Performing organization names and addresses national war college,300 5th avenue,fort lesley j. Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory. Which versions of the art of war and on war to get. If running a rifle range is a critical gate in the development of companygrade officers, understanding on war should share a similar importance for field grades regardless of career field. Feb 26, 2006 free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Clausewitz in the twentyfirst century oxford scholarship. Kaldor could invalidate clausewitz approach regarding the absolute war from clausewitz own argument. Antilogicalism the starry sky above and the moral life within.
The breakthrough came on the eve of the francoprussian war by the writings on military transports by a belgian civil engineer, body. Clausewitz had set about revising his accumulated manuscripts in 1827, but did not live to finish the task. Buy the best translation recommended for serious readers. Clausewitz s most famous and most ambiguous statement, most used and misused, is his observation, quoted variously, as war is policy by other means, or war is politics by other meanswhich actually are very different things. But since the end of the cold war in 1990, and even more since the 911 attacks on the united states in 2001, an increasing number of commentators have argued that on war has lost its analytical edge as a tool for understanding war. The translation of clausewitz s on war is the 1943 version done by german literary scholar o. These four cracks argue against a reliance on clausewitz and support the need for a divorce. This is badly dated based on the 1873 graham translation, severely abridged leaving out, for instance, book six on defensewhich clausewitz considered to be the stronger form of warfare, and badly biased because of its vietnam war era and the editors hostility to neoclausewitzian henry kissinger. If the first world war had no purpose, the argument might run, clausewitz is doubly irrelevant to.
Matthijs jolles at the university of chicago during world war. Since the works first appearance in 1832, it has been read throughout the world, and has stimulated generations of soldiers, political leaders, and intellectuals. Clausewitz s translated text is followed by wellingtons memorandum on the battle of waterloo, written after the. The expression and meaning that are addressed in this article are strictly scientific. Since the victory of prussia in the 1870 war, belgian officers were eager for a better integration of railways in the transports for strategic but also for logistic reasons. Matthijs jolles the modern library of the worlds best books.
Absolute war is often confused with the very different concept of ideal war featured in the first chapter of on war. Now that we have the new publication from princeton, translated with elegant clarity by michael howard and peter paret, all excuses for not reading clausewitz are removed. It has been translated into english several times as on war. The original modern library edition was republished unchanged by the infantry journal press washington, d.
He did not want to write primarily about how to wage war, although on war contains some unoriginal books or chapters deal. Problems of text and translation, in clausewitz in the 21st. He did not want to write primarily about how to wage war, although on war contains some unoriginal books or chapters dealing with many of these subjects as well books, see below. In that discussion, clausewitz explained that ideal war is a philosophical abstractiona logical fantasythat is impossible in practice because it is not directed or constrained by political motives or concerns, nor. Pdf clausewitz, genius and the rules the journal of. It is discussed only in the first half of book viii there are only a couple of references to it elsewhere and it does not appear in sections of the text written later. Matthijs, with introductions by the translator, joseph i. The jolles translation is owned by random house, though it was done for military strachan, clausewitz s on war. However, grahams edition only contains the first four books of the work.
If that were not the case, war would not be an art. A new translation is being prepared by peter paret working jointly with michael howard, and should be available within a year or two. Oct 09, 2020 in book one of on war, clausewitz introduces the concept of war as merely the continuation of policy by other means. Both were indeed written simultaneously and the reflections following many events of the campaign found their way into the theoretical framework of on war. The problem is the clausewitzian foundations has four cracks, on war s questionable writing and editing, underdeveloped theory, reliance on metaphors, and the continual evolution of meaning, context and translation. The continuing irrelevance of clausewitz small wars journal. Matthijs jolles at the university of chicago during world war iinot todays standard translation, but certainly the most accurate. Problems of text and translation, in clausewitz in the 21st century, ed. Nellambito della sezione bibliografica internettiana del nostro saggio di imminente pubblicazione epigenetica, teoria endosimbiotica, sintesi evoluzionista moderna, sintesi evoluzionistica estesa e fantasmagorie transumaniste. Its missions were wideranging, involving the collection and translation of. Paret and howard are using the original german edition of 1832.
