Part of a series on
War Outline
History Prehistoric Ancient Post-classical castles Early modern pike and shot napoleonic Late modern industrial fourth-gen
Military Organization Command and control Defense ministry Army Navy Air force Marines Coast guard Space force Reserves Regular / Irregular Ranks Specialties: Staff Engineers Intelligence Reconnaissance Medical Military police Land units: Infantry Armor Cavalry Artillery Special forces Signal corps Naval units: Warships Submarines Aircraft carriers Landing craft Auxiliary ships Air units: Fighters Bombers Command Close air support Electronic-warfare Reconnaissance Combat systems: Fire-control system Fire-control radar Director (military) Combat information center Sonar Radar Historical: Ship gun fire-control Gun data computer Torpedo data computer Development: Basic training Military manoeuvrers Combat training
Battlespace Aerospace Air Airborne Space Land Cold-region Desert Jungle Mountain Urban Subterranean Tunnel Sea Amphibious Blue Brown Green Surface Underwater Cyber Information
Weapons Air defence Armor Artillery Barrage Biological Camouflage Cavalry Horses Air cavalry Chemical Combined arms Conventional Cyber Denial Disinformation Drone / Robot Electromagnetic Infantry Loitering Missile Music Nuclear Psychological Radiological Unconventional
Tactics List of military tactics Aerial Airlift Air assault Airbridge Airdrop Battle Cavalry Charge Counterattack Counterinsurgency Defeat in detail Foxhole Drone Envelopment Guerrilla Morale Naval Rapid dominance Siege Swarm Screen Tactical objective Target saturation Trench Withdrawal
Operational Military operation Operations research Blitzkrieg Expeditionary Deep operation Maneuver Operational manoeuvre group Raid
Strategy List of military strategies and concepts Military campaign Attrition Commerce raiding Counter-offensive Culminating Defence in depth Fabian Empty fort Mosaic Deception Defensive Depth Goal Nuclear Naval Offensive Scorched earth
Grand strategy Asymmetric Blockade Broken-backed Class Cold war Colonial Conquest Containment Divide and conquer Economic Endemic Fleet in being Irregular Liberation Limited Network-centric New generation Perpetual Political Princely Proxy Religious Resource Strategic Succession Technology Theater Total war World war
Administrative Branch Policy Staff Training Service Sociology
Organization Area of responsibility Chain of command Command and control Doctrine Principles of war Economy of force Medicine Engineers Intelligence Ranks Technology and equipment
Personnel Recruitment counter Conscription Training Specialism Women Children Transgender harassment Conscientious objector Volunteer foreign Mercenary
Logistics History Military–industrial complex Arms industry Materiel Supply-chain management Base MOB FOB Outpost
Science Power projection Loss-of-strength gradient Lanchester's laws Force multiplication
Law Court-martial Geneva Conventions Geneva Protocol Islamic rules Justice Perfidy Jewish laws on war Right of conquest Rules of engagement Martial law War crime
Theory Air supremacy Appeasement Command of the sea Deterrence theory Full-spectrum dominance Overmatch Unrestricted Warfare Just war theory Principles of war Philosophy of war Security dilemma Tripwire force War games
Non-warfare Arms control Counter-insurgency deterrence Disaster response Grey-zone Gunboat diplomacy Humanitarian aid Law enforcement Low-intensity conflict Military engineering Multilateralism Peacekeeping Peacebuilding Peace through strength Show of force
Culture Awards and decorations Warrior caste War film Military science fiction War novel Anti-war movement Foot drill War song Uniform Wargame
Related Women in war War resister War studies Horses in warfare Wartime sexual violence Fifth column
Lists Battles Military occupations Military terms Operations Sieges War crimes Wars Weapons Writers
v t e

The culminