User:Aberlin2/Clausewitz-Society

The Clausewitz-Gesellschaft e. V. is an association associated with the German Armed Forces. Its name was chosen after Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz, a Prussian general and military theorist. The society has Nazi war criminals as honorary members and has repeatedly been criticized for events with right-wing extremists. The society's headquarters are in Hamburg.

Overview
The Society has set itself the task of drawing benefit for the present from the thoughts of Carl von Clausewitz and of examining which of the principles and insights formulated by him are still relevant today. According to the Society's own presentation, it is an independent, non-partisan and non-profit registered association of active and former officers in the General Staff and Admiral Staff Service.

The Clausewitz Society currently has about 1,000 members, including an increasing number of personalities from politics, academia, business and journalism. The President of the Society is Lieutenant General (retired) Carsten Jacobson, who assumed this office in 2020. Lieutenant General (ret.) Hans-Werner Fritz is Vice President; Brigadier General (ret.) Hans-Herbert Schulz is the Executive Director. There is an advisory council whose spokesman is Friedel H. Eggelmeyer. Previous members included Manfred Eisele, Reiner Pommerin, Frank-Jürgen Weise, Christian Millotat and Michael Staack.

Organisationally, the Clausewitz-Gesellschaft is divided into the Regional Circles North (Hamburg), West (Cologne, Bonn, Rheinbach), Berlin, Southwest (Mainz, Ulm) and Bavaria (Munich) and the Section Switzerland. In September 2017, the Regional Circle East (Magdeburg) was added. In addition, there are the "Clausewitz Evenings" at the Clausewitz Memorial in Burg near Magdeburg.

Presidents

 * 1961-1968: Lieutenant General (retired) Kurt Weckmann 1969-1974: Lieutenant General (retired) Gustav-Adolf Kuntzen 1975: Lieutenant General (retired) Hans Hinrichs  1976-1982: Retired General Ulrich de Maizière  1983-1991: Lieutenant General (retired) Lothar Domröse  1991-1994: General (retired) Wolfgang Altenburg  1995-1999: Retired General Dieter Clauß  1999-2001: Retired General Klaus Naumann  2002-2006: Retired General Klaus Reinhardt  2006-2013: Lieutenant General (retired) Klaus Olshausen  2013-2020: Lieutenant General (retired) Kurt Herrmann  since 2020: Lieutenant General (retired) Carsten Jacobson

Honorary Presidents

 * 1969: Retired Lieutenant General Kurt Weckmann 1983: Retired General Ulrich de Maizière 2003: Retired Corps Commander Arthur Liener  2008: Retired General Wolfgang Altenburg

Honorary members
Honorary members of the Society include (with award dates) Wilhelm List (1963), Erich von Manstein (1963), Franz Halder (1963), Hellmuth Felmy (1964), Hans-Jürgen Stumpff (1964), Otto Groos (1967), Wilhelm Ritter von Schramm (1973), Werner Hahlweg (1987), Lothar Domröse (1991), Peter Paret (1999), Walter Schaufelberger (2006) and Roland Beck (2010).

In the chronicle of the Society from 2011, in addition to the articles on the respective year, these honorary members are specifically listed in a list of honorary members in Annex P, which follows a list of honorary presidents. At the Society's annual meeting in October 2013, there was a problem with the Society's past. This was because members requested that some of the most controversial military officers, some of whom had been involved in war crimes during the Nazi era and had been charged and mostly convicted for this, be removed from this list: Wilhelm List, Erich von Manstein, Franz Halder, Hans-Jürgen Stumpff, Hellmuth Felmy The assembly rejected this. In 2014, the Executive Committee distanced itself from the honorary memberships of these persons, stating that nowadays honorary memberships would not have been granted to these persons, moreover, the membership had lapsed with the death of these persons. The board claimed that the disputed military persons were listed for reasons of "historical honesty". It rejected any "loseness to this group of persons very firmly".

Membership of the NPD Federal Presidential Candidate
In 2014, Der Spiegel reported on Olaf Rose's membership in the association.

