Royal Marines ) in recognition of distinguished war service; the appointment at that time carried with it promotion to the rank of full colonel . Additional honorary appointments were made from among the officers of the Militia . Queen Victoria also appointed a number of "naval aides-de-camp" in "compliment to the sister service". Colonial governors , governors-general and
28539-418: The remarks by Marshal V.D. Sokolovsky : In describing the essence of war, Marxism-Leninism takes as its point of departure the premise that war is not an aim in itself, but rather a tool of politics. In his remarks on Clausewitz's On War, Lenin stressed that "Politics is the reason, and war is only the tool, not the other way around. Consequently, it remains only to subordinate the military point of view to
28728-428: The same man until the end of the monarchy. Bismarck's new empire was the most powerful state on the Continent. Prussia's dominance over the new empire was almost as absolute as it was with the North German Confederation. It included two-thirds of the empire's territory and three-fifths of its population. The imperial crown was a hereditary office of the House of Hohenzollern. Prussia also had a large plurality of seats in
28917-503: The senior ranks of the British Army (one of whom is usually the chief of the General Staff ); and up to two air aides-de-camp, from among the senior ranks of the RAF (one of whom is usually the chief of the Air Staff ). Principal aides-de-camp, representing the three services, take part along with other members of the Royal Household in the State Processions at State Openings of Parliament , at coronations and at state funerals; and they are occasionally called upon individually to represent
29106-406: The sons have served a tenure of aide-de-camp to their fathers. In India, aide-de-camp is a title of honour , and current as well as former aides-de-camp are conferred the post-nominal letters ADC. The service chiefs, including the chief of the Army , Navy , and Air Staff, usually have three aides-de-camp and the president of India has five aides-de-camp (three from the Army and one each from
29295-461: The south of South Prussia became New Silesia . With the Polish-Lithuanian state gone Prussia now shared its eastern borders with the Habsburg monarchy ( West Galicia ) and Russia ( Russian partition ). The Partitions were facilitated by the fact that they occurred just before the 19th-century rise of nationalism in Europe, and the national self-awareness was yet to be developed in most European peoples, especially among commoners. The Kingdom of Prussia
29484-461: The standard palace No. 1 type and worn on the right shoulder. Equivalent appointments also serve the minister of Defence , the chief of Defence Force and service chiefs. These are usually known as military assistants (MA) personal staff officers (PSOs) or, in the case of the RNZN, flag lieutenant (flags), and wear service-specific No. 2 aiguillettes with coloured flecks (dark blue for navy, red for army and light blue for air force) on
29673-409: The time but conservative by today's—provided for a two-chamber parliament, the Landtag . The lower house, later known as the Abgeordnetenhaus , was elected by all males over the age of 25 using the Prussian three-class franchise . Voters were divided into three classes whose votes were weighted according to the amount of taxes paid. In one typical election, the first class (with those who paid
29862-407: The use of physical power to the utmost extent by no means excludes the co-operation of the intelligence, it follows that he who uses force unsparingly, without reference to the quantity of bloodshed, must obtain a superiority if his adversary does not act likewise. By such means the former dictates the law to the latter, and both proceed to extremities, to which the only limitations are those imposed by
30051-410: The very beginning of Vom Kriege —the purely logical result of the forces underlying a "pure," Platonic "ideal" of war. In what he called a "logical fantasy," war cannot be waged in a limited way: the rules of competition will force participants to use all means at their disposal to achieve victory. But in the real world, he said, such rigid logic is unrealistic and dangerous. As a practical matter,
30240-598: The village of Waterloo ) on 16 June 1815, but they withdrew in good order. Napoleon's failure to destroy the Prussian forces led to his defeat a few days later at the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815), when the Prussian forces arrived on his right flank late in the afternoon to support the Anglo-Dutch-Belgian forces pressing his front. Napoleon had convinced his troops that the field grey uniforms were those of Marshal Grouchy's grenadiers. Clausewitz's unit fought heavily outnumbered at Wavre (18–19 June 1815), preventing large reinforcements from reaching Napoleon at Waterloo. After
