The Art of War (Vol. 1, 2, and 3) Ping (Chinese Translation of Famous Works)

Author: Carl von Clausewitz
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features: This book is the posthumous work of Carl von Clausewitz, a great writer on 19th-century Prussian military history, and is a classic of bourgeois military theory. In terms of military thought, it reflects the progressive tendencies and innovative spirit of the early bourgeoisie, offering some correct insights into the nature of war and other issues, and has played a significant role in promoting the development of military thought. It is still highly regarded in the military circles of capitalist countries today. The book was written between 1818 and 1830. The author personally participated in the Franco-Prussian War and the Franco-Russian War, accumulating extensive combat experience. His thinking was also greatly influenced by German classical philosophy, which provided favorable subjective and objective conditions for him to study war theory and write this book. In the book, the author gathers a large amount of material, striving to study war theory using a dialectical approach and drawing some conclusions that still seem correct today. However, due to the limitations of his class and era, some of the views in the book are incorrect, especially regarding the nature of war, such as the issue of the justice or injustice of war, which has never been clearly elaborated. Despite this, the book remains a classic of bourgeois military theory. The revolutionary leaders Marx and Lenin both praised this book. In a letter to Marx on January 7, 1858, Engels wrote: "I am currently reading Clausewitz's 'On War.' The method of philosophical deduction is very peculiar, but the book itself is excellent." Lenin, in his struggle against the social chauvinists of the Second International, frequently quoted one of the author's famous sayings: "War is the continuation of politics by other means (i.e., violence)," and also pointed out: "Marxists have always considered this principle as the theoretical basis for examining the significance of every war. Marx and Engels have always approached various wars from this perspective." Therefore, this book is not only very helpful for us to study bourgeois military thought but also beneficial for us to study general war issues. The Military Academy of the People's Liberation Army, based on the 1957 edition published by the Ministry of National Defense of the German Democratic Republic, and with the reference of translations in Russian, Japanese, English, French, and other languages, as well as several old Chinese translations, collaborated with various units and comrades to compile and translate this book. To facilitate reading, the translators added footnotes and annotations, and an index of names and places is appended at the end of the book. Since the original work was written in the mid-19th century and is an unedited posthumous work, some chapters are still drafts, and the language is obscure and difficult to understand. As a result, there are significant differences in the interpretation of the original text among various translations. Although efforts have been made to accurately express the content of the original, errors are still inevitable, and the readers are kindly requested to point them out.