This is the most recent full english translation of on war and is generally considered to be the standard version, though it is not the most accurate translation available. Jolles at the university of chicago during world war iinot todays standard. Princeton university press, 1984, particularly if you are using this book for your scholarly or research work. The influence of technology on the theory of warfare. Jolles himself is a bit obscure to students of military affairs, largely because his translation of on war was his only published effort in that field. His wife edited his collected works and published them between 1832 and 1835. Most of it was written after the napoleonic wars and was published after his death. The jolles translation was based on the corrupt third german edition. Grahams 1874 english language translation of on war. Sun tzu is presented in the modern translation by roger ames, based on complete ancient texts found by archaeologists. The jolles translation is owned by random house, though it was done for military strachan, clausewitzs on war.
Clausewitz s treatise is important because he introduces several theories and themes that illuminate and inform our modernday outlooks on war, leadership, and strategy. The new translation, from the princeton university press, is a readers feast. Clausewitz for trigger pullers modern war institute. The translation of clausewitzs on war is the 1943 version done by german. Dummlers verlag, 1832 graham himself is an elusive character, surprisingly so. On war project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks read. The jolles translation is the most accurate of all the english translations. Any translation from one language to another necessarily involves interpretation not only of the language but of the conceptual content and intent, and no writer can escape the impact of hisher own era. Clausewitz s section on the art of war versus the science of war can be very confusing to modern readers, even in the excellent howardparet translation, because science and art are not quite the same as the german words wissenschaft and kunst, which they are used to translate. Matthijs jolles translation of on war, done at the university of chicago during wwii and now owned by random house. The wars of clausewitz era had different dynamic inner nature than the new war. Maude, abridged edited with an introduction by anatol rapoport.
Matthijs jolles at the university of chicago during world war iinot todays standard. Article information, pdf download for on the clausewitz of the cold war. Translation of vom kriege prepared under the auspices of the center of international studies, princeton university. Clausewitz revises on war after the battle of britain 5a. Clausewitz s magnum opus vom kriege, referred to in english as on war, has been translated into virtually every major language. Breve commento introduttivo, glosse al dialectical biologist di richard levins e richard lewontin, su lynn margulis, su donna haraway e materiali di studio strategici. War, however, is not the action of a living force upon a lifeless mass total nonresistance would be no war at all but always the collision of two living forces, the ultimate aim of waging war, as formulated here, must be taken as applying to both sides. But in war more than in any other subject we must begin by looking at the nature of the whole. Graham translation of clausewitz s vom kriege 1832 published in london in 1873. Grahams translation of the original work is adequate.
Unfortunately,that translation,while perhaps thebestavailable,issomewhatmisleading. In 1991, martin van revelds on future war aka the transformation of war was published, eliciting critical responses on a variety of levels. New republic a smooth, readable, accurate, and handsomely printed translation. For an important work like vom kriege, a translation that accurately reflects the context, and faithfully conveys the authors intended meaning of the work itself, while preserving more or less the structure of the original work without sacrificin. Angloamerican translation of vom kriege, following by a few months the publication of a biography of its author by one of the translators and editors, marked 1976 a banner year for students of clausewitz and his thought on war. The chapter contends that clausewitz s vom kriege exhibits far greater fundamental tensions in the original language than is apparent from the popular and widely acclaimed english translation on war by michael howard and peter paret. Clausewitz s on war and sun tzus art of war in one volume. Even his nationality has been misidentifiedhe has been variously identified as hungarian, czech, and dutch. The translation of clausewitzs on war is the 1943 version done by german literary scholar o. His father, his son, and at least one of his grandsons were generals, but j. Their text compromises the ability of english readers to understand and evaluate critically the two issues which lie at the heart of clausewitz s engagement. For this reason its time to end our reliance on clausewitzs on war as the authority on the. Matthijs jolles at the university of chicago during world war iinot todays standard translation, but.
Clausewitz s on war has, at least until very recently, been regarded as the most important work of theory on its subject. The translation of clausewitz is the one done by german literary scholar otto jolles at the university of chicago in 1943. Consider the more modern versions and other relevant books shown below. The 197684 howardparet version is the standard translation today. Matthijs jolles translation of on war, done at the university of chicago during wwii and now owned. War is learnable and is something that must be learned. Harpers magazine on war is undoubtedly one of the most useful books ever written.
717 165 1041 529 278 1327 360 1783 859 400 1458 1546 131 928 1037 1039 905 3 1770 75 635 986