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108-433: The father of Western modern strategic studies , Carl von Clausewitz (1780–1831), defined military strategy as "the employment of battles to gain the end of war." B. H. Liddell Hart 's definition put less emphasis on battles, defining strategy as "the art of distributing and applying military means to fulfill the ends of policy". Hence, both gave the pre-eminence to political aims over military goals. Sun Tzu (544–496 BC)

216-646: A "strategy of exhaustion" (see attrition warfare ) to hold off his opponents and conserve his Prussian forces. Assailed from all sides by France, Austria, Russia and Sweden, Frederick exploited his central position, which enabled him to move his army along interior lines and concentrate against one opponent at a time. Unable to achieve victory, he was able to stave off defeat until a diplomatic solution emerged. Frederick's "victory" led to great significance being placed on " geometric strategy " which emphasized lines of manoeuvre, awareness of terrain and possession of critical strong-points. The French Revolutionary Wars and

324-623: A European focus with Carl von Clausewitz ’s On War . Like Clausewitz, many academics in this field reject monocausal theories and hypotheses that reduce the study of conflict to one independent variable and one dependent variable. Already in the late eighteenth century, a colourful mathematician named Dietrich Heinrich von Bülow attempted to establish mathematical formulae for the conduct of war. Carl von Clausewitz rejected Bülow’s approach and his popular claim that warfare could be reduced to positivist, teachable principles of war. Instead of formulae, we find Clausewitz stressing, time and again, that

432-400: A battle site. Initially, the lack of force concentration helped with foraging for food and sought to confuse the enemy as to his real location and intentions. The "indirect" approach into battle also allowed Napoleon to disrupt the linear formations used by the allied armies. As the battle progressed, the enemy committed their reserves to stabilize the situation, Napoleon would suddenly release

540-563: A besieged city, spreading disease and death, such as the Black Plague. If a particular town or city displeased the Mongolian Khan, everyone in the city would be killed to set an example for all other cities. This was early psychological warfare . To refer to the nine strategic principles outlined above, the Mongol strategy was directed toward an objective (that schwerpunkt (main focus) being

648-739: A broken promise to marry a woman from Dijon. After his release he was stationed in Aire-sur-la-Lys and married Sophie Dupont from Saint-Omer in May 1791. For two months he served as president of the local literary society. In September 1791 he became a delegate for Pas-de-Calais to the Legislature . While a member of the Legislative Assembly, Carnot was elected to the Committee of Public Instruction . He believed that all citizens should be educated. As

756-488: A classic example of the conception and execution of military strategy. In addition to exploiting railroads and highways for manoeuvre, Moltke also exploited the telegraph for control of large armies. He recognised the need to delegate control to subordinate commanders and to issue directives rather than specific orders. Moltke is most remembered as a strategist for his belief in the need for flexibility and that no plan, however well prepared, can be guaranteed to survive beyond

864-448: A general statement—e.g., "We're going to do this by a naval invasion of the North of country X", "We're going to blockade the ports of country Y", to a more specific "C Platoon will attack while D platoon provides fire cover". In its purest form, strategy dealt solely with military issues. In earlier societies, a king or political leader was often the same person as the military leader. If not,

972-542: A great extent the American Civil War , saw Napoleonic tactics of "offense at all costs" pitted against the defensive power of the trench , machine gun and barbed wire . As a reaction to its World War I experience, France attempted to use its Maginot Line to apply the principles of mass and economy of force, in that troops could be concentrated in the north for an offensive there while the Line acted as force multiplier in

1080-436: A massive volunteer army without any real idea of how to wage battle. Once the problem of troop numbers had been solved, Carnot turned his administrative skills to the supplies that this massive army would need. Many of the munitions and supplies were in short supply: copper was lacking for guns so he ordered church bells seized in order to melt them down; saltpeter was lacking and he called chemistry to his aid; leather for boots

1188-494: A means to an end, but it is not an end in itself. There are numerous examples in history where victory on the battlefield has not translated into goals such as long term peace, security or tranquillity. Many military strategists have attempted to encapsulate a successful strategy in a set of principles. Sun Tzu defined 13 principles in his The Art of War while Napoleon listed 115 maxims. American Civil War General Nathan Bedford Forrest had only one: to "[get] there first with

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1296-681: A member of that committee, he wrote a series of reforms for the teaching and educational systems, but they were not implemented due to the violent social and economic climate of the Revolution. After the Legislative Assembly was dissolved, Carnot was elected to the National Convention in September 1792. He spent the last few months of 1792 on a mission to Bayonne , organizing the military defense effort in an attempt to ward off any possible attacks from Spain . Upon returning to Paris, Carnot voted for

1404-577: A member of the Directory. In 1795, Carnot appointed Napoleon Bonaparte as general in chief of the Army of Italy . He is known to be the only member of the Directory to have supported Napoleon during this time. In 1800 Bonaparte appointed Carnot as Minister of War , and he served in that office at the time of the Battle of Marengo . In 1802 he voted against the establishment of Napoleon's Consular powers for life and