30429-399: The war into the subsequent peace." A prince or general who knows exactly how to organise his war according to his object and means, who does neither too little nor too much, gives by that the greatest proof of his genius. But the effects of this talent are exhibited not so much by the invention of new modes of action, which might strike the eye immediately, as in the successful final result of
30618-400: The war, Clausewitz served as the director of the Kriegsakademie , where he served until 1830. In that year he returned to active duty with the army. Soon afterward, the outbreak of several revolutions around Europe and a crisis in Poland appeared to presage another major European war. Clausewitz was appointed chief of staff of the only army Prussia was able to mobilise in this emergency, which
30807-571: The whole. It is the exact fulfilment of silent suppositions, it is the noiseless harmony of the whole action which we should admire, and which only makes itself known in the total result. Clausewitz introduced systematic philosophical contemplation into Western military thinking, with powerful implications not only for historical and analytical writing but also for practical policy, military instruction, and operational planning. He relied on his own experiences, contemporary writings about Napoleon, and on deep historical research. His historiographical approach
30996-517: Was able to instruct the Prussian delegates to the Bundesrat. The southern German states (except Austria) were forced to accept military alliances with Prussia, and Prussia began steps to merge them with the North German Confederation. Bismarck's planned Kleindeutschland unification of Germany had come considerably closer to realisation. The final act came with the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), where Bismarck maneuvered Emperor Napoleon III of France into declaring war on Prussia. Activating
31185-424: Was an irony of fate that the view in the USSR was that it was Lenin who shaped the attitude towards Clausewitz, and that Lenin's dictum that war is a continuation of politics is taken from the work of this [allegedly] anti-humanist anti-revolutionary." The American mathematician Anatol Rapoport wrote in 1968 that Clausewitz as interpreted by Lenin formed the basis of all Soviet military thinking since 1917, and quoted
31374-516: Was constantly applied by Lenin in a variety of contexts. Thus the entire history of philosophy appears in Lenin's writings as a vast struggle between "idealism" and "materialism." The fate of the socialist movement was to be decided by a struggle between the revolutionists and the reformers. Clausewitz's acceptance of the struggle for power as the essence of international politics must have impressed Lenin as starkly realistic. Clausewitz directly influenced Mao Zedong, who read On War in 1938 and organised
31563-480: Was crushed, and Prussia annexed four of its smaller allies—the Kingdom of Hanover , the Electorate of Hesse , the Duchy of Nassau and the Free City of Frankfurt . Prussia also annexed Schleswig and Holstein, and also effectively annexed Saxe-Lauenburg by forcing it into a personal union with Prussia (which was turned into a full union in 1876). King William initially wanted to take territory from Austria itself and annex Saxony, but Bismarck persuaded him to abandon
31752-464: Was disjointed, stretching 1,200 km (750 mi) from the lands of the Duchy of Prussia on the south-east coast of the Baltic Sea to the Hohenzollern heartland of Brandenburg , with the exclaves of Cleves , Mark and Ravensberg in the Rhineland . In 1708 about one third of the population of East Prussia died during the Great Northern War plague outbreak . The bubonic plague reached Prenzlau in August 1710 but receded before it could reach
31941-486: Was dropped. Nonetheless, King Frederick William III was now de jure as well as de facto sovereign of all of the Hohenzollern domains. Before this time, the Hohenzollern sovereign had held many titles and crowns, from Supreme Governor of the Protestant Churches ( summus episcopus ) to King, Elector, Grand Duke, Duke for the various regions and realms under his rule. After 1806 he was simply King of Prussia and summus episcopus . But when Prussia, after it turned against
