Reclaiming the Clausewitzian Trinity

Dados Bibliográficos

ID20138376
AutoresEdward J Villacres (autor correspondente), Christopher Bassford (0000-0003-0305-834X)
Ano1995
Volume25
Fascículo1
Data de publicação1995-07-04
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe US Army War College Quarterly Parameters (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0031-1723 • E-ISSN: 0031-1723
EditoraUnited States Army War College Press (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.55540/0031-1723.1730
OpenAlexW2233985726
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas13
Referências citadas2

In a recent Parameters article, US Military Doctrine and the Revolution in Military Affairs (Autumn 1994), Dr. David Jablonsky made frequent reference to the theories of Carl von Clausewitz to illustrate points about strategy and doctrine. Jablonsky's discussion of his central subject demonstrated his usual flair and insight. one particular point, however, his use of Clausewitz touched an ambiguity that is becoming troublesome to many students of the Prussian philosopher of war. The problem appears in Jablonsky's discussion of Clausewitz had referred to as the 'remarkable trinity': the military, the government, and the people. There is a serious discrepancy between this definition of the and the definition given by Clausewitz himself in On War: Clausewitz defines the components of the trinity as follows: (1) primordial violence, hatred, and enmity; (2) the play of chance and probability; and (3) war's element of subordination to rational policy. By no means originating with Jablonsky, this discrepancy appears frequently in recent analyses, both those that enlist Clausewitz's support and those that attack the Prussian philosopher of war as benighted, evil, or simply irrelevant. In fact, the remarkable or paradoxical trinity is one of the Clausewitzian concepts most frequently cited in all of recent military literature. Since interpretations of Clausewitz are a source of such extensive controversy, it seems important to differentiate between what Clausewitz actually said and other concepts of a trinity that are derived from, but not the same as, the defined in On War

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