Clausewitz Strategy Tactics

4 Pages 1087 Words

Strategy has been defined in the dictionary as the military science, or art, of marshaling a nation’s military, political and economic capabilities to bring about a desired military result, whereas tactics can be defined as being the military science of obtaining objectives through the deployment and maneuvering of soldiers, ships and planes, etc. Straightforwardly, in tactics the means are the fighting forces and are generally described as dealing with the smaller picture and the most immediate plans for winning a battle; while strategy instead can be described in other words as dealing with the big picture in a military campaign, including the overall plan for winning a war as a whole and at a large-scale level. In his magnum opus of military policy, the noted Prussian author, Karl von Clausewitz, described strategy, which he viewed as more of an art, as the planning of a whole campaign and conversely described tactics, which was viewed as being generally more scientific in character, as the planning of a single battle. Clausewitz asserts these general beliefs when he makes the statement “Tactics is the art of using soldiers in battle; strategy is the art of using battles to win a war.”
In Clausewitz's theory, all military strategy is part of the larger political pattern, yet his definition of strategy emphasizes battle, which implies the assumption that Clausewitz’s characterization of strategy makes it’s basis in the proper execution of tactics, and, logically, subsequent tactical maneuvers. Clausewitz states that war is an effort that requires infinite patience and strength, but is usually decided in a major battle. As he states quite clearly, time after time, "there is only one means in war: combat." The subtlety that one must be aware of here is that by "combat" Clausewitz means not only the actual bloody clash of armed men on the field of battle but also the potential for clashes. The distinction is crucial. He...