Principles of War

The earliest known principles of war were documented by Sun Tzu, circa 500 BCE. Machiavelli published his "General Rules" in 1521. 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 agreed Principles of War, not even in the NATO alliance although many of its members have their own. The principles of war identified by Carl von Clausewitz in his essay Principles of War, and later enlarged in his book, On War have been influential on military thinking in the North Atlantic region.

Additionally, since their 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. This has contributed to the erroneous belief that Napoléon Bonaparte had pioneered the "Principles of War". Napoléon was a keen follower of famous military generals of the past, who influenced his thoughts greatly. Albeit, "The armies of today are based on the organization created by Napoleon [sic] for his Grand Army and it has been used ever since." (Weider, par. 12). Since the mid-19th century, due to the influence of the Prussian Army, they have become a guide for many military organizations to focus the thinking of military commanders and political leaders toward concepts and methods of successful prosecution of wars and smaller military operations. Although originally concerned with strategy, grand tactics and tactics, due to the changing nature of warfare and military technology, since the interwar period, the principles are largely applied to the strategic decision-making, and in some cases, to operational mobility of forces.

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