Topic: Military Theory
Jomini's Twelve Essential Conditions
Jomini and his Summary of the Art of War, Condensed Version, edited by Lt. Col. J.D. Hittle, U.S.M.C., 1947
Twelve essential conditions in making a perfect army:
1. To have a good recruiting system,
2. A good organization,
3. A well-organized system of national reserves,
4. Good combat, staff, and administrative instruction,
5. A strict but not humiliating discipline, and a spirit of subordination and punctuality, based on conviction rather than on the formalities of the service, and
6. A well-established system of rewards, suitable to excite emulation,
7. The special arms of engineering and artillery to be well instructed,
8. To have an armament superior, if possible, to that of the enemy, as to both offensive and defensive arms,
9. A general staff capable of applying these elements and organized to advance the theoretical and practical education of its officers,
10. A good system for the commissariat, hospitals, and of general administration, and
11. A good system of assignment to command and of directing the principal operations of war;
12. To excite and keep alive the military spirit of the people.
None of these twelve conditions can be neglected without grave inconvenience.
Follow 