32130-476: Was elected by universal male suffrage. The upper house, or Bundesrat (Federal Council) was appointed by the state governments. The Bundesrat was, in practice, the stronger chamber. Prussia had 17 of 43 votes and could easily control proceedings through alliances with the other states. For all intents and purposes, Bismarck dominated the new grouping. He served as his own foreign minister for virtually his entire tenure as prime minister of Prussia, and in that capacity
32319-507: Was essentially an enlarged Prussian army, and the embassies of the new empire were mostly old Prussian embassies. The Constitution of the German Empire was essentially an amended version of the constitution of the North German Confederation. However, the seeds for future problems lay in a gross disparity between the imperial and Prussian systems. The empire granted the vote to all men over 25, although Prussia retained its three-class franchise , in which votes were weighted by taxes paid. Since
32508-435: Was expounded in a way too abstract and involved for ordinary soldier-minds, essentially concrete, to follow the course of his argument—which often turned back from the direction in which it was apparently leading. Impressed yet befogged, they grasped at his vivid leading phrases, seeing only their surface meaning, and missing the deeper current of his thought. As described by Christopher Bassford , then-professor of strategy at
32697-456: Was full of revolutions, rebellions, and violence by "non-state actors" - witness the wars in the French Vendée and in Spain. Clausewitz wrote a series of "Lectures on Small War" and studied the rebellion in the Vendée (1793–1796) and the Tyrolean uprising of 1809. In his famous "Bekenntnisdenkschrift" of 1812 he called for a "Spanish war in Germany" and laid out a comprehensive guerrilla strategy to be waged against Napoleon. In On War he included
32886-498: Was heavily—and controversially—edited by the philosopher, musician, and game theorist Anatol Rapoport . The British military historian John Keegan attacked Clausewitz's theory in his book A History of Warfare . Keegan argued that Clausewitz assumed the existence of states, yet 'war antedates the state, diplomacy and strategy by many millennia.' Clausewitz died without completing Vom Kriege, but despite this his ideas have been widely influential in military theory and have had
33075-554: Was his son, a senior bureaucrat, Captain Akhtar Munir Marwat and Captain Gohar Ayub Khan was to his father, President Field Marshal Ayub Khan . The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and all the three service chiefs are authorised to have an aide-de-camp. In Pakistan, officers of the rank of major general and equivalent and above in the sister services who are in command of divisions or of peacetime commands have aides-de-camp who usually belong to their general's parent regiment/battalion. As in other commonwealth realms where
33264-643: Was included in the book. Soldiers before this time had written treatises on various military subjects, but none had undertaken a great philosophical examination of war on the scale of those written by Clausewitz and Leo Tolstoy , both of whom were inspired by the events of the Napoleonic Era . Clausewitz's work is still studied today, demonstrating its continued relevance. More than sixteen major English-language books that focused specifically on his work were published between 2005 and 2014, whereas his 19th-century rival Jomini has faded from influence. The historian Lynn Montross said that this outcome "may be explained by
33453-405: Was interested in co-operation between the regular army and militia or partisan forces, or citizen soldiers, as one possible—sometimes the only—method of defense. In the circumstances of the Wars of the French Revolution and those with Napoleon, which were energised by a rising spirit of nationalism, he emphasised the need for states to involve their entire populations in the conduct of war. This point
33642-414: Was not possible, since Brandenburg was still legally part of the Holy Roman Empire and the Duchy of Prussia was a fief of Poland . The Teutonic Order had paid homage to Poland since 1466, and the Hohenzollerns continued to pay homage after secularizing Ducal Prussia. In the course of the Second Northern War , the treaties of Labiau and Wehlau-Bromberg granted the Hohenzollerns full sovereignty over
33831-403: Was not until 1713 that Frederick William ascended to the throne. Therefore, in 1715, Prussia, led by Frederick William, joined the coalition for various reasons, including the danger of being attacked from both her rear and the sea; her claims on Pomerania ; and the fact that if she stood aside and Sweden lost, she would not get a share of the territory. Prussia only participated in one battle,
