ecomes the more important that
military information be as extensively diffused as possible among the
people. If by the present work the translators shall find they have
contributed, even in an inconsiderable degree, to this important object,
they will be amply repaid for the care and labor expended upon it.

To those persons to whom the study of the art of war is a new one, it is
recommended to begin at the article "Strategy," Chapter III., from that
point to read to the end of the Second Appendix, and then to return to
Chapters I. and II. It should be borne in mind that this subject, to be
appreciated, must be studied, map in hand: this remark is especially
true of strategy. An acquaintance with the campaigns of Napoleon I. is
quite important, as they are constantly referred to by Jomini and by all
other recent writers on the military art.

U.S. Military Academy,
West Point, N.Y.
January, 1862.

CONTENTS.

TRANSLATORS' PREFACE.

DEFINITIONS OF THE BRANCHES OF THE ART OF WAR.

CHAPTER I. THE RELATION OF DIPLOMACY TO WAR.

ART. I.--Offensive Wars to Recover Rights.

ART. II.--Wars which are Politically Defensive, and Offensive in a
Military View.

ART. III.--Wars of Expediency.

ART. IV.--Wars with or without Allies.

ART. V.--Wars of Intervention.

ART. VI.--Wars of Invasion, through a Desire of Conquest or for other
Causes.

ART. VII.--Wars of Opinion.

ART. VIII.--National Wars.

ART. IX.--Civil and Religious Wars.

ART. X.--Double Wars, and the Danger of Undertaking Two at the Same Time.

CHAPTER II. MILITARY POLICY.

ART. XI.--Military Statistics and Geography.

ART. XII.--Different Causes which have an Influence over the Success of a
War.

ART. XIII.--The Military Institutions of States.

ART. XIV.--The Command of Armies and the Supreme Control of Operations.

ART. XV.--The Military Spirit of Nations and the Morale of Armies.

CHAPTER III. STRATEGY.
Definition of Strategy and Tactics.
THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF WAR.

ART. XVI.--The System of Offensive or Defensive Operations.

ART. XVII.--The Theater of Operations.

ART. XVIII.--Bases of Operations.

ART. XIX.--Strategic Lines and Points, Decisive Points of the Theater
of War, and Objective Points of Operation.

ART. XX.--Fronts of Operations, Strategic Fronts, Lines of Defense,
and Strategic Positions.