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Concept
Principles of war
Summary
Principles of war are rules and guidelines that represent truths in the practice of war and military operations.
The earliest known principles of war were documented by Sun Tzu, circa 500 BCE, as well as Chanakya in his Arthashastra circa 350BCE. Machiavelli published his "General Rules" in 1521 which were themselves modeled on Vegetius' Regulae bellorum generales (Epit. 3.26.1–33). Henri, Duke of Rohan established his "Guides" for war in 1644. Marquis de Silva presented his "Principles" for war in 1778. Henry Lloyd proffered his version of "Rules" for war in 1781 as well as his "Axioms" for war in 1781. Then in 1805, Antoine-Henri Jomini published his "Maxims" for war version 1, "Didactic Resume" and "Maxims" for war version 2. Carl von Clausewitz wrote his version in 1812 building on the work of earlier writers.
There are no universally agreed-upon principles of war. The principles of warfare are tied into military doctrine of the various military services. Doctrine, in turn, suggests but does not dictate strategy and tactics.
Arthaśāstra is an ancient Indian Sanskrit treatise on statecraft and military strategy among other things.
The Book of Deuteronomy prescribes how the Israelite army was to fight, including dealing with plunder, enslavement of the enemy women and children and forbidding the destruction of fruit-bearing trees.
Sun Tzu's The Art of War, written approximately in 400 B.C., listed five basic factors for a commander to consider:
The Moral Law, or discipline and unity of command
Heaven, or weather factors
Earth, or the terrain
The Commander;
Method and discipline, which included logistics and supply
However, Sun Tzu implied individual initiative as a principle of warfare, stating "According as circumstances are favorable, one should
modify one's plans."
Since the first appearance in English of the military maxims of Napoleon in 1831, all English translations have relied upon the extremely incomplete French edition of General Burnod published in 1827.
Official source
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