1512-505: A new foundation to mathematics . The Borda–Carnot equation in fluid dynamics and several theorems in geometry are named after him: one that describes a property of the incircle and the circumcircle of triangle , one that describes a relation between triangles and conic sections and one that describes a property of certain perpendiculars on triangle sides . Published in 1810 under the title "Traité de la Défense des Places Fortes" , his ideas on fortification were further developed in

1620-789: A nuclear war produced an expansion of the discipline, with authors like Bernard Brodie , Michael Howard , Raymond Aron , Lucien Poirier , Lawrence Freedman , Colin Gray , and many others. The subject is taught in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe. In Nigeria, Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies, Nigerian Defence Academy, University of Ibadan, Covenant University and in the Conflict, Peace and Strategic Studies at Afe Babalola University Nigeria and Nassarawa State University Keffi offers Security and Strategic Studies at Masters and Ph.D. Level. In South Africa,

1728-548: A political act, and thus maintained that the purpose of all strategy was to achieve the political goal that the state was seeking to accomplish. As such, Clausewitz famously argued that war was the "continuation of politics by other means", and as such, suggested that the amount of force used by a warring state would and should be proportional to whatever political aim that the state sought to achieve via war. Clausewitz further dismissed "geometry" as an insignificant factor in strategy, believing instead that ideally all wars should follow

1836-509: A precursor to trench warfare were the Lines of Torres Vedras during the Peninsular War . French Armies lived off the land and when they were confronted by a line of fortifications which they could not out flank, they were unable to continue the advance and were forced to retreat once they had consumed all the provisions of the region in front of the lines. The Peninsular campaign was notable for

1944-478: A promotion to the rank of captain . In 1784 he published his first work Essay on Machines, which contained a statement that foreshadowed the principle of energy as applied to a falling weight, and the earliest proof that kinetic energy is lost in the collision of imperfectly elastic bodies . This publication earned him the honor of the Académie des Sciences, Arts et Belles-Lettres de Dijon . Another turning point

2052-530: A town. There was still room for triumphs for the strategy of manoeuvre such as Sherman's March to the Sea in 1864, but these depended upon an enemy's unwillingness to entrench. Towards the end of the war, especially in defense of static targets as in the battles of Cold Harbor and Vicksburg , trench networks foreshadowed World War I. Many of the lessons of the American Civil War were forgotten, when in wars like

2160-544: A victory for the Greeks against Persia, which exemplified that military strategy was extremely beneficial to defeating a numerous enemy. Early strategies included the strategy of annihilation, exhaustion, attrition warfare , scorched earth action, blockade , guerrilla campaign, deception and feint . Ingenuity and adeptness were limited only by imagination, accord, and technology. Strategists continually exploited ever-advancing technology. The word "strategy" itself derives from

2268-508: A whole new field of study into military strategy. In particular, his opponents were keen to develop a body of knowledge in this area to allow them to counteract a masterful individual with a highly competent group of officers, a General Staff. The two most significant students of his work were Carl von Clausewitz , a Prussian with a background in philosophy , and Antoine-Henri Jomini , who had been one of Napoleon's staff officers. One notable exception to Napoleon's strategy of annihilation and

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2376-680: A year later he became a member of the Committee of Public Safety, where he directed the French war effort as one of the Ministers of War during the War of the First Coalition . He oversaw the reorganization of the army, imposed discipline, and significantly expanded the French force through the imposition of mass conscription. Credited with France's renewed military success from 1793 to 1794, Carnot came to be known as

2484-553: Is often considered as the father of Eastern military strategy and greatly influenced Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese historical and modern war tactics. The Art of War by Sun Tzu grew in popularity and saw practical use in Western society as well. It continues to influence many competitive endeavors in Asia, Europe, and America including culture, politics, and business, as well as modern warfare. The Eastern military strategy differs from

2592-689: Is taught in University of Calgary and the Royal Military College in Canada . In Chile , it is taught in the National Academy of Political and Strategic Studies, Ministry of Defense. In the U.S., the subject is taught in many state, private, and military universities, including the University of Missouri , United States Military Academy , United States Air Force Academy , Georgetown University , Johns Hopkins University , Missouri State University ,

2700-403: Is the art of organizing forces on or near the battlefield to secure objectives as part of the broader military strategy. Military strategy is the planning and execution of the contest between groups of armed adversaries. It is a subdiscipline of warfare and of foreign policy , and a principal tool to secure national interests . Its perspective is larger than military tactics , which involve

2808-698: The Austro-Prussian War or the Franco-Prussian War , manoeuvre won the day. In the period preceding World War I, two of the most influential strategists were the Prussian generals, Helmuth von Moltke and Alfred von Schlieffen . Under Moltke the Prussian army achieved victory in the Austro-Prussian War (1866) and the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71), the latter campaign being widely regarded as

2916-859: The Charles University in Prague , Netherlands Defence College Breda (the Netherlands), and the Université Paris 13 Nord SciencesPo (in France), University College Cork (Ireland), University of Warsaw (Poland). In the Americas, it is taught in Chile , Canada , Brazil , Mexico , United States . In Brazil, it is taught at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul , Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro , and Universidade Federal Fluminense . In Canada, it

