Carl von Clausewitz Quotes
Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination. The bloody solution of the crisis, the effort for the destruction of the enemy's forces, is the first-born son of war. Only great and general battles can produce great results. Blood is the price of victory.
von Clausewitz, Carl. On War. Translated by Michael Howard and Peter Paret, Princeton University Press, 1984, p. 259.
See Prince Otto von Bismarck-Schoenhausen {632620} for a similar focus on "iron and blood". This is no coincidence as Lindemann had been the Captain of the Battleship Bismarck.
He was the first of the modern Western poets and is often referred to as the Father of the Humanities
Prior to whites settling in America, various Indian tribes had a long history of fierce fighting for control of Kentucky. The Transylvania Land company negotiated for the “rights” to Kentucky. Dragging Canoe, who opposed the treaty, argued that the land had a bad history and would be very difficult to settle. Poet Theodore O’Hara described Kentuckians as “Sons of the Dark and Bloody Ground” in his poem, The Bivouac of the Dead.
The general was expressing a principle that is believed to this day by many policy makers, military people and civilians: Once a war has begun, one must not stop it until victory has been attained. It is unacceptable to negotiate an end to hostilities unless the enemy has been badly beaten on the battlefield. There is this view that “honor” would be lost and that enemies and even allies will not respect you and think the nation is weak and fearful. So there would always be extensive pressure to keep on fighting and not negotiate until there is a military dominant position.
Carl Philipp Gottfried (or Gottlieb) von Clausewitz was a Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the "moral" (meaning, in modern terms, psychological) and political aspects of war. His most notable work, Vom Kriege transl. On War, was unfinished at his death.
