Sun Tzu And Clausewitz

War and conflict are some of the few events in life that truly unites-and divides,all cultures across all ages of the Earth.In all corners of the world can be found masters of some variant of conflict,or some that have succumbed to the advances of others.Warfare has been a near-constant throughout human history,and War is such a quintessential piece of human existence that it is hard to imagine life without some aspect of it present in all ages of human society.War is so pervasive in fact,it does not remain within the realm of reality or actuality,and across the world,legends abound of battles between gods,titans,and even nature itself.The Titanomachy of Ancient Greek mythology,the War in Heaven in Christianity,and the war to end all wars,Ragnarok and Armageddon are all examples of these fantastical wars and are united by the same subject matter,and many different cultures across the world also have such legends.War has certainly changed dramatically in the very short time that humanity has been present and occupied the Earth.As such,it is important that its study must be carried out;as it is one of the oldest professions in history and in strange ways,unites many people through space and time.China,as one of the great cradles of civilization,gave birth to one of the greatest minds of military theory and practice,Master Sun Tzu(孙子).Chinese history and culture in the era of Sun Tzu was heavily influenced by near-constant warfare.The Warring States period was the time in which Sun Tzu came into being,and in many ways he as an individual and his works were in essence the culmination of this period of ancient China’s ways of thinking,approach to conflict,and solutions to conflict.Given that China exercised some of the greatest influence on the various cultures and peoples of the East,Sun Tzu by extension did so as well,with the significance of his thoughts affecting millions,ranging from the horse-mounted nomads of Central Asia to the samurai generals of Japan.The continent of Europe,like the situation faced by China several times in parts of its history,was forged in the fires of war;but unlike China,the great power that exercised control over the peoples of Europe fell without a suitable replacement.Eventually,the European peoples rose as separate kingdoms and nations,and while conflict was constantly evolving,there was not as much a dramatic shift in the ways in which it was fought until the arrival of gunpowder and Napoleon Bonaparte.The actions and the decisions of Napoleon forever altered the kingdoms and empires of Europe,the way in which they,their colonies,and now modern nation states conducted warfare,and allowed their subsequent expansion in later times.The man responsible for studying,learning from,and attempting to put to paper the grand strategies and machinations of the former Emperor of France was none other than the Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz.These two authors both penned the two greatest manuals on warfare ever written.Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War,and Carl von Clausewitz wrote On War.These two books are representative not only of the cultures from which they sprung,but of the vastly different environments and the careers and attitudes of their authors.As conflict is an inevitable part of life,and the pursuit of arms is integral to the human experience,I believe that the purpose of this research is important because of its value in bridging the cultural gap between the East and the West.It is considered a fact and thus acknowledged by many that Sun Tzu and Carl von Clausewitz are both military writers recognized for their extensive experience and high levels of proficiency in the art of battle.I believe that in order to better understand each culture’s versions and desires of peace,we must understand their approaches and ways of thinking in the arts of war.Understanding and comprehension bring respect,and respect leads to appreciation.To appreciate the fraternal twins of military theory of the East and the West is to understand,appreciate,and respect the cultures of both.I aim to accomplish this by closely analyzing the core concepts and ideas of both Sun Tzu and Carl von Clausewitz,in addition to cross-referencing the original texts with high-quality translations of those texts,and interpretive works that also seek to understand on a deeper level the thoughts,desires,doctrines,and ways of thinking of each author.In order to accomplish this objective,it is important that we do not simply look at each work as wholly independent of the world surrounding their creation.After all,a work is not just the product of the mind of its author,but the situation of the world,the movement of peoples,the events that impacted the author on any sort of fundamental level,and the ways of thinking or the philosophies that were common or spreading at whatever time each work was created are all extremely important factors to consider as nothing comes about in a vacuum.With this mentality in mind,my analysis will begin by not starting with the two works as they are,but by first examining the historical and cultural background of Ancient China and the continent of Europe during the Enlightenment and Early Modern period.Looking at the historical and cultural background of Ancient China will enable us to gain a deeper understanding of the philosophical movements and the environment in which Sun Tzu grew,developed his ideas,and eventually with what approach he brought to writing The Art of Wur By doing the same and examining the cultural and philosophical base of Carl von Clausewitz during his time in European history,we can accomplish the same goal for him and his work,On War.As both authors existed in two very different parts of history,understanding the lay of the land in regards to their ways of thinking and general cultural attitudes are keys to unlocking the true potential in their works,and this is particularly important given the tumultuous times that both authors lived in and the myriad of different influences from a variety of different sources that both authors took inspiration from.After establishing a background which provides a frame of reference for the two works,the intent then is to move on to analysis of the authors themselves.In this respect,what will be covered will be the specific personal circumstances under which Sun Tzu and Carl von Clausewitz came to write The Art of War and On War.The life of Sun Tzu,as well as the life of Carl von Clausewitz,will be gone over briefly so that we can establish what important experiences may have influenced them as individuals and their own personal philosophies when writing their great works.The final step in the chain would be the analysis of the specific works themselves.The Art of War and On War will both be examined while the thoughts,influences,and unique perspectives of the authors who wrote the two works will be kept in mind.The philosophical movements of Ancient China and Early Modern Europe,the political situations that Sun Tzu and Carl von Clausewitz lived through,and the careers of each author all had significant impacts on their works.In regards to the works themselves,they will be examined in terms of their structure,the use of the language within them,and what message they aim to deliver.In particular,the definition of war,the nature of war,each author’s definition of strategy,the preparation for war,the conduct of war,and the qualities of what each author would consider a great general will all be examined closely.The contents of The Art of War and On War will also be cross-referenced with the previous analysis of their authors and time periods,and between each other,in order to ascertain the similarities and differences between them,the aims and opinions of their authors,and the times in which they came into being.Sun Tzu in The Art of War(《孙子兵法》)and Carl von Clausewitz in On War are both very much representative of Eastern and Western strategic traditions,and as such bring up many crucial points and factors that they feel make a good leader,a strong nation,and ways to bring about a successful end to conflict.Though separated by thousands of years,kilometers,and tremendous gaps in terms of technology,the lessons that can be learned from both are extremely similar.In this paper,I will compare,contrast,and analyze these similarities and differences based on these two classics works on the various arts of War.Finding out what forged these two masters,influenced their thoughts,and what ultimately either unites them or divides them is an action worthy of effort and study.