3024-632: The Directory in 1795, Carnot became one of the five initial directors. For the first year, the Directors did well working harmoniously together as well as with the Councils. However, difference of political views led to a schism between Carnot and Étienne-François Letourneur , followed by François de Barthélemy , on the one side, and the triumvirate of Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de Barras , Jean-François Rewbell and Louis Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux on

3132-571: The French Revolutionary Army was largely due to his powers of organization and enforcing discipline. In order to raise more troops for the war, Carnot introduced conscription : the levée en masse approved by the National Convention was able to raise France's army from 645,000 troops in mid-1793 to 1.5 million in September 1794. He was the first to execute the modern waging of war with mass armies and strategic planning realized by

3240-563: The Greek "στρατηγία" ( strategia ), "office of general, command, generalship", in turn from "στρατηγός" ( strategos ), "leader or commander of an army, general", a compound of "στρατός" ( stratos ), "army, host" + "ἀγός" ( agos ), "leader, chief", in turn from "ἄγω" ( ago ), "to lead". No evidence exists of it being used in a modern sense in Ancient Greek, but we find it in Byzantine documents from

3348-637: The Hundred Days , Carnot served as Minister of the Interior for Napoleon, and was exiled as a regicide during the White Terror after the Second Restoration during the reign of Louis XVIII. In 1803 Carnot produced his Géométrie de position . This work deals with projective rather than descriptive geometry . Carnot is responsible for initiating the use of cross-ratios : "He was the first to introduce

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3456-652: The Kingdom of Prussia , where he died in the city of Magdeburg . Carnot's remains were interred at the Panthéon in 1889, at the same time as those of Théophile Corret de la Tour d'Auvergne , Jean-Baptiste Baudin and François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers . Carnot survived all the phases of the French Revolution , from its beginnings in 1789 until the fall of Napoleon in 1815. On the social and political front, Carnot

3564-881: The Napoleonic Wars that followed revolutionized military strategy. The impact of this period was still to be felt in the American Civil War and the early phases of World War I . With the advent of cheap small arms and the rise of the drafted citizen soldier, armies grew rapidly in size to become massed formations. This necessitated dividing the army first into divisions and later into corps . Along with divisions came divisional artillery ; light-weight, mobile cannon with great range and firepower. The rigid formations of pikemen and musketeers firing massed volleys gave way to light infantry fighting in skirmish lines. Napoleon I of France took advantage of these developments to pursue an effective "battle of annihilation". Napoleon invariably sought to achieve decision in battle, with

3672-597: The Organizer of Victory . In autumn 1793, he took charge of French columns on the Northern Front , and contributed to Jean-Baptiste Jourdan 's victory in the Battle of Wattignies . Carnot met Robespierre for the first time in Arras where he was assigned for military duty and shortly after Robespierre finished his legal studies. Both of them were members of the literary club, and they sung Societe des Rosati together. The group

3780-553: The Reign of Terror , he and some other technocrats on the committee, including Robert Lindet and Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau , turned on Maximilien Robespierre and his allies during the Thermidorian Reaction by having him arrested. Robespierre was later killed along with 21 of his followers. Shortly after Robespierre's fall, Carnot was charged for his role during the time but the charges were quickly dismissed when he became

3888-696: The University of Reading , Aberystwyth University , the University of Aberdeen , the University of Exeter , the University of Hull , King's College London , and the University of Leeds (all in the United Kingdom), University of Rome III , Università degli Studi di Milano , University of Turin (all of the three in Italy), the University of Granada (in Spain), the National Defence University (in Finland),

3996-528: The University of Texas at El Paso , Norwich University , Temple University , the U.S. Army War College , Air University's Air War College , U.S. Naval War College , Marine Corps War College , and the National Defense University . In Asia and the Pacific, it is also taught in several countries. In Bangladesh , it is taught at the national universities, Bangladesh University of Professionals ,

4104-408: The flanking formation to attack the enemy. His opponents, being suddenly confronted with a new threat and with little reserves, had no choice but to weaken the area closest to the flanking formation and draw up a battle line at a right angle in an attempt to stop this new threat. Once this had occurred, Napoleon would mass his reserves at the hinge of that right angle and launch a heavy attack to break

4212-550: The "Organizer of Victory". Increasingly disillusioned with the radical politics of the Montagnards , Carnot broke with Maximilien Robespierre and played a role in the latter's overthrow on 9 Thermidor and subsequent execution. He became one of the five initial members of the Directory but was ousted after the Coup of 18 Fructidor in 1797 and went into exile. Following Napoleon 's rise to power, Carnot returned to France and in 1800

