Clausewitz’s “Wondrous Trinity” as a Coordinate System of War and Violent Conflict

Rather than discarding Clausewitz’s theory of war in response to the revolutionary changes in modern warfare, this article articulates a broader theory of war based on his concept of the “wondrous trinity,” identifying it as his true legacy. The author shows that the concept of trinitarian war attri...

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Main Author: Andreas Herberg-Rothe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Bielefeld 2009-12-01
Series:International Journal of Conflict and Violence
Online Access:http://www.ijcv.org/index.php/ijcv/article/view/6
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spelling doaj-213250b26432442b93e1b54dd43b7cda2020-11-25T01:49:52ZengUniversity of BielefeldInternational Journal of Conflict and Violence1864-13852009-12-0132204219Clausewitz’s “Wondrous Trinity” as a Coordinate System of War and Violent ConflictAndreas Herberg-RotheRather than discarding Clausewitz’s theory of war in response to the revolutionary changes in modern warfare, this article articulates a broader theory of war based on his concept of the “wondrous trinity,” identifying it as his true legacy. The author shows that the concept of trinitarian war attributed to Clausewitz by his critics, which seems to be applicable only to wars between states, is a caricature of Clausewitz’s theory. He goes on to develop Clause- witz’s theory that war is composed of the three tendencies of violence/force, fighting, and the affiliation of the combatants to a warring community. Each war can be analyzed as being composed of these three tendencies and their opposites.http://www.ijcv.org/index.php/ijcv/article/view/6
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Andreas Herberg-Rothe
spellingShingle Andreas Herberg-Rothe
Clausewitz’s “Wondrous Trinity” as a Coordinate System of War and Violent Conflict
International Journal of Conflict and Violence
author_facet Andreas Herberg-Rothe
author_sort Andreas Herberg-Rothe
title Clausewitz’s “Wondrous Trinity” as a Coordinate System of War and Violent Conflict
title_short Clausewitz’s “Wondrous Trinity” as a Coordinate System of War and Violent Conflict
title_full Clausewitz’s “Wondrous Trinity” as a Coordinate System of War and Violent Conflict
title_fullStr Clausewitz’s “Wondrous Trinity” as a Coordinate System of War and Violent Conflict
title_full_unstemmed Clausewitz’s “Wondrous Trinity” as a Coordinate System of War and Violent Conflict
title_sort clausewitz’s “wondrous trinity” as a coordinate system of war and violent conflict
publisher University of Bielefeld
series International Journal of Conflict and Violence
issn 1864-1385
publishDate 2009-12-01
description Rather than discarding Clausewitz’s theory of war in response to the revolutionary changes in modern warfare, this article articulates a broader theory of war based on his concept of the “wondrous trinity,” identifying it as his true legacy. The author shows that the concept of trinitarian war attributed to Clausewitz by his critics, which seems to be applicable only to wars between states, is a caricature of Clausewitz’s theory. He goes on to develop Clause- witz’s theory that war is composed of the three tendencies of violence/force, fighting, and the affiliation of the combatants to a warring community. Each war can be analyzed as being composed of these three tendencies and their opposites.
url http://www.ijcv.org/index.php/ijcv/article/view/6
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