Military theoretical basics of the concept of culture of warfare

Abstract

The study demonstrates the evaluation of the concept of culture of warfare and highlights its relations with Clausewitz’s perspective on military affairs. The model of cultures of warfare in Hungary was created in the 1990’s by Kovács Jenő, a Hungarian general and military theorist who used the original British concept of military culture as a base. He thought that different cultures of warfare evolved throughout history due to the varied historical and cultural patterns of the societies causing differences in concepts of leadership, manoeuvre and engagement. The theoretical bases of varied ways of warfare can be found in Clausewitz’s “On War”. The Prussian military theorist defined the dual nature of war, which means different use of the instruments of force and violence: aspiration to annihilation or attrition. Thinking about war in the framework of a general theory of the use of force and violence does bring us closer to discover and understand the basic aims of warfare.