Redefining the First World War within the Context of Clausewitz’s “Absolute War” Dystopia

Abstract

In general, the First World War is referred to as a “total war” in the history literature. It is possible to introduce a new analysis to define the Great War via the introduction of Clausewitz’s theory of war. It could be argued that the First World War, which can be labeled as a novelty in the history of war, both demolished the set of values of the international system which had evolved before and (re)established the structure of the future system of international relations. In that sense, both the pre and post eras of World War I constitute important fields of research for political scientists. This study aims to analyze the First World War within the context of Clausewitz’s dystopia of “absolute war” and attempts to construct a new method with which to understand the structure of the Great War in Clausewitzian terms