"We must renounce attempts at building an absolute revolutionary strategy out of the elements of our limited experience of the three years of civil war, during which units of a particular quality fought under particular conditions. Clausewitz warned very well against this. "What could be more natural," he wrote, "than the fact that war of the French Revolution had its characteristic style, and what theory could have been expected to accommodate it? The danger is that this kind of style, developed out of a single case, can easily outlive the situation that gave rise to it: for conditions change imperceptibly. That danger is the very thing a theory should prevent by lucid, rational criticism. In 1806 the Prussian generals were under the sway of this methodism", and so on. Alas! Prussian generals are not the only ones with an inclination towards methodism, that is, towards stereotypes and conventional patterns."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Leon Trotsky, 'Military Doctrine or Pseudo-Military Doctrinairism' (1921), The Military Writings of Leon Trotsky, Volume 5: 1921–1923
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_von_Clausewitz
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Carl von Clausewitz
1780 – 1831
preußischer General und Militärtheoretiker
109 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Carl von Clausewitz →
Related Quotes
"Since war is not an act of senseless passion but is controlled by its political object, the value of this object must…"
"[...] so sind ihm zwei Eigenschaften unentbehrlich [...] Der erstere ist bildlich mit dem französischen Ausdruck coup…"
"To introduce into the philosophy of War itself a principle of moderation would be an absurdity."
"War is an act of violence pushed to its utmost bounds."
"With uncertainty in one scale, courage and self-confidence should be thrown into the other to correct the balance. Th…"
"Blind aggressiveness would destroy the attack itself, not the defense."
"... in the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards."
"Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating."
"Kind-hearted people might of course think there was some ingenious way to disarm or defeat the enemy without too much…"
"Die Entschlossenheit ist ein Akt des Mutes in dem einzelnen Fall, und wenn sie zum Charakterzug wird, eine Gewohnheit…"