LIT 3: Heuser, B. (2002). Reading Clausewitz, “Chapter 2: Clausewitz the Idealist vs. Clausewitz the Realist”, pp.24-43.

Question 1

What was according to clausewitz the main reason for the french success?

Answer 1

He saw the main reason for the French success was the involvement of the
entire nation and its resources in the war effort.

Question 2

What is Absolute War according to Clausewitz?

Answer 2

The wars that unfolded under Napoleon’s leadership seemed to Clausewitz in their scale and horror to be almost perfect examples of ideal wars, of what war could be in its purest form of unmitigated violence and destruction; in his term, ‘absolute’ war.

Question 3

What is the purpose of war according to Clausewitz?

Answer 3

As the complete destruction of the inimical armed forces.
-Destroy armed forces
- Conquer the land
- The will of the enemy

In order to make the adversary defenceless, one had to
**destroy the armed forces, **
i.e. to make them unable to continue the war and one had to ‘
** conquer the land, **
because from that territory new armies could be recruited’.
And if both these things had been done, the war could still not be regarded as over ‘as long as the will of the enemy has not been broken

Question 4

How does clausewitz define victory?

Answer 4

1. The greater loss of physical forces on the side of the enemy.
2. The greater loss of ‘moral forces’.
3. His public admission that he has given up his own intentions.

Clausewitz also found that the wars were won only if the enemy literally could not fight
any further.
Napoleon showed that he could reverse even a major defeat, by recruiting new
soldiers.

Question 5

What was the turning point to Clausewitzs thinking?

Answer 5

Most of On War dealt only with ‘absolute’ war, and not with the more limited manifestations of war that the world had known both before and since the Napoleonic era

Question 6

Why is total war less prevelant according to clausewitz?

Answer 6

Clausewitz realised that
war was an instrument of politics, and could only unfold its full might if politics did not place restraints upon it.
Thus limited political aims resulted in limited war aims,

Question 7

Is war independent according to clausewitz?

Answer 7

War is not an independent thing but the continuation of politics with altered
means. Consequently the main outlines of every major strategic plan are primarily political in nature

Question 8

What is Real and Ideal war Clausewitz?

Answer 8

In essence, the difference lies in the constraints and realities of warfare. Real war is what actually happens on the ground, with all its chaos and unpredictability, while ideal war is a theoretical construct of what war could be in the absence of any limiting factors

Real war is thus almost always less violent than ideal war.
Absolute war aims to render the adversary defenceless, this is not necessarily the
aim in all war.
Not every war needs
to be fought to the finish, to the collapse of one side or the other.

Question 9

What are the Two Clausewitzes?

Answer 9

1. The Idealist
   Absolute wars are fought to totally destroy the enemy and are only over when
   the enemy literally cannot fight anymore.
2. The Realist
   War is a function of politics and can thereby be limited.