Classical Theories and the Will to Fight

<p>Napoleon once said The moral is to the material as three is to one. What did he have in mind when he stated this famous aphorism? Material factors are easy to calculate. This is the science of warfare. Organization equipment doctrine training and other material factors are quantifiable. But the conduct of war is not just science. The study of warfare necessarily entails analysis of the human will if the conduct of war is to be understood at all. Thus the central research question is: according to the classical military theorists what is the best way to target an enemy's will to fight? It requires analysis of the theorists views of the will to fight by determining their levels of analysis what they thought an enemy's centers of gravity were how to attack the centers of gravity and what defeat mechanisms the theorists proposed. There are several principles shared by all of the theorists at the strategic level and operational levels of war. These include using deception surprise avoiding strengths and attacking weaknesses concentration of effort and avoiding protracted war using conventional means. All of their principles are based on the psychological responses of the enemy.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p><br>