Carl von Clausewitz: Historical and Political Writings

416 Pages·2014·21.318 MB·English

by  Clausewitz, Carl von;Moran, D.;Paret, Peter

CARL VON CLAUSEWITZ
Historical and Political
Writings
A NOTE TO A LIBRARIAN
In the note, written in 1820, Clausewitz requests five books. The first two are on England: "1.
Schmalz liber England 2. Vinke dito —," i.e., Theodor Anton Schmalz, Staatsverfassung
Grossbritanniens (Halle, 1806), and Ludwig von Vmcke, Darstellung der innem Verwaltung
Grossbritanniens, (Berlin, 1816). The third, "Herders Zerstreute Blatter," is a volume of Her-
der's essays and his collection of Greek lyrics and epigrams. The fourth, "Schillers Gedichte,"
is an edition of Friedrich Schiller's poetry. The last work, "Religion fur das Herz, auserlesene
Stellen aus geistvollen Schriften unseres Zeitalters," refers to an anthology of thoughts on reli-
gion, whose full title read "Religion for the Heart, or Testaments of Faith, Love and Hope,
selected from the Spiritual Literature of Our Age." The place and date of publication,
"Stuttg[art], 1802," are added at right in the librarian's hand. (Collection of Peter Paret)
CARL VON CLAUSEWITZ
HISTORICAL
AND POLITICAL
WRITINGS
Edited and Translated by
PETER PARET and DANIEL MORAN
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
Copyright © 1992 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Oxford
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Clausewitz, Carl von, 1780-18-51.
[Selections. English. 1992]
Historical and political writings / Carl von Clausewitz; edited
and translated by Peter Paret and Daniel Moran.
ñ cm.
"Contains selections from Clausewitz's historical writings and the
majority of his essays and notes on political topics"—Preface.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-691-03192-4
1. Europe—History—18th century. 2. Europe—Politicsand
government—1789-1900. I. Paret, Peter. II. Moran, Daniel.
III. Title.
D286.C552513 1992 940.2^3—dc20 91-478
This book has been composed in Linotron Electa and Melior
Princeton University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the
Council on Library Resources
Printed in the United States of America by Princeton University Press,
Princeton, New Jersey
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
IN MEMORY OF
Felix Gilbert

CONTENTS
List of Maps ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
List of Abbreviations xvii
List of Sources xviii
PART ONE
Historical Writings
Introduction 3
1 "Some Comments on the War tohfe Spanish Successioanft er
Reading the Letters oMf adame de Maintenon ttoh e Princess
des Ursins" (1826 or later) 15
2 "Observations on the Wars othf e Austrian Succession"
(early 1820s) 19
3 From Observations on Prussia in Her Great Catastrophe
(1823-1825) 30
4 "On the Life and Character of Scharnhorst" (1817) 85
5 FromTfte Campaign of 1812 in Russia (1823-1825) 110
6 From "Strategic Critique of the Campaign of 1814F inra nce"
(early 1820s) 205
PART TWO
Political Writings
Introduction 223
7 Notes onH istory and Politics (1803-1807) 237
8 "The Germans and the French" (1807) 250
9 Notes on History andP olitics (1807-1809) 263
10 Letter to Fichte (1809) 279
11 From the "Political Declaration" (1812) 285
CONTENTS
12 On the German Federal Army (1818) 304
13 "Our Military Institutions" (1819) 313
14 "On the Political Advantages and Disadvantages of the Prussian
Landwehr" (1819) 329
15 "Agitation" (early 1820s) 335
16 "Europe since the Polish Partitions" (1831) 369
17 "On the Basic Question of Germany’s Existence" (1831) 377
Index 385
viii
LIST OF MAPS
MAP 1 The Campaign of 1812 in Russia Vilna to Smolensk 121
MAP 2 The Campaign of 1812 in Russia Smolensk to Moscow 138
MAP 3 The Campaign of 1812 in Russia The battle of Borodino 150
MAP 4 The Campaign of 1812 in Russia Vilna to Riga (Vicinity of
Tauroggen) 183
MAP 5 The Campaign of 1814 in France 210
MAPS 1,2, and 4 are details from the Operationskarte fur den Feldzug von
1812 in Russland" that accompanied the first two editions of Clausewitz's
Hinterlassene Werke. Map 3 is reproduced from Dmitrii Buturlin, Atlas des
plans, legendes et tableaux d'organisation de I'histoire militaire de la cam-
pagne de Russie en 1812 (Paris, 1824). Map 5 is reproduced from A.J.F.
Fain, Manuscrit de mil huit cent quatorze (Paris, 1823).