5. On War: Basic Features

Souchon emphasises that the basic features of Clausewitz’s theory are of pre-eminent importance for strategists. He focuses on what are the known and most frequently quoted characteristics and pith of On War from the strategy point of view: The Fascinating Trinity, the Appropriateness of Means, the relation between Purpose, Objective and Means, the Frictions, Probabilities and Chance as well as the true Moral Quality of the Commander and the Virtues of the Army. The Fascinating Trinity is designed to achieve an abstract relationship between the philosophical, generic and real essence of war. It is the synthesis or capstone of Clausewitz’s entire intellectual work on the theory of war and the result of a dichotomous process that combines theory (essence) and action (manifestation) of abstract and real war. Souchon argues that with the inclusion of the important moral aspects Clausewitz sets high standards for the character and quality of commanders that still hold in today’s world.