Evolution of Modern Warfare Techniques: A Study of Clausewitz Trinity

This paper discusses the evolution of modern warfare techniques with an analytical framework of Clausewitz trinity. It explores the relevance of the trinity in modern warfare techniques and how the strategies have changed over time. The paper also provides a chronological list of infamous wars and their impact on society.

Running head: HISTORY
History
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1HISTORY
Introduction
The warfare skills and systems have evolved through the years and decades. Various
developed countries and the third world nations have been involved in the war process because
of various reasons. The change of the modern warfare techniques have been the main reason for
this paper. The trinity of Clausewitz will be discussed here in accordance to the relevance of the
modern warfare techniques. There are some interpretations in the evolution of the modern
techniques from 1648 and 1941. It must be remembered that the two world wars have taken
place in between these years. These techniques will be looked into with the analytical framework
of Clausewitz trinity.1
Supporting evidence
It can be said that the war has been treated as an instrument for the national governments
to mitigate the various issues within their regime. The Clausewitz trinity is a very powerful
framework that can be ascribed to the evolution of the warfare. Before proceeding further, the
nature of war must be understood.2 This will be highly important to look into the matter properly.
The fourth generation warfare is the most important idea that has been inherited from the
predecessors. Several new ideas have now come up in this process like the Information Age
Warfare, the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) and Effects-based Operations (EBO). These
warfare techniques are the most important ones since the military operations of the developed
countries circle round these notions.
1 Waldman, Thomas. War, Clausewitz and the Trinity. Routledge, 2016.
2 Fleming, Colin M. Clausewitz's Timeless Trinity: A Framework For Modern War. Routledge, 2016.

2HISTORY
The change that has been identified over the years mainly in the twentieth century is that
the warfare between the states has not been that much useful since the entire world has become a
globalized community indeed. The traditional or conventional warfare does not exist in this
global community anymore. The three specific elements in the Clausewitz trinity are passion,
reason and chance.3 Many changes were brought in by Napoleon in case of strategic warfare and
the use of technology. This is why he is considered as one of the best game changers in the
warfare techniques in the world. Napoleon had put more emphasis on movement as a strategic
part of warfare. This movement strategy has been shown in the Italy war in the 1790s. This style
of battle had been a major factor in the modern warfare as well. Napoleon was very good in
mathematics and making tactics. This is why he had made very good strategies in shaping up his
artillery division. The use of artillery in the wars had given him the opportunity to be the favorite
of the government. He also stressed on the importance on the power of guns. Napoleon began the
strategy of dividing his military force into several corps and giving them the power to operate
independently. He gave so much power to the corps that each corps could move forward
separately and work together if they were asked to do so. The corps consisted of the best men so
they could attack the enemy forces faster than the entire army. Napoleon had shifted his attention
to destroy the entire enemy force. He did not want to just defeat his opponents but he had
focused on smashing the entire enemy army so the army could never come up to challenge them
again. This tactic was later used in the World War II by General Haig to make sure that the
enemy forces were unable to get back the resources to fight again. One very important technical
strategy that was employed by Napoleon was the “Manoeuvre De Derriere”. This strategy had
3 Organski, Abramo FK, and Jacek Kugler. The war ledger. University of Chicago Press, 2015.

3HISTORY
focused on moving on the rear. He cut off all the lines for supply of resources and ammunitions.
The enemy became vulnerable and Napoleon’s army would pounce on them.
The people, army and government are the three most significant elements as Clausewitz
has suggested. The remarkable trinity on war could be connected with that of the social trinity.
The three elements of remarkable trinity were violent emotion, chance and rational policy. These
things had goo interconnection amongst them.4 As many experts have said, the strategies of the
war have changed than it was in the eighteenth and nineteenth century.5 These things would
depend largely on the interconnection between these things. The political and moral issues would
lead the states into war these days. According to the trinity of Clausewitz, the warfare strategies
will require the use of the heavy artillery, aircrafts, guns and many things that were not evident at
all during the older times in the seventeenth or eighteenth century. Many critical wars have taken
place in the last 300 years including the First and Second World War. The wars nowadays
are fought by the ground or Territorial Army, air forces and navies. At first, the element of
politics has been ascribed as the purpose of war. Clausewitz has described the fact that the main
purpose of the wars is definitely political.6
Chronological evidence
4 Fleming, Colin M. Clausewitz's Timeless Trinity: A Framework For Modern War. Routledge, 2016.
5 Fuller, Maj-Gen JFC. The foundations of the science of war. Pickle Partners Publishing, 2018.
6 Fleming, Colin M. Clausewitz's Timeless Trinity: A Framework For Modern War. Routledge, 2016.