4320-794: The 6th century onwards, and most notably in the work attributed to Emperor Leo VI the Wise of Byzantium . As a counterpoint to European developments in the strategic art, the Mongol emperor Genghis Khan provides a useful example. Genghis' successes, and those of his successors, were based on manoeuvre and terror. The main focus of Genghis' strategic assault was the psychology of the opposing population. By steady and meticulous implementation of this strategy, Genghis and his descendants were able to conquer most of Eurasia . The building blocks of Genghis' army and his strategy were his tribal levies of mounted archers , scorched earth -style methods, and, equally essential,

4428-506: The Academie sur Science of Paris in 1780. It was revised and published in 1783. In this he outlined a mathematical theory of power transmission in mechanical systems. His essay Principes fondamentaux de l'équilibre et du mouvement 1803 was a further revision and expansion of the earlier work. Carnot's son, Nicolas , was influenced by his father's work when he undertook his research into the thermal efficiency of steam engines. Carnot's name

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4536-451: The British, because it cost far less to aid Spanish insurgents than it did to equip and pay regular British army units to engage the same number of French troops. As the British army could be correspondingly smaller it was able to supply its troops by sea and land without having to live off the land as was the norm at the time. Further, because they did not have to forage they did not antagonise

4644-707: The Faculty of Military Science at the University of Stellenbosch provides a number of courses in strategic studies from the undergraduate to PhD level. The Faculty of Military Science, co-located at the South African Military Academy in Saldanha, is also involved in the teaching of the discipline at the South African Defence and War Colleges. In Europe, the subject is taught at the University of St Andrews ,

4752-477: The Germans would go on to the offensive in the east. Influenced by Hannibal's success at the Battle of Cannae , Schlieffen planned for a single great battle of encirclement, thereby annihilating his enemy. Another German strategist of the period was Hans Delbrück who expanded on Clausewitz's concept of "limited warfare" to produce a theory on the "strategy of exhaustion". His theory defied popular military thinking of

4860-454: The Greek forces were outnumbered stood as a good military strategy. The Greek allied forces ultimately lost the battle, but the training, use of armor, and location allowed them to defeat many Persian troops before losing. In the end, the Greek alliance lost the battle but not the war as a result of that strategy which continued on to the battle of Plataea. The Battle of Plataea in 479 BC resulted in

4968-536: The Napoleonic concept of victory through a decisive battle of annihilation and destruction of the opposing force, at any cost. However, he also recognized that his ideal of how war should be fought was not always practical in reality and that limited warfare could influence policy by wearing down the opposition through a " strategy of attrition ". In contrast to Clausewitz, Antoine-Henri Jomini (1779-1869) dealt mainly with operational strategy, planning and intelligence ,

5076-788: The National Defense University, and the military academies. In Australia, it is taught in the Australian National University . In New Zealand, it is taught at Victoria University of Wellington . In Singapore, the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore . In Malaysia, University of Malaya . In India , Deen Dyal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University, Savitribai Phule Pune University , University of Allahabad , National Defence Academy , School of International Relations and Strategic Studies SIRSS, University of Mumbai, Rashtriya Raksha university. In Pakistan ,

5184-593: The Priests of Saint Sulpice . During his short time with them, he studied logic, mathematics and theology under the Abbé Bison. Impressed with Lazare's work as a scholar, the duc d'Aumont  [ fr ] (Marquis de Nolay) recommended a military career for the youngster. Carnot was soon sent by his father to the Aumont residence to further his education. Here, he was enrolled in M. de Longpré's pension school in 1770 until he

5292-465: The Revolution. As a military engineer, Carnot favored fortresses and defensive strategies. He developed innovative defensive designs for forts, including the Carnot wall , named after him. However, with the constant invasions he decided to take his strategic planning to an offensive strike. From his intellect sprang the maneuvers and organization that turned the tides of war from 1793 to 1794. The basic idea

5400-455: The Western by focusing more on asymmetric warfare and deception. Chanakya 's Arthashastra has been an important strategic and political compendium in Indian and Asian history as well. Strategy differs from operations and tactics , in that strategy refers to the employment of a nation's entire military capabilities through high-level and long-term planning, development, and procurement to guarantee security or victory. Operations and tactics

5508-577: The armies of Genghis, nearly all other armies were cumbersome and relatively static. It was not until well into the 20th century that any army was able to match the speed of deployment of Genghis' armies. When confronted with a fortified city, the Mongol imperatives of maneuver and speed required that it be quickly subdued. Here the terror engendered by the bloody reputation of the Mongolians helped to intimidate and subdue. So too did primitive biological warfare . A trebuchet or other type of ballista weapon would be used to launch dead animals and corpses into

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5616-433: The besieged garrison. In 1812, Carnot returned to office in defense of Napoleon during the disastrous invasion of Russia and was assigned the defense of Antwerp against the Sixth Coalition . He surrendered only at the demand of the Count of Artois, the younger brother of Louis XVIII who later reigned as Charles X . He was later made a Count of the Empire by Napoleon as Lazare Nicolas Marguerite, Comte Carnot. During

5724-412: The characteristics of any individual case even if it doubtless fits a larger category; not all patterns of characteristics will be found in all cases. In recent times, the major conflicts of the nineteenth century and the two World Wars have spurred strategic thinkers such as Mahan , Corbett , Giulio Douhet , Liddell Hart and, later, André Beaufre . The Cold War with its danger of degenerating into

