Principles of Warfare

Principles of Warfare

Introduction

The French Revolution, and more specifically the Napoleonic campaigns, which lasted from 1796 and 1815 are referred to by many as the leading military thinker's pivotal events that led the way to study the art of war (Rourke, 2006). Not only by the preponderance of the military genius of Napoleon and his body of Generals, but mostly the consequences that these military campaigns were epics of tactical doctrine and operational art. From a historical period in which military operations evolved from a private matter of warlike sovereigns and their hosts, who were the only ones considered qualified to reflect upon and write about the art of war to one that introduced other stakeholders. The costs and repercussions of Napoleon's campaigns and “levee en masse” armies created a powerful social requirement to understand war that could only be fulfilled by academic or scientific study. This activity has to be subject of social reflection and reason for academic writings. The war has become a cross-cutting issue within societies, involving multiple actors who interact cyclically. Conflicts that mobilized the nation and its people as a whole, portrayed in the motto given by Napoleon "... levée en masse ...” .This meant that the innovative concept of "liberalism" which is military extreme flooded the thinking of politicians, sociologists, historians and military strategists.

Discussion

Arising from the Napoleonic campaigns, whose direct and indirect effects devastated most European countries in the early nineteenth century, there are many theorists and teachers of the art of war. These should be highlighted by the depth of his works and the relevance of the works and thought of and two characters that marked an era and contributed to the conceptualization of a strategic doctrine and military operational art, respectively. Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz and Baron Antoine Henri Jomini (Gray, 2007). Though they both achieved the rank of General, neither ever arrived to command troops in combat, serving instead as Staff and political-military advisor at the highest level, especially in the Prussian Army and the French Army. Here, respectively, in a given period of his military life were served in the Russian Army. However, as a result of accumulated experience in the performance of these different functions was benefited from a sharing of knowledge and strategic vision of the operations of war. This included the logistics and legal aspects, which coupled with critical thinking, analytical and inductive as well as the calculated historical study of battles and military campaigns that allowed to compose works relating to the study of war. This content, principles and clarity of views presented, while preserving the necessary updates resulting from technological developments and modern ideologies remained in current form and constitute major measures taken, the guidelines for planning and conduct of military operations in modern armies.

Antoine Henri Jomini, whose life, work and legacy strategic thinking, influenced the day-to-day lives of many books on military strategy. This does not seem to have received the recognition and prominence that might ...