Mr John Nott: My hon. Friend mentions Clausewitz "On War". After all, that is a book taken out with great frequency from the forces' libraries. In sergeants' messes, Clausewitz "On War" has been a popular book for a long time. Perhaps Clausewitz is no longer available to benefit, but why should authors of similar books be denied the benefits of the Bill when Harold Robbins will benefit?
Mr Anthony Head: ...subsequently by the Commandant, and were told they had been too rough. At the same time, I do not think that on an occasion like this we can expect them to sit in the mess after dinner reading Clausewitz or knitting.
Bill Cash: There are matters relating to the war with Iraq in which I have been involved in my other capacity. Would the hon. Gentleman not agree that whereas Clausewitz said that war was the continuation of diplomacy by other means, the French have turned that on its head and for them diplomacy is now war by any other means?
Stephen Hesford: I thank the hon. Lady for that intervention, because it brings me to my next point. Von Clausewitz said that war was the continuation of diplomacy by other means. The hon. Lady seems to be seeking to have the whole argument about IR35 over again, having lost that battle — [ Interruption. ] She is nodding. If she wants to intervene on me, she may do so.
Denis MacShane: ...unimportant as they are, so that I can return to my first love—tax and the Standing Committee. I pay tribute first to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor, who has shown himself to be a fiscal Clausewitz. Clausewitz was the man who advised Napoleon at Austerlitz and then told him not to go to Moscow, but the French do not always take good German advice. Clausewitz believed in the...
Steven Baker: My hon. Friend will know that the old military theorist Clausewitz said that war is the continuation of politics by other means. I have often turned that on its head: politics is war minus the shooting. There should be chivalry and absolute civility in the way we conduct ourselves. Although I agree with my hon. Friend, it is often missed that our profession is not like other professions. We...
Lord Astor of Hever: The phrase appears on a webpage of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom and is derived from the works of military theorists such as Clausewitz and Sun Tzu. The website is in the process of being updated. The Managing Defence in the Wider Security Context course teaches course members how defence works within a democratic framework. The course that was delivered in Burma from 6- 17...
Bob Stewart: ...control—on the ground and in the air—hospitals, police and even sewerage. Undoubtedly, the national grid would be a No.1 priority target for someone wishing to reduce us to our knees. Von Clausewitz stated that war is an extension of politics by other means, but systematic hacking is also war, by new, subtle and probably very effective means.
Richard Foord: .... We might call it “domestic distraction”. I have no confidence that every Prime Minister will operate with the foresight to anticipate what escalation British military action might trigger. As Clausewitz said, war is a dialectic. In 21st century terms, the enemy gets a vote. This is not just about the Houthi militia; it is about the Iranian sponsors of the Houthis, Hamas and...
Bernard Jenkin: ...starts a war—or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so—without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it.” So wrote Karl von Clausewitz. The Government must admit that on that there is some doubt and the potential for confusion and indecision. The Prime Minister set that out again today when he outlined the limited aims...
Bill Cash: ...to happen, unilaterally imposed on us requirements contravening article 50 of the Lisbon treaty and insisted that we should obey the basis of the EU’s idea of the conduct of negotiations. As Clausewitz said, diplomacy is war by other means; I believe the gloves are about to have to come off. The withdrawal agreement and the political declaration recognise the autonomy of the EU and the...
Mr Simon Digby: ...for Bassetlaw in regarding it as something which will almost certainly never be used, but possibly as something required to hold the ring for other things. It is now over a hundred years since Clausewitz wrote his views on war. I am inclined to think that they are out of date. Possibly we have gone back to an earlier phase in which wars, if they take place, will be much more limited arid...
Owen Paterson: ...think, a perversion of something that Helmuth von Moltke said—and I close with two. Napoleon, who knew a thing or two about winning battles, said: “I never had a plan of operations”. Carl von Clausewitz said: “Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination.” Good luck to the Government; I will vote for the amendment tonight.
Mr Philip Piratin: ...politics and so on. He could have put the paraphrase quite rightly if he had quoted Nietsche. Nietsche said: War is a derivation of politics for it is a continuation of politics. [An HON. MEMBER: "Clausewitz."] Clausewitz, I beg pardon. If the Foreign Secretary were concerned about this he would ask himself what is to happen if there is a war. The House will remember the Foreign...
Mr Neil Kinnock: ...in the case of devolution, hit the nail right: on the thumb. My right hon. Friend the Member for Anglesey—I admire him intensely, he is a very close friend of mine and I think of him as the von Clausewitz of the low profile —is a man who is able to make the most poisonous and uproarious proposition sound and feel like honey on the tongue. He is a master of that. I give him full credit...
Hugh Bayley: ...this civil war? In effect, such a proposal gives the Assad regime impunity to continue to use guns, bombs and missiles as long as they are conventionally armed and not armed with chemical weapons. Clausewitz said that war is the continuation of politics by other means. He was absolutely wrong, because war is qualitatively different from diplomatic action, from humanitarian relief, and from...
Mr Randolph Churchill: ...should a Member of this House use the word "political" when he is talking about strategy in an offensive connotation? Surely it reveals the most extraordinary ignorance in warlike matters. It was Clausewitz who said that war was only the continuation of politics by other means and certainly our principal enemy, Hitler, has shown himself a master in using politics, diplomacy and propaganda...
Colonel Josiah Wedgwood: ...of what to do with our Army. They are still being trained. I understand that they are still jumping trenches, with bayonets flashing in the sunlight. They are still studying the great works of Clausewitz and Julius Caesar. They are still preparing to carry out the storming of the hill of Albuera—probably in about the same place, I should think. Whether it be the officers or the men,...
John Reid: ...upon to engage in conflict". There we have it. Under the expert guidance of the Secretary of State for Defence and his predecessor, we have discovered that the Ministry of Defence, 160 years after Clausewitz, has discovered that, in times of conflict, the front line is likely to be called into a fight. Secondly, with a terrible irony, the Secretary of State, who declared last year that he...
Bruce George: ...daring to participate in a debate where some Members thought, because they had served as majors in the catering corps, they had a depth of knowledge sufficient to pontificate like some latter-day Clausewitz on affairs of state. I do not buy the argument that only those who have served in the armed forces or whose great, great, great-grandfathers served, have a monopoly of wisdom, concern...