Carl Von Clausewitz (1790 – 1831) he was a Prussian military specialist in battle strategy and author of the most famous treatise on the subject of war in the West: “On War”, or “On War” (from the German vom kriege), published in 1832. Clausewitz became known for a definition of war which was widespread but little understood. It is the phrase: "War is the continuation of politics by other means".
To better understand Clausewitz's definition, it is necessary to understand the context in which he developed it (taking into consideration the fact that he was an experienced military and, in addition, a strategist) and the other definitions that are distributed to the throughout the first chapter of the referred work, like this: “War is therefore an act of violence intended to force the adversary to submit to the our will”.
One of the most impressive events in the history of modern warfare was the Battle of Valmy, held in 1792, in which, for the first time, the French revolutionary army managed to win in an extraordinary way. This fact impressed great personalities of the time, such as the German writer Johann Goethe.
The spine is a firm but flexible structure formed by a series of articulated bones called vertebrae.. This structure forms the central axis of the human body and supports the limbs and head, in addition to protecting our spinal cord.
THE spine is constantly victim of practices that cause wear and the famous pain in the spine or back. These pains are very common in the population and are responsible for a considerable decrease in quality of an individual's life, since simple and professional routine activities are often harmed.
Back pain usually occurs as a result of poor posture, sedentary lifestyle, physical activities performed incorrectly, minor trauma, exhausting routine, lack of stretching and obesity.All these causes could be avoided through healthy living habits.
It is important to highlight that poor posture, the main cause of back pain, can lead to spinal deviations, such as hyperkyphosis, hyperlordosis and scoliosis. Hyperkyphosis is characterized by abnormal curvature of the spine in the thoracic region. Hyperlordosis, on the other hand, occurs due to an abnormal increase in the curvature of the spine in the lumbar or cervical region. Scoliosis, in turn, causes a lateral curvature in the spine.
To avoid back pain, some basic measures must be taken, especially with regard to our daily activities. Here are some tips to avoid and reduce back pain:
→ When walking, be careful with your posture. To adopt a correct posture, throw your shoulder back and tighten your belly;
→ Avoid sleeping on your stomach and, whenever possible, choose to lie on your side with your legs slightly bent. This last position allows for better alignment of the spine;
→ When getting up, also pay attention to posture. The correct thing is to stand on your side, put your legs out of the bed and sit down;
→ Buy a comfortable mattress that is ideal for your weight. Special care must also be given to the pillow, which must allow the spine to be aligned. The ideal pillow is one that fills the gap left between your head and shoulder;
→ When sitting in a chair, make sure your feet are flat on the floor and lean on the backrest;
→ When cleaning the house, remember to keep your spine straight;
→ To pick up an object on the floor, lower onto the object by bending your knees;
→ Whenever you lift weight, remember to keep your back straight;
→ When carrying backpacks, attach a strap over each shoulder. If the bag is the side-carrying type, remember to alternate its position. Special care must also be given to the weight of bags and backpacks;
→ Avoid heels that are too high;
→ Stretch to relieve tension whenever you stay in one position for a long time and before and after exercising.
By Ma. Vanessa dos Santos
The very advent of a revolutionary army made up of citizens rather than mercenaries and warrior aristocrats was all too impressive. This model army was the war machine of Napoleon Bonaparte's empire for the next two decades. It was in this context that Clausewitz was found, who joined the Prussian army at the time when it was fighting Napoleon's expansion. The sheer violence and strategic proportions that the Napoleonic wars demanded produced a veritable obsession in Clausewitz. The integration of politics and war, as he expressed it in his famous definition, whose only difference for him was only in the means used, came from the understanding he had of the transformation of the concept of war from the formation of the national army French.
To the full extent that later wars took, like the Warfranc-Prussian, of the 1870s, and the FirstWarWorld, started in 1914, the so-called nationalist wars, whose scope and potential for destruction were enormous, were somehow intuited by Clausewitz in his work. His understanding of the violent essence of war, of the fallacy of aristocratic honor that permeated the concept of war until then, is fundamental to understanding his own definition. Below, in the words of the Prussian strategist himself, is a paragraph where his definition of war was refined:
"War, then, is just a true chameleon, which modifies its nature a little in each concrete case, but it is also, as a whole phenomenon and relatively to the tendencies that predominate in it, a surprising trinity in which is found, above all, the original violence of its element, hatred and animosity, which must be considered as a blind natural impulse, then the game of probabilities and chance, which make it a free activity of the soul, and, finally, its subordinate nature as an instrument of politics through which it belongs to pure reason.” (CLAUSEWITZ, Carl Von. Of war. São Paulo: Editora WMF Martins Fontes, 2010, p.30).
This trinity, "violence, hatred and animosity", pointed out by the author, which extends from pure war to other means, such as politics, and vice versa, is the most complex and most realistic in terms of understanding what war is among Western authors and is among the great war treaties of history, such as Chinese stratagems and Sun's “Art of War” Tzu.
*Image credits: Shutterstock and Galyamin Sergej
By Me. Cláudio Fernandes
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/saude-na-escola/cuidados-com-coluna-vertebral.htm
