Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz was a Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the "moral" and political aspects of waging war. His most notable work, Vom Kriege, though unfinished at his death, is considered a seminal treatise on military strategy and science.

Military theory is the study of the theories which define, inform, guide and explain war and warfare. Military Theory analyses both normative behavioral phenomena and explanatory causal aspects to better understand war and how it is fought. It examines war and trends in warfare beyond simply describing events in military history. While military theories may employ the scientific method, theory differs from Military Science. Theory aims to explain the causes for military victory and produce guidance on how war should be waged and won, rather than developing universal, immutable laws which can bound the physical act of warfare or codifying empirical data, such as weapon effects, platform operating ranges, consumption rates and target information, to aid military planning.