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Carl von Clausewitz
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Carl von Clausewitz was a German-Prussian general and military theorist whose ideas about warfare and strategy have shaped how military leaders and governments think about conflict. His writings, most famously "On War," remain influential today because they offered foundational concepts for understanding why wars happen and how they should be conducted.
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Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Kingdom of Prussia
- Place of birth
- Burg
- Place of death
- Wrocław
- Spouse
- Marie von Brühl
- Languages spoken
- German
- Notable work
- On War
- Conflict
- Siege of Mainz
- Military branch
- infantry
- Military rank
- colonel
- Image
- Clausewitz.jpg
Show 16 more facts
- P6482
- Carl von Clausewitz
- on focus list of Wikimedia project
- Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
- archives at
- Berlin State Library
- Commons category
- Carl von Clausewitz
- date of birth
- 1780-06-01
- date of death
- 1831-11-16
- cause of death
- cholera
- manner of death
- natural causes
- Commons gallery
- Carl von Clausewitz
- name in native language
- Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz
- topic's main category
- Category:Carl von Clausewitz
- place of burial
- Saxony-Anhalt
- writing language
- German
- start of work period
- 1792-00-00
- end of work period
- 1831-00-00
- birth name
- Carl Philipp Gottlieb Clauswitz
Sources (8)
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Works in European collections
36 objects attributed to Carl von Clausewitz, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana
Left behind works on war and warfare by General Carl von Clausewitz. 9, Strategic illumination of several campaigns by Gustav Adolph, Turenne, Luxembourg and other historical materials on strategy
From war: left work. 3
Left behind works on war and warfare by General Carl von Clausewitz. 5, 5 5 The Campaigns of 1799 in Italy and Switzerland; 1
Third Theil
From war: left work. 1
Left behind works on war and warfare by General Carl von Clausewitz. 10, Strategic illumination of several campaigns by Sobieski, Münich, Friedrich the Great and Duke Carl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Braunschweig and other historical materials on strategy
From war: left work. 2
Left behind works on war and warfare by General Carl von Clausewitz. 7, 7 7 The Campaign of 1812 in Russia, the Campaign of 1813 to the Armistice and the Campaign of 1814 in France
Left behind works by General Carl von Clausewitz about war and warfare. 6, Campaigns of 1799 in Italy and Switzerland. 2nd Th.
Left behind works on war and warfare by General Carl von Clausewitz. 6, 6 6 The Campaigns of 1799 in Italy and Switzerland; 2
The campaign from 1813 to the ceasefire
Left behind works on war and warfare by General Carl von Clausewitz. 6., 6. The Campaigns of 1799 in Italy and Switzerland; 2. Theil
The campaign from 1813 to the ceasefire
Left behind works on war and warfare by General Carl von Clausewitz. 3, From Wars; 3. Theil
Left behind works on war and warfare by General Carl von Clausewitz. 9., Strategic illumination of several campaigns by Gustav Adolph, Turenne, Luxembourg and other historical materials on strategy
The campaign from 1813 to the ceasefire
Left behind works on war and warfare by General Carl von Clausewitz. 1, From Wars; 1 Theil
Left behind works by General Carl von Clausewitz about war and warfare. 7, Campaign of 1812 in Russia, the Campaign from 1813 to the Armistice and the Campaign of 1814 in France
Left behind works on war and warfare by General Carl von Clausewitz. 5., 5. The Campaigns of 1799 in Italy and Switzerland; 1. Theil
Left behind works by General Carl von Clausewitz about war and warfare. 9, Strategic illumination of several campaigns by Gustav Adolph, Turenne, Luxembourg and other historical materials on strategy
Left behind works by General Carl von Clausewitz about war and warfare. 10, Strategic illumination of several campaigns by Sobiesky, Münich, Friedrich the Great and Duke Carl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Braunschweig and other historical materials on strategy
Left behind works by General Carl von Clausewitz about war and warfare. 5, Campaigns from 1799 in Italy and Switzerland. 1st Th.
Left behind works on war and warfare by General Carl von Clausewitz. 2, From Wars; 2 Theil
Left behind works on war and warfare by General Carl von Clausewitz. 10., Strategic illumination of several campaigns by Sobiesky, Münich, Friedrich the Great and Duke Carl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Braunschweig and other historical materials on strategy
Vom Kriege (Erster Theil)
Vom Kriege (Zweiter Theil)
Vom Kriege (Dritter Theil)
Der Feldzug von 1796 in Italien
The Campaigns of 1799 in Italy and Switzerland (First Theil)
Die Feldzüge von 1799 in Italien und der Schweiz (Zweiter Theil)
Der Feldzug von 1812 in Rußland, der Feldzug von 1813 bis zum Waffenstillstand und der Feldzug von 1814 in Frankreich
Der Feldzug von 1815 in Frankreich
Strategic lighting of several campaigns, by Gustav Adolph, Turenne, Luxembourg and other historical materials on strategy
Strategische Beleuchtung mehrerer Feldzüge von Sobiesky, Münich, Friedrich dem Großen und dem Herzog Carl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Braunschweig und andere historische Materialien zur Strategie
Untitled
Untitled
~37 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz (/ˈklaʊzəvɪts/ KLOW-zə-vits; German: [ˈkaʁl fɔn ˈklaʊzəvɪts] ; born Carl Philipp Gottlieb Clauswitz; 1 July 1780 – 16 November 1831) was a Prussian army officer and military theorist who stressed the "moral" (in modern terms meaning psychological) and political aspects of waging war. His most notable work, Vom Kriege (On War), though unfinished at his death, is considered a seminal treatise on military strategy and science.
Clausewitz stressed the multiple interactions 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 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."
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Carl von Clausewitz” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
Gallery (3)
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