5832-541: The committee, which was heavily radical, Carnot signed a total of 43 decrees and drafted 18 of them. Most of them dealt with military tactics and education. Despite leaning on Jacobin beliefs, Carnot was considered the "conservative" of his half. He was not an official member of the radical group and therefore took on his own independent beliefs in regards to many issues. One of these issues included Robespierre's proposal on an egalitarian social system with which he feverishly disagreed. Although he had taken no steps to oppose

5940-426: The concept of the grand strategy which encompasses the management of the resources of an entire nation in the conduct of warfare. In the environment of the grand strategy, the military component is largely reduced to operational strategy —the planning and control of large military units such as corps and divisions . As the size and number of the armies grew and the technology to communicate and control improved,

6048-402: The conduct of a campaign, and " generalship " rather than "statesmanship". He proposed that victory could be achieved by occupying the enemy's territory rather than destroying a opposing army. As such, geometric considerations were prominent in Jomini's theory of strategy. Jomini's two basic principles of strategy were to concentrate against fractions of the enemy force at a time and to strike at

6156-431: The cross (anharmonic) ratio of four points of a line taking account of its sign, thereby sharpening Pappus's concept . He then proved that this ratio is invariant for the four points obtained by cutting four lines of a pencil of lines with different secants. In this way, he established the harmonic properties of the complete quadrilateral ." This approach to geometry was used by Karl von Staudt four decades later to set

6264-446: The death of Louis XVI , although he had been absent for the debates surrounding his trial . By mid-February Carnot proposed that annexation be undertaken on behalf of French interests whether or not the people to be annexed so wished. Following the king's veto of the Assembly's efforts to suppress nonjuring priests on 27 May, on a proposal of Carnot and Servan in the Assembly to raise a permanent militia of volunteers on 8 June, and

6372-404: The development of another method of warfare which went largely unnoticed at the time, but would become far more common in the 20th century. That was the aid and encouragement the British gave to the Spanish to harass the French behind their lines which led them to squander most of the assets of their Iberian army in protecting the army's line of communications. This was a very cost effective move for

6480-401: The difference between "military strategy" and "grand strategy" shrank. Fundamental to grand strategy is the diplomacy through which a nation might forge alliances or pressure another nation into compliance, thereby achieving victory without resorting to combat. Another element of grand strategy is the management of the post-war peace. As Clausewitz stated, a successful military strategy may be

6588-468: The disposition and manoeuvre of units on a particular sea or battlefield, but less broad than grand strategy otherwise called national strategy, which is the overarching strategy of the largest of organizations such as the nation state , confederation , or international alliance and involves using diplomatic, informational, military and economic resources. Military strategy involves using military resources such as people, equipment, and information against

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6696-401: The distance of communication between the political and the military leader was small. But as the need of a professional army grew, the bounds between the politicians and the military came to be recognized. In many cases, it was decided that there was a need for a separation. As French statesman Georges Clemenceau said, "War is too important a business to be left to soldiers." This gave rise to

6804-546: The distinction between maneuver and battle, strategy and tactics, expanded with the capacity of technology and transit. Tactics that were once the province of a company of cavalry would be applied to a panzer army . It is often said that the art of strategies defines the goals to achieve in a military campaign, while tactics defines the methods to achieve these goals. Strategic goals could be "We want to conquer area X", or "We want to stop country Y's expansion in world trade in commodity Z"; while tactical decisions range from

6912-457: The ends of policy. Tactics means the dispositions for, and control of, military forces and techniques in actual fighting. Put more shortly: strategy is the art of the conduct of war, tactics the art of fighting." Military strategy in the 19th century was still viewed as one of a trivium of "arts" or "sciences" that govern the conduct of warfare; the others being tactics , the execution of plans and maneuvering of forces in battle, and logistics ,

7020-490: The fall of the fortress of Vlissingen to the British during the Walcheren Campaign in 1809, Napoleon employed Carnot to write a treatise describing how fortifications could be improved, for the use of the École militaire de Metz  [ fr ] . Building on the theories of the controversial engineer Montalembert , Carnot advanced ideas on how the long-established bastioned system of fortification could be modified for close defense and to allow for counter attack by

7128-405: The first encounter with the enemy. Field Marshal Schlieffen succeeded Moltke and directed German planning in the lead up to World War I. He advocated the "strategy of annihilation" but was faced by a war on two fronts against numerically superior opposition. The strategy he formulated was the Schlieffen Plan , defending in the east while concentrating for a decisive victory in the west, after which

7236-416: The full power of the pursuit of the enemy could not be achieved because the second army needed attention. Napoleon used the central position strategy during the Battle of Waterloo . Napoleon masked Wellington and massed against the Prussian army , and then after the Battle of Ligny was won, Napoleon attempted to do the same to the Allied/British army located just to the south of Waterloo. His subordinate

