Between Sun Tzu, Clausewitz, and Stalin: A Synthetic character of Mao Zedong’s Military Thought

Abstract

In modern literature on military thought of Mao Zedong, authors puts a lot of emphasis on its relationship with classical Chinese thought. Many focus on the influence of Sun Tzu, or Clausewitz. In this article I would like to focus mainly on influences of the Marxist thought, through which as I think the Chinese strategist interpreted the art of war. I will compare Mao Zedong's views on the nature and ethics of war with the statements of Marxist classics on these issues. In this way, his theses, allegedly derived from classical Chinese philosophy, gain a wider context in which the influence of Stalinist vulgarization of Marxism on Mao's philosophical reflections in relation to war is quite visible.