Clausewitz on small war

260 Pages·2015·1.67 MB·English

by  Clausewitz

CLAUSEWITZ ON SMALL WAR

Clausewitz on
Small War
CARL VON CLAUSEWITZ
Edited and Translated
by
CHRISTOPHER DAASE AND
JAMES W. DAVIS
With an Introductory Essay by
JAMES W. DAVIS
1
3
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Acknowledgments
In preparing this volumewe have benefitted from the assistance and counsel
of many colleagues and friends. Preliminary drafts of the translations were
presentedtoagroupofeminentClausewitzscholarsataworkshopconvened
at the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC,
andrevisedtoaddresscriticalfeedback.Andwhilewenodoubthavefailedto
redress every shortcoming identified, we are deeply indebted to Christopher
Bassford, Eliot Cohen, Antulio Echevarria, Andreas Herberg-Rothe, Terence
Holmes, Jan Willem Honig, Timothy Hoyt, Brad Lee, Jack Levy, Thomas
Mahnken, and John Sumida for their constructive criticism. We wish to
extend special thanks to Thomas Mahnken and his colleagues in the Philip
Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at the Nitze School for hosting the
workshop.
Overthecourseofthetranslations,wealsobenefittedfromdiscussionswith
General Klaus Naumann, Sebastian Schindler, Peter Platzgummer, Marc
DeVore,RolfSieferle,andDirkIppen.
AlexanderGraef,KarlHampel,andSebastianPlappertprovidedinvaluable
assistance preparing the manuscript for publication and creating the
bibliography.
Finally, we gladly acknowledge the financial support we enjoyed from the
Smith-Richardson Foundation without which this project would not have
been possible. In particular, we thank Nadia Schadlow who not only saw
merit in the project but also stuck with us during eventual delays in its
completion.
ChristopherDaaseandJamesW.Davis

Contents
Listofillustrations viii
1. IntroductiontoClausewitzonSmallWar 1
2. MyLecturesonSmallWar,heldattheWarCollege
in1810and1811 19
3. Testimonial(Bekenntnisdenkschrift) 169
4. Onthepoliticaladvantagesanddisadvantagesofthe
Prussianinstitutionofthe Landwehr 217
5. Thearmingofthepeople(Volksbewaffnung) 221
Bibliography 227
Index 231
List of illustrations
Figure1. BattalionsinCustomaryOrderofBattle 35
Figure2A. PositioningofWeakIsolatedUnits 36
Figure2B. ExtensionofSmallDetachments 36
Figure3. DefensiveOccupationofPalaceTowers 77
Figure4. PositioningofanEntrenchment 86
Figure5. BarriersontheEdgeofaTrench 87
Figure6. PositioningofSidePatrolsandRearguardsalong
PathsandDefiles 101
Figure7. PositioningofMassedUnits 148
Figure8. PositioningoftheCavalryamidsttheInfantry 149
1
Introduction to Clausewitz on Small War
James W. Davis
OngoingandlivelydebatesoverthecontinuingrelevanceofClausewitzinan
erainwhichtheincidenceofinterstatewarfarepalesincomparisontothatof
civil and ethnic conflict, transnational terrorism, and other forms of asym-
metricviolence,attesttohisenduringstatusasagiantinthestudyofwar.In
theEnglish-speakingworld,thatstatusresultslargely,perhapsevenexclusive-
ly, from the prominence accorded his major work, On War, in universities,
thinktanks,andmilitaryacademies.Engagementwiththeideasdevelopedin
OnWarisfacilitatedbythefactthatthefirstedition,publishedin1832,nowis
availableinnumerousEnglish-languagetranslations.1
ThecorpusofClausewitz’swritingsonthetopicofwarfare,however,isfar
greater. The military historian Werner Hahlweg, long-time curator of Clau-
sewitz’spapersattheUniversityofMünster,eventuallyeditedandpublished
two collections of his articles, studies, lectures, and letters, that together
amount to over two thousand pages.2 With few exceptions, most of these
texts are inaccessible to scholars and military analysts who do not read
German.Theysimplyhaveneverbeentranslated.Thecurrentvolumerepre-
sentsanefforttobegintoredressthisunfortunatestateofaffairs.
PersuadedthatmanyargumentsoverClausewitz’sgeneraltheoryofwarfare
and its relevance for contemporary developments could benefit from a more
thoroughknowledgeoftheevolutionofhisthinkingonthesubject,aswellasa
better appreciation of the specific political context within which many of the
ideas emerged, we have translated what we regard to be Clausewitz’s most
important writings on the subject of “Small War.” For most of what is
included here, no other English translation is available. The goal is not to
1 See,forexample,Clausewitz(1835),whichoriginallyappearedinTheMetropolitanMaga-
zine(London),13(MayandJune1835),64–71,166–76;alsoClausewitz(1873,1908,1909,1943,
1984).Unlessotherwiseindicated,subsequentEnglishlanguagequotationsfromOnWarand
therelevantpagereferencesrefertothe1984volume.
2 SeeHahlweg(1966–90).