Carl von Clausewitz

Prussian general and military thinker, whose work Vom Kriege (1832; On War) has become one of the most respected classics on military strategy.

Clausewitz enlisted in the Prussian army at age 12, and at age 13 he took part (and was commissioned) in the campaigns of the First Coalition against Revolutionary France. At age 21 he gained admission into the Institute for Young Officers in Berlin.

After finishing first in his class, Clausewitz was on the road leading to the centre of the political and military events during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, the reform of the Prussian army that followed Prussia’s defeat, and the restoration of European monarchies following the defeat of Napoleon.

In 1804 Clausewitz was appointed adjutant to Prince August Ferdinand of Prussia. In this capacity, he took part in the Battle of Jena-Auerstädt (1806). In the wake of Prussia’s catastrophic defeat by Napoleon, he and the prince fell into French captivity.

After their release at the end of 1807, Clausewitz struggled to reform the Prussian army.

On December 10, 1810 Clausewitz married Countess Marie von Bruhl, with whom he formed a very close but childless union.

In the war ministry that was formed Clausewitz served as his mentor’s assistant and was then simultaneously appointed a major in the general staff, instructor at the new Officers’ Academy, and military tutor to the Prussian crown prince. In 1812, when Prussia was forced to join Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, Clausewitz resigned his commission and joined the Russian service. Clausewitz took part in the final campaigns that brought down Napoleon in 1813–15. During the Waterloo campaign, he served as chief of staff to one of the four Prussian army corps.

With the coming of peace Clausewitz increasingly concentrated on his intellectual interests. He had been thinking and writing on war and its theory since his days in the Institute for Young Officers.