Awards donated
Medal of Honour "General von Clausewitz On 1 June 1968, the "General von Clausewitz Medal of Honour" was endowed. The foundation charter stipulates that the Medal of Honour is to be awarded each year to an officer whose annual thesis in the "National Course General Staff/Admiral Staff Service" (LGAN) (formerly Verwendungslehrgang General-/Admiralstabsdienst (VL GA)) at the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College (FüAkBw) in Hamburg represents an achievement far above the average. The year's work must express a creative thought of its own on a scientific basis, whereby this should point the way for the development and existence of the community as well as for the development of the rights and the free way of life of the people. The award takes place annually during the farewell ceremonies of the graduates of the General/Admiral Staff Course.

Honorary certificate General von Clausewitz
The "Honorary Certificate General von Clausewitz", donated in 1990, is awarded to international participants of the "National Course General Staff/Admiral Staff Service" (LGAN) at the German Armed Forces Command and Staff College in recognition of their year's work.

Publications
The Clausewitz-Gesellschaft has published a yearbook since 2005. It is also jointly responsible with the University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich for the Clausewitz-Studien. Interdisciplinary Forum for Theory and Practice of Security Policy, for Strategy and Armed Forces Research in the Post-Confrontational Period (since 1996). There is cooperation with the Gesellschaft für Wehr- und Sicherheitspolitik (Society for Defence and Security Policy), the Arbeitskreis für Wehrforschung (Working Group for Defence Research) and the Gesellschaft für Sicherheitspolitik und Rüstungskontrolle (Society for Security Policy and Arms Control) on the Zeitschrift für Wehrfragen Europäische Wehrkunde. Articles and lectures have also appeared as documentation in the military journal Europäische Sicherheit & Technik.

Further publications

 * On behalf of the Clausewitz-Gesellschaft, Rolf Elble (ed.): Clausewitz in unserer Zeit. Outlook after 10 years of the Clausewitz Society. Wehr & Wissen Verlagsgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1971, ISBN 3-8033-0208-0 . Ed.: Freedom without War? Contributions to the Strategy Discussion of the Present in the Mirror of Carl von Clausewitz's Theory. With a foreword by Ulrich de Maizière, Dümmler, Bonn 1980, ISBN 3-427-82051-3 . Ed.: Eberhard Wagemann: Frieden ohne Rüstung? Mittler, Herford et al. 1989, ISBN 3-8132-0323-9 .  In cooperation with the Military History Research Office (ed.): Clausewitz und das neue Denken in Europa. Symposium of the Clausewitz-Gesellschaft e. V. in Koblenz. Mittler, Herford et al. 1990.  On behalf of the Clausewitz-Gesellschaft, Reiner Pommerin (ed.): Carl von Clausewitz in the 21st century. Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Clausewitz Society. Hartmann, Miles-Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-937885-41-4.

Publication series

 * Published by: From the Cannae Idea to the Peace Mission. Wandlungen des Kriegsbildes und des strategischen Denkens (= Series of publications of the Clausewitz-Gesellschaft e. V., Vol. 1). Rheinbach 2000 Published by: Alliance Systems and Coalition Warfare (= Series of Papers of the Clausewitz-Gesellschaft e. V., Vol. 2). Rheinbach 2001 Published by: Security Provision in a Changed World (= Series of Papers of the Clausewitz-Gesellschaft e. V., Vol. 3). Rheinbach 2002  Published by: The Fight against Terrorism. International Challenge and National Security Provision (= Series of the Clausewitz-Gesellschaft e. V., Vol. 4). Alfter 2003  Publ.: External and Internal Security. Fundamentals, Experiences, Perspectives (= Series of Papers of the Clausewitz-Gesellschaft e. V., Vol. 5). Alfter 2004

Further information
Fall/Operation Clausewitz (Defence strategy named after Clausewitz fortifying the capital of the Reich, Berlin, to the last possible bullet)

Literature

 * Viktor Toyka, Rüdiger Kracht: Clausewitz-Gesellschaft. Chronik 1961–2011. Edited by the Clausewitz Society, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-9810794-6-3. Online Available as pdf.

Weblinks

 * Website of the Clausewitz-Gesellschaft