The Origins of Military Thought

Introduction: Machiavelli and the classical notion of the lessons of history in the study of war; PART I. THE MILITARY SCHOOL OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT: Montecuccoli: The impact of proto-science on military theory; The military thinkers of the French enlightenment: The quest for a general theory of war; The Military thinkers of the German Aufklärung: The military Aufkläres: Lloyd: His international career, intellectual scope, and the campaigns of the Seven Years war: Bülow: Between a geometrical science of strategy and the revolution in war; Through the Napoleonic Age: Archduke Charles and the Austrian military school: Jomini: Synthesizing the legacy of the enlightenment with Napoleonic warfare; PART II. THE GERMAN MOVEMENT: CLAUSEWITZ AND THE ORIGINS OF THE GERMAN MILITARY SCHOOL: The reaction against the enlightenment: New perspectives on military theory: The emergence of a new climate of ideas: Berenhorst: Counter-enlightenment and the criticism of the Frederickian system; Clausewitz: Demolishing and rebuilding the theoretical ideal: Scharnhorst's place and legacy: Reformulating military theory in terms of a new intellectual paradigm: How to form a universal theory of war?: Clausewitz: The nature of war: Military decisiveness and political greatness: Reflecting the Napoleonic model: Politics and war: The Ambiguous transformation clarified; Conclusion; Appendix