4HISTORY
Some of the wars that could be listed in the chronology of wars in the global standards
are as follows:-
Name of war Timeline
1648-1649 Second English Civil War
1654-1660 Anglo Spanish war
1675-1676 King Phillip’s War
1775-1783 American Revolutionary War
1789-1799 French Revolution
1803-1815 Napoleonic wars
1839-1842 First Opium war
1861-1865 American civil war
1914-1918 World war I
1939-1945 World war II
The wars that have been described here are very much infamous wars for their brutality
and their immense magnitude.7 The wars have been scaled in a huge manner. It has a huge
impact on the minds of the common people and their daily lives as well. The war strategies have
been varied and evolved from the times of the seventeenth century to the current times. The use
of the elephants, horses and light artillery have been substituted by the use of the guns, aircrafts,
7 Meiter, John S. "Clausewitz's Timeless Trinity: A Framework for Modern War." Air & Space Power Journal 29,
no. 3 (2015): 89-91.

5HISTORY
heavy artillery, mortars and other weapons.8 This can be seen as a big improvement as well. The
experts have viewed war as a thing that was not any pastime for the people. There was no
enjoyment in conducting wars.
Summary
The entire paper can be summarized in the following manner. It can be said that the
different wars have resulted in the same manner i.e. the waste of human resource and property in
a huge manner.9 The strategies of the warfare have changed over times and more updated
weapons have come into use.10 This is very important since the war specialists have designed the
various ways in which the wars could be conducted in this world.
Conclusion
The paper can be concluded by saying that war is considered to be a tool that is very
brutal and it destroys the lives of the people in a flash. The tendency of the warmongers is to gain
the political benefits in the various regions they have targeted. This is why they have opted for
the new and latest strategies that will cater to their objectives. The evolution of the war strategies
are themselves the examples of how the war game has been modernized over the years. The
8 Coker, Christopher. Rebooting Clausewitz:'On War'in the Twenty-first Century. Oxford University Press, 2017.
9 Angstrom, Jan, and Jerker J. Widén. Contemporary military theory: the dynamics of war. Routledge, 2014.
10 Kaldor, Mary. "In defence of new wars." Stability: International Journal of Security and Development 2, no. 1
(2013).

6HISTORY
political persons will have to control their greed and stress on the trinity by Clausewitz on how to
overcome the situation.

7HISTORY
References
Angstrom, Jan, and Jerker J. Widén. Contemporary military theory: the dynamics of war.
Routledge, 2014.
Coker, Christopher. Rebooting Clausewitz:'On War'in the Twenty-first Century. Oxford
University Press, 2017.
Fleming, Colin M. Clausewitz's Timeless Trinity: A Framework For Modern War. Routledge,
2016.
Fleming, Colin M. Clausewitz's Timeless Trinity: A Framework For Modern War. Routledge,
2016.
Fuller, Maj-Gen JFC. The foundations of the science of war. Pickle Partners Publishing, 2018.
Gray, Colin S. War, peace and international relations: an introduction to strategic history.
Routledge, 2013.
Kaldor, Mary. "In defence of new wars." Stability: International Journal of Security and
Development 2, no. 1 (2013).
Meiter, John S. "Clausewitz's Timeless Trinity: A Framework for Modern War." Air & Space
Power Journal 29, no. 3 (2015): 89-91.
Organski, Abramo FK, and Jacek Kugler. The war ledger. University of Chicago Press, 2015.
Waldman, Thomas. War, Clausewitz and the Trinity. Routledge, 2016.