34020-543: Was organised the following year into the Province of West Prussia ; most of the rest became the originally separate Netze District , which was attached to West Prussia in 1775. The boundary between West Prussia and the territory previously known as the Duchy of Prussia, now the Province of East Prussia was also adjusted, transferring Marienwerder to West Prussia (which became its capital) and Warmia (the Heilsberg and Braunsberg [ de ] districts) to East Prussia. The annexed territory connected East Prussia with
34209-417: Was perceived in Poland more as a nationality-neutral personal holding of the ruling House of Hohenzollern , rather than a German nation-state, and any anxiety concerned predominantly freedom to practice religion rather than rights to maintain national identity. The onset of Germanisation in the following decades, later joined by the Kulturkampf , quickly changed this benign picture and alienated Poles from
34398-423: Was popularised by U.S. Army Colonel Harry Summers' Vietnam-era interpretation, facilitated by weaknesses in the 1976 Howard/Paret translation. The degree to which Clausewitz managed to revise his manuscript to reflect that synthesis is the subject of much debate. His final reference to war and Politik , however, goes beyond his widely quoted antithesis: "War is simply the continuation of political intercourse with
34587-427: Was published in Fichte's Verstreute kleine Schriften 157–166. For an English translation of the letter see Carl von Clausewitz Historical and Political Writings Edited by: Peter Paret and D. Moran (1992). On 10 December 1810, he married the socially prominent Countess Marie von Brühl , whom he had first met in 1803. She was a member of the noble German Brühl family originating in Thuringia . The couple moved in
34776-441: Was rejected, but Austria faced several other opponents in a desperate struggle for survival, and Frederick was eventually able to gain formal cession with the Treaty of Berlin in 1742. To the surprise of many, Austria managed to renew the war successfully. In 1744 Frederick invaded again to forestall reprisals and to claim, this time, the Kingdom of Bohemia . He failed, but French pressure on Austria's ally Great Britain led to
34965-798: Was rife in 1914 Europe. One of the most influential British Clausewitzians today is Colin S. Gray ; historian Hew Strachan (like Wilkinson also the Chichele Professor of Military History at Oxford University, since 2001) has been an energetic proponent of the study of Clausewitz, but his own views on Clausewitz's ideas are somewhat ambivalent. With some interesting exceptions (e.g., John McAuley Palmer , Robert M. Johnston , Hoffman Nickerson), Clausewitz had little influence on American military thought before 1945 other than via British writers, though Generals Eisenhower and Patton were avid readers of English translations. He did influence Karl Marx , Friedrich Engels , Vladimir Lenin , Leon Trotsky , Võ Nguyên Giáp , Ferdinand Foch , and Mao Zedong , and thus
35154-451: Was sent to the Polish border. Its commander, Gneisenau , died of cholera (August 1831), and Clausewitz took command of the Prussian army's efforts to construct a cordon sanitaire to contain the great cholera outbreak (the first time cholera had appeared in modern heartland Europe, causing a continent-wide panic). Clausewitz himself died of the same disease shortly afterwards, on 16 November 1831. His widow edited, published, and wrote
35343-463: Was severely wounded: The president of Tanzania has an aide-de-camp from the Tanzania People's Defence Force , with the rank of kanali , which is equivalent to that of a colonel . In the United Kingdom , an aide-de-camp (ADC) was defined in 1875 as "a confidential officer attached to the 'personal' or private staff of a general ". In the field of battle , he functioned as "the bearer of his chief's written or verbal orders, and when employed as
35532-399: Was soundly defeated and surrendered both Schleswig and Holstein, to Prussia and Austria respectively. The divided administration of Schleswig and Holstein then became the trigger for the Austro-Prussian War of 1866—also known as the Seven Weeks' War. Prussia, allied with the Kingdom of Italy and various northern German states, declared war on the Austrian Empire. The Austrian-led coalition
35721-448: Was that of Panagiotis Kondylis , a Greek writer and philosopher, who opposed the interpretations of Raymond Aron in Penser la Guerre, Clausewitz, and other liberal writers. According to Aron, Clausewitz was one of the first writers to condemn the militarism of the Prussian general staff and its war-proneness, based on Clausewitz's argument that "war is a continuation of policy by other means." In Theory of War, Kondylis claims that this
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