Vojenské Rozhledy

Czech Military Review

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 1/2010: 51-59

"Fog of War" in Pieces of Classical Authors: Clausewitz a Tolstoy (Problems of Uncertainty and Chance Events In War)Military art

Bc. Tomáš Kučera

The proponents of Revolution in Military Affairs claim that modern military technology will lift a "fog of war". In this article the term "fog of war" is described and illustrated in a work of Carl von Clausewitz who is supposed to introduce this term, used also in the famous novel War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. These classics show us that uncertainty and chance, in other words fogs of war, are essential to human mentality. They will be present as long as war remains within a scope human endeavour. Emphasizing that military technology is equal to lifting the "fog of war" can lead to situation in which only trained commanders are supposed be able perfectly address problems in "chessboard" of war or computer simulators, but they will unable to manage a real world full of chaos, as they not used to count with uncertainties.

Keywords: War, theory, Clausewitz, military science

Published: March 15, 2010  Show citation

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Kučera, T. (2010). "Fog of War" in Pieces of Classical Authors: Clausewitz a Tolstoy (Problems of Uncertainty and Chance Events In War). Czech Military Review, 91(1), 51-59
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