Classical Strategists III Jomini

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Classical Strategists IIIJomini

• 8801, Lesson 5

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Lesson 5 Jomini

• Educational Objectives
• Describe Jominis theories and approach
• Understand his legacy
• Explain Jominis view on politics and war
• Compare contrast Clausewitz and Jomini

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Who was Jomini?

• Swiss
• Staff officer
• French and Russian armies
• A contemporary of Clausewitz

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Jomini sought to

• Explain the nature of war
• Control upheavals
• Educate officers
• Provide solutions to military problems
• Reduce war to a set of principles

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Jomini and War

• War as a scientific study
• Concepts
• Premise

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Jomini and the Study of War

• Goal
• Approach
• General Principles

X AB
Y
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Precis de lArt de la Guerre (1838)

• Nine reasons for war
• Nine forms of war
• Six parts of war
• Four basic principles of war
• Major exception

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Precis de lArt de la Guerre

• Wars of opinion
• The decisive point
• Technology

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The Fundamental Questions of Military Theorists

• Influence of historical setting?
• Use of historical analysis?
• What are his ideas?
• Build on or react to previous theorists?
• Affect on later theorists and practitioners of
  war?

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Historical Setting

• Post Napoleonic Europe
• Jominis purpose
• Why had Napoleon been so successful?
• Jomini A recurrent phenomenon

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Us of Historical Analysis

• Jominis Method
• History
• The role of Theory

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What are his ideas about

• The fundamentals of strategy
• Strategy
• The science of directing greater part of forces
  to the most important point
• Timeless principles
• Tactics
• The physical application of forces at the
  decisive point
• Changed as material means evolved

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The fundamentals of strategy

• Timeless principles
• Object
• Choices

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Ideas about

• Civil-military relations
• Political and military relationship

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Ideas about

• Importance of material and moral factors
• An effective army
• Necessary elements
• Generalship

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Generalship

• The great man theory
• Essential qualities
• Sources
• Political generals

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Ideas about

• Ability of an individual to influence events

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Ideas about

• Relationship between
• Offense
• Strategically stronger than the defense
• Tactically equal to the defensive
• Preferred the strategic turning movement
• and defense

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Ideas about

• Chance in war

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How do his ideas build on or react against the
ideas of previous theorists?

• Henry Lloyd
• Georg Fredrich Tempelhof
• Clausewitz

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To what degree did his ideas affect later
theorists and practitioners of war?

• Dennis Hart Mahan
• Naval Warfare
• Alfred Thayer Mahan
• Air Warfare
• Julio Douhet
• Nuclear Warfare
• Bernard Brodie
• U.S. Principles of War

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Jomini and his Era

• Admirers
• European conservatives

• Critics
• Modern theorists

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Jomini

• Acceptance
• Contribution
• Decline

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Issues for Consideration

• Jominis Principles
• Political control
• Views on Strategy
• Clausewitz and Jomini
• Jominis influence

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Jominis Principles

• Four basic principles of war
• Nations go to war for nine reasons
• War can assume nine forms
• War consists of six parts
• Applicability today?

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Political control

• Subordination of military
• Similarity to
• Sun Tzu?
• Clausewitz?

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Views on Strategy

• Isolate strategy from its context
• His interpretation of Napoleons success

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Clausewitz and Jomini

• Theories of war
• Relationship to policy
• Psychological aspects
• Aims of strategic action
• Role of technology
• The decisive battle

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Clausewitz and Jomini

• Army won until 1813
• War was easy
• View was optimistic and rational
• War was subject to unchanging rules
• Heroic

• Army lost until 1813
• War was hard
• View was skeptical, brooding in approach, but
  rational
• War was balky, irrational, threatening to escape
  control
• Tragic.

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Clausewitz and Jomini

• Both
• Outsiders
• Used the past to create a theory for the future
• Different purposes
• Different beliefs

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Jominis Influence

• On the worlds armies
• On later theorists
• On the U.S. Armed Forces
• Civil War
• Sea power and Mahan
• Military doctrine
• 9 Principles of War (Moose Muss)

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Issues for Consideration

• Jominis Principles
• Political control
• Views on Strategy
• Clausewitz and Jomini
• Jominis influence

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Principles of war for the 21st Century

• Objective and Offensive
• Initiative
• Unity of command
• Unity of effort
• Mass focus
• Economic of force
• Economy of effort

• Maneuver
• Orchestration
• Simplicity
• Clarity
• Surprise
• Security

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Points to remember

• Lesson 5 Classical Theorists III
• Overarching theme
• Civil-Military Relationship
• Agreement with Clausewitz