Clausewitz on Civil-Military Relations: What Hitler Should Have Known
Abstract
As the above quote implies, as long as there are states, there are bound to be wars. History has certainly borne that out, particularly in the last century, with two state-centric world wars and over 50 million deaths in World War II alone. Although the states engaged in these conflicts reflected various forms and styles of government, ranging from dictatorships to democracies, most possessed an element of civilian leadership and a subordinate military force. Carl von Clausewitz, the great German war theorist of the 1800s, wrote with depth and insight concerning the relationship between the statesman and the military commander. Interestingly, his ideas apply uniformly regardless of the style of government that frames its civil-military relationship. As such, the lessons learned from a dictatorship like Nazi Germany can be applied to an American democracy today.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA441816
Entities
People
- Michael J. Morgan
Organizations
- National War College