Book III, Of Strategy In General, Chapters I-VI Summary and Analysis

For Clausewitz, strategy is the use of battle to achieve the aims of war. It forms the plan of war. It would be silly to say that moral and mental elements can be ignored in strategy but to some extent they are only relevant at the more abstract levels. Strategy is simple but hard to commit to, as the decision of strategy is of great import. Choosing a strategy requires special skills, such as having genius. Execution of strategy is also often difficult as it can be slowed down by the little problems that come up, in say, a march. Strategy is hard to implement for this reason, again, due to 'friction'.

Clausewitz next makes some generalizations about strategy. First, possible combats, depending on their possible results...