How does clausewitz describe absolute war

Absolute war can be seen to be an act of violence without compromise, in which states fight to war's natural extremes; it is a war without the 'grafted' political and moral moderations. In On War , Clausewitz explains what makes up absolute war:. Clausewitz states that " Therefore, war in its most natural manner would involve each state continually reciprocating each other's use of force plus some to maintain a superiority, until both were using violence to its utmost extent.

This is the first reciprocal action , and leads to the first extreme of war. Clausewitz stated that the purpose of war is to make the opponent comply with the will of the nation or state. However, an opponent will obviously not do that unless complying to that will becomes the least oppressive of its available options. Therefore, in order to make the enemy comply with the will of the nation, a state must place its adversary in a position that is more oppressive to it than compliance.

Furthermore, that position cannot be temporary, or appear to be temporary. This is because it will be more likely that an enemy will simply 'ride out the storm' in the prospect of being in a better position at a later stage.

Any change in this position would be a change for the worse, and so in order to best achieve this position a state must disarm its enemy forcing it into a position from which it cannot resist. Furthermore, as war involves two or more hostile states, this principle applies to both, and so it becomes the second reciprocal action , whereby both try to impose such a position on the other.

Here Clausewitz states that if a state wishes to defeat its enemy it must annihilate them. According to Clausewitz, the use of power involves two factors. The commander would need to know what kind of war he was going to have to fight, in order to determine his military plans.

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For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us. Very Short Introductions online. Publications Pages Publications Pages. Recently viewed 0 Save Search. Clausewitz: A Very Short Introduction. Google Preview. Read More. Both want their side to win and both want both of them to survive the battle Friedman, The thought of shedding blood, killing each other, and taking over territory for the means of justice, simply sounds inhumane.

War usually consist extreme violence, social disruption and an attempt at economic destruction. No matter how inhumane, vicious, and barbaric war may seem it still has its purpose.

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