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War is an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will.
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Force is the means of war; to impose our will on the enemy is its object. To secure that object we must render the enemy powerless; and that, in theory, is the true aim of warfare.
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Pure theory tells us that war drives the army to the extremes.
- Each side compels the opponent to follow suit; a reciprocal action is started which must lead to extremes.
- War is always a collision of two living forces — for as long as the enemy can resist and wage war, he is a threat.
- War involves the maximum exertion of strength — where both sides try to surpass the other’s means of disposal.
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In practice, the extremes of war are not attainable because
- War is not isolated. People do not act as perfectly rational agents in war. Both sides react to what their opponent does rather than what they ought to do.
- War does not consist of a single decisive act. War is governed by a variety of factors—logistical, technological, political. The very nature of war impedes the simultaneous concentration of all forces.
- The results of war are never final.
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The political object — the motive for war — determines both the military objective to be reached and the amount of effort it requires. The political object influences the forces of war.
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There is only one thing that can suspend military action — *a desire to wait for a better moment before acting. *
- An absolute balance of forces cannot bring a standstill. In such a balance, the initiative belongs to the attacker, the one who stands to gain something.