(Shortform note: Robert Greene turns this definition of war around and uses it as the basis of his book The 33 Strategies of War. Or perhaps an interest group within a country demands governmental reform and starts a revolutionary war if the government doesn’t reform. For example, maybe one country demands control of a region currently controlled by another country and invades that region if the other country refuses to cede it. This, then, is the purpose of war: to force the enemy to comply with some kind of political demand. When different nations or groups have conflicting political interests, one way to make the other side accommodate your interests is to compel them by means of military force. On War by Carl von Clausewitz is an exploration of the philosophy of war as a political and a societal phenomenon.Īccording to Clausewitz, war is nothing but a tool of politics. While it was originally published in 1832, Clausewitz’s philosophical underpinnings of war are arguably still relevant in the modern day.īelow is a brief overview of the key themes and takeaways from On War by Carl von Clausewitz. How is it possible that defenders are responsible for most wars? Why is it a logical contradiction for military concerns to influence political policy? And why shouldn’t soldiers sleep in tents?Ĭarl von Clausewitz answers all these questions and more in his treatise On War. Like this article? Sign up for a free trial here.

Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading. This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to 'On War' by Carl von Clausewitz.