The Impact of Clausewitz’s Early Life on his Theories and Politics

New information on the problematical social and economic situation of Clausewitz’s parents makes possible a somewhat fuller reconstruction of Clausewitz’s youth. Early signs of the boy seeking an understanding of life beyond the narrow institutional limits accepted by his family, led to severe quarrels with his father, which the adult Clausewitz recalls when he finds himself in comparable conflicts in the field or in the administration of military institutions and development of policy. Jointly his innate gifts and his combative reaction to authority determine the achievements of the mature man.