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ABSOLUTE WAR (2) answer(s).
 
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ID:   182031


Approximating absolute war: the transformation of Prusso-German force structure under Helmuth von Moltke the elder / Miyata, Francis; Nicholson, John   Journal Article
Miyata, Francis Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract The following essay will serve as a historical case study on sound theory as the basis of strategic decision making. The argument is that Helmuth von Moltke the elder undertook a systematic transformation of the Prussian force structure to make his wars approximate Carl von Clausewitz’s philosophical abstraction of absolute war. That is, he sought to reorganize the Great General Staff (GGS) to produce an instantaneous discharge of force, both immediate and decisive in its results. In doing so, he produced a military strategy to overcome the geopolitical perils inhering in the nascent Prusso-German state, resulting ultimately in the unification of Germany. We then briefly relate the deductive lessons on the relationship between strategic theory and practice evidenced by Moltke to the contemporary crisis of Anglo-American theory.
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2
ID:   156674


Clausewitzian fallacy of absolute war / Holmes, Terence M   Journal Article
Holmes, Terence M Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract Clausewitz was much preoccupied with the apparent contradiction between real and absolute war. Why did war in history so rarely exhibit the extremes of violence and energy implied in the pure concept of war? Clausewitz’s commentators have usually followed him in thinking that this was a genuine problem in need of a solution, but I want to question that view. I will argue that Clausewitz did not have a coherent philosophy of absolute war, and therefore the contradiction he posited between real and absolute war was equally meaningless – as, too, was his effort to resolve it by claiming that some real wars approached or even attained the absolute form of war. The real problem was not the opposition of real and absolute war, but the self-contradictory theory of absolute war.
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