7344-413: The geopolitical policy objectives into militarily achievable goals and campaigns. Field Marshal Viscount Alanbrooke , Chief of the Imperial General Staff and co-chairman of the Anglo-US Combined Chiefs of Staff Committee for most of the Second World War, described the art of military strategy as: "to derive from the [policy] aim a series of military objectives to be achieved: to assess these objectives as to

7452-402: The larger portion overwhelmed and defeated the second army quickly. He would then march on the second army leaving a portion to pursue the first army and repeat the operations ( defeat in detail ). This was designed to achieve the highest concentration of men into the primary battle while limiting the enemy's ability to reinforce the critical battle. The central position did have a weakness in that

7560-426: The lines. The rupture in the enemy lines allowed Napoleon's cavalry to flank both lines and roll them up leaving his opponent no choice but to surrender or flee. The second strategy used by Napoleon I of France when confronted with two or more enemy armies was the use of the central position. This allowed Napoleon to drive a wedge to separate the enemy armies. He would then use part of his force to mask one army while

7668-490: The locals and so did not have to garrison their lines of communications to the same extent as the French did. So the strategy of aiding their Spanish civilian allies in their guerrilla or 'small war' benefited the British in many ways, not all of which were immediately obvious. Clausewitz 's On War has become a respected reference for strategy, dealing with political, as well as military, leadership , his most famous assertion being: Clausewitz saw war first and foremost as

7776-549: The maintenance of an army. The view had prevailed since the Roman times, and the borderline between strategy and tactics at this time was blurred, and sometimes categorization of a decision is a matter of almost personal opinion. Carnot , during the French Revolutionary Wars thought it simply involved concentration of troops . Strategy and tactics are closely related and exist on the same continuum; modern thinking places

7884-447: The maneuver to battle to dictate how and where the battle would progress. The Battle of Austerlitz was a perfect example of this maneuver. Napoleon withdrew from a strong position to draw his opponent forward and tempt him into a flank attack, weakening his center. This allowed the French army to split the allied army and gain victory. Napoleon used two primary strategies for the approach to battle. His "Manoeuvre De Derrière" ( move onto

7992-454: The manoeuvring was constrained to narrow, vulnerable corridors. Steam power and ironclads changed transport and combat at sea. Newly invented telegraph enabled more rapid communication between armies and their headquarters capitals. Combat was still usually waged by opposing divisions with skirmish lines on rural battlefields, violent naval engagements by cannon-armed sailing or steam-powered vessels, and assault on military forces defending

8100-441: The military requirements they create, and the pre-conditions which the achievement of each is likely to necessitate: to measure available and potential resources against the requirements and to chart from this process a coherent pattern of priorities and a rational course of action." Field-Marshal Montgomery summed it up thus "Strategy is the art of distributing and applying military means, such as armed forces and supplies, to fulfil

8208-558: The morale and mental state of the opposing population) achieved through the offensive; this offensive was itself characterized by concentration of force, maneuver, surprise, and simplicity. In 1520 Niccolò Machiavelli 's Dell'arte della guerra (Art of War) dealt with the relationship between civil and military matters and the formation of grand strategy. In the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden demonstrated advanced operational strategy that led to his victories on

8316-419: The most decisive objective. Clausewitz and Jomini remain required reading for today's military professional officer. The evolution of military strategy continued in the American Civil War (1861–1865). The practice of strategy was advanced by generals such as Robert E. Lee , Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman , all of whom had been influenced by the feats of Napoleon ( Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson

8424-478: The most men". The concepts given as essential in the United States Army Field Manual of Military Operations ( FM 3–0 ) are: According to Greene and Armstrong, some planners assert adhering to the fundamental principles guarantees victory, while others claim war is unpredictable and the strategist must be flexible. Others argue predictability could be increased if the protagonists were to view

8532-405: The operational level between them. All deal with distance, time and force but strategy is large scale, can endure through years, and is societal while tactics are small scale and involve the disposition of fewer elements enduring hours to weeks. Originally strategy was understood to govern the prelude to a battle while tactics controlled its execution. However, in the world wars of the 20th century,

8640-423: The opponent's resources to gain supremacy or reduce the opponent's will to fight, developed through the precepts of military science . NATO 's definition of strategy is "presenting the manner in which military power should be developed and applied to achieve national objectives or those of a group of nations." Strategy may be divided into 'grand strategy', geopolitical in scope and 'military strategy' that converts

8748-726: The other side. Carnot and Barthélemy supported concessions to end the war, and hoped to oust the triumvirate and replace them with more conservative men. After Letourneur had been replaced by another close collaborator of Carnot, François de Barthélemy, both of them, alongside many deputies in the Council of Five Hundred , were ousted in the Coup of 18 Fructidor (4 September 1797), engineered by Generals Napoleon Bonaparte (originally, Carnot's protégé ) and Pierre François Charles Augereau . Carnot took refuge in Geneva , and there in 1797 issued his La métaphysique du calcul infinitésimal . The creation of

