Military strategy

Military strategy is the design and direction of campaigns and operations to achieve political or military objectives. It connects the use of armed force to desired outcomes.

Strategy: A plan for achieving a goal through coordinated choices and actions. Military strategy is a specialized form of strategy shaped by armed conflict.
Military objectives: Specified outcomes that military action is intended to achieve. They give campaigns a concrete purpose beneath broader political aims.
Attrition warfare: A method of warfare that seeks victory by wearing down an opponent's forces and resources. It contrasts with strategies that seek decisive effects through maneuver or political disruption.
Carl von Clausewitz: A Prussian general and theorist whose writings shaped modern thinking about war and politics. His account of war as an instrument of policy remains central to strategic thought.
Schlieffen Plan: Germany's pre–World War I plan for defeating France quickly through an advance across Belgium. Its failure illustrates the gap between a campaign design and changing operational realities.
Grand strategy: The coordination of a state's military, diplomatic, economic, and political resources to secure its long-term interests. It places military campaigns within a broader national effort.
Tactics (military): Methods for employing forces in engagements and battles. Tactical success matters strategically only when it advances campaign objectives.
Maneuver warfare: A style of warfare that seeks advantage by disrupting an opponent's cohesion and decision-making. It offers an alternative to defeating an opponent mainly through accumulated losses.
Sun Tzu: The traditional author attributed to The Art of War, an influential text on conflict and statecraft. His emphasis on deception and shaping conditions offers a distinct strategic tradition.
Operation Overlord: The Allied invasion of German-occupied Normandy in June 1944. It combined deception, logistics, air power, and coalition planning to establish a decisive foothold.

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