8856-482: The passing of the title to his children, for as Carnot said when speaking of the power necessary to govern a state "If this power is the appendage of a hereditary family it becomes despotic." After Napoleon crowned himself emperor on 2 December 1804, Carnot's republican convictions precluded his acceptance of high office under the First French Empire , and he resigned from public life. Probably in response to

8964-479: The preface to The Influence of Sea Power upon History how the Romans used their sea power to effectively block the sea lines of communication of Hannibal with Carthage ; and so via a maritime strategy achieved Hannibal's removal from Italy, despite never beating him there with their legions. One of these strategies was shown in the battle between Greek city states and Persia. The Battle of Thermopylae in which

9072-550: The rear ) was intended to place the French Army across the enemy's lines of communications . This forced the opponent to either march to battle with Napoleon or attempt to find an escape route around the army. By placing his army into the rear, his opponent's supplies and communications would be cut. This had a negative effect on enemy morale. Once joined, the battle would be one in which his opponent could not afford defeat. This also allowed Napoleon to select multiple battle angles into

9180-460: The reinstatement of Brissotin ministers dismissed on 18 June, the monarchy faced an abortive demonstration of 20 June . On 14 August 1793 Carnot was elected to the Committee of Public Safety , where he took charge of the military situation as one of the Ministers of War. He was friendly with Johan Valckenaer who tried to hasten the invasion of the Dutch Republic . With the establishment of

9288-557: The school, ranked as a first lieutenant . He was eighteen years old. Carnot obtained a commission as a lieutenant in Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé 's engineer corps. At this moment, he made a name for himself both in the line of (physics) theoretical engineering and in his work in the field of fortifications . While in the army, stationed in Calais, Cherbourg and Béthune , he continued his study of mathematics. In December 1783, he received

9396-484: The scope of the studies are also subjects such as the role of intelligence , diplomacy , and international cooperation for security and defense. The subject is normally taught at the post-graduate academic or professional, usually strategic-political and strategic-military levels. The academic foundations of the subject began with classic texts initially from the Orient such as Sun Tzu ’s Art of War and went on to gain

9504-579: The situation from the other sides in a conflict. Field Marshal Count Helmuth von Moltke expressed strategy as a system of " ad hoc expedients" by which a general must take action while under pressure. These underlying principles of strategy have survived relatively unchanged as the technology of warfare has developed. Strategy (and tactics) must constantly evolve in response to technological advances. A successful strategy from one era tends to remain in favor long after new developments in military weaponry and matériel have rendered it obsolete. World War I, and to

9612-707: The soil of the Holy Roman Empire . It was not until the 18th century that military strategy was subjected to serious study in Europe. The word was first used in German as " Strategie " in a translation of Leo VI's Tactica in 1777 by Johann von Bourscheid. From then onwards, the use of the word spread throughout the West. In the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), Frederick the Great improvised

9720-501: The sole aim of utterly destroying his opponent, usually achieving success through superior maneuver. As ruler and general he dealt with the grand strategy as well as the operational strategy, making use of political and economic measures. While not the originator of the methods he used, Napoleon effectively combined the relatively superior maneuver and battle stages into one event. Before this, General Officers had considered this approach to battle as separate events. However, Napoleon used

9828-526: The south, and maneuver and security, by preventing the Germans from going directly from Alsace to Paris. The principles of military strategy emerged at least as far back as 500 BC in the works of Sun Tzu and Chanakya . The campaigns of Alexander the Great , Chandragupta Maurya , Hannibal , Qin Shi Huang , Julius Caesar , Zhuge Liang , Khalid ibn al-Walid and, in particular, Cyrus the Great demonstrate strategic planning and movement. Mahan describes in

9936-713: The subject is taught in several universities, but predominantly in Quaid-I-Azam University (QAU), National Defence University (NDU), University of Punjab , and Fatima Jinnah Women's University . Islamabad|National Defence University]], and Islamia college university Peshawar in Pakistan. Turkish War Academy has also Strategic Research Institute (SAREN) in which the subject is taught at both masters and doctoral levels. Lazare Carnot Lazare Nicolas Marguerite, Comte Carnot ( French pronunciation: [lazaʁ nikɔla maʁɡəʁit kaʁno] ; 13 May 1753 – 2 August 1823)

10044-507: The third edition which was published in 1812. An English translation, "A Treatise on the Defence of Fortified Places" was published in 1814. Although few of his proposals were accepted by mainstream engineers, the Carnot wall , a detached wall at the foot of the escarp , became a common feature in fortifications built in the mid-19th century. He lived in Warsaw , Congress Poland , and then moved to

10152-506: The time, which was strongly in favour of victory in battle, yet World War I would soon demonstrate the flaws of a mindless "strategy of annihilation". Strategic studies Strategic studies is an interdisciplinary academic field centered on the study of peace and conflict strategies , often devoting special attention to the relationship between military history , international politics , geostrategy , international diplomacy , international economics , and military power . In

10260-765: The vast horse-herds of Mongolia. Each archer had at least one extra horse—there was an average of five horses per man—thus the entire army could move with astounding rapidity. Moreover, since horse milk and horse blood were the staples of the Mongolian diet, Genghis' horse-herds functioned not just as his means of movement but as his logistical sustainment. All other necessities would be foraged and plundered. Khan's marauders also brought with them mobile shelters, concubines, butchers, and cooks. Through maneuver and continuous assault, Chinese, Persian , Arab and Eastern European armies could be stressed until they collapsed, and were then annihilated in pursuit and encirclement. Compared to

10368-419: The whole purpose of educating the military commander is not to give him a series of answers for the task he will face (the complexities of which cannot be foreseen), but to educate him about different aspects of what will face him so as to let him evaluate the situation for himself, and develop his own strategy. Strategic thinkers on the whole will search for recurrent patterns, which in themselves cannot predict

10476-422: Was a French mathematician , physicist , military officer , politician and a leading member of the Committee of Public Safety during the French Revolution . His military reforms, which included the introduction of mass conscription ( levée en masse ), were instrumental in transforming the French Revolutionary Army into an effective fighting force. Carnot was elected to the National Convention in 1792, and

10584-517: Was also an eminent mathematician. His 1803 Géométrie de position is considered a pioneering work in the field of projective geometry . He is also remembered for developing the Carnot wall , a system of fortification that became widely employed in continental Europe during the 19th century. Carnot was born on 13 May 1753 in the village of Nolay , in Burgundy , as the son of a local judge and royal notary, Claude Carnot and his wife, Marguerite Pothier. He

10692-574: Was briefly Minister of War . A fervent Republican, he chose to withdraw from public life after Napoleon's coronation as Emperor. In 1812, he returned to serve under Napoleon and oversaw the defense of Antwerp against the Sixth Coalition , and during the Hundred Days he was Napoleon's Minister of the Interior . Carnot was exiled after the second Bourbon Restoration and died in Magdeburg , Prussia in 1823. In addition to his political career, Carnot

10800-524: Was founded in 1778 and was inspired by the works of Chapelle , La Fontaine and Chaulieu . It was here where they became acquaintances and eventually friends. Robespierre preceded Carnot into the Academy of Arras entering in April 1784 while he entered in 1786. While they were active members of the Committee of Public Safety in 1794, tensions between Carnot and Robespierre began to rise massively. During his time on

10908-454: Was his essay on Vauban in which he praised the engineer on his works while at the same time developing his own career as a writer/engineer. Vauban's work had a profound effect on his work as a general and engineer. In 1786 he became acquainted with Robespierre, a lawyer in Arras , in the local literary club. In 1788 he returned to Béthune, where he was imprisoned with a lettre de cachet , because of

11016-669: Was ready to enter one of two prestigious engineering and artillery schools in Paris. A year later, in February 1771, he was ranked the third highest among twelve who were chosen out of his class of more than one hundred who took the entrance exams. It was at this point when he entered the École royale du génie de Mézières , appointed as a second lieutenant . Studies at the Mézières included geometry, mechanics, geometrical designing, geography, hydraulics and material preparation. On 1 January 1773 he graduated

11124-495: Was said to have carried a book of Napoleon's maxims with him.) However, the adherence to the Napoleonic principles in the face of technological advances such as the long-range infantry breechloader rifles and minie ball guns generally led to disastrous consequences for both the Union and Confederate forces and populace. The time and space in which war was waged changed as well. Railroads enabled swift movement of large forces but

11232-448: Was scarce so he demanded and secured new methods for tanning. He quickly organized the army and helped to turn the tide of the war. It added significantly to discontent with the course of the Revolution in still Bourbon-loyalist areas—such as the Vendée , which had broken out in open revolt five months earlier—but the government of the time considered it a success, and Carnot became known as

11340-613: Was the author of many reforms sought to improve the country. One of these was the proposal for compulsory public education for all citizens. He also penned a proposal for the new Constitution which included the "Declaration of the Duties of the Citizens" that held that there should be not only education but military service for all citizens of France between the ages of twenty and twenty-five. He also published essays about engineering theory. Essai sur les machines en général won honorable mention from

11448-554: Was the second oldest of seven children. At the age of fourteen, Lazare and his brother were enrolled at the Collège d' Autun , where he focused on the study of philosophy and the classics. He held a strong belief in stoic philosophy and was deeply influenced by Roman civilization. When he turned fifteen, he left school in Autun to strengthen his philosophical knowledge and study under the Society of

11556-482: Was to have a massive army separated into several units that could move more quickly than the enemy and attack from the flanks rather than head on, which had led to resounding defeats before Carnot was elected to the Committee of Public Safety. This tactic was extremely successful against the more traditional tactics of existing European armies. It was his initiative to train the conscripts in the art of war and to place new recruits with experienced soldiers rather than having

11664-537: Was unable to mask the defeated Prussian army, who reinforced the Waterloo battle in time to defeat Napoleon and end his domination of Europe. It can be said that the Prussian Army under Blücher used the "maneuver de derrière" against Napoleon who was suddenly placed in a position of reacting to a new enemy threat. Napoleon's practical strategic triumphs, repeatedly leading smaller forces to defeat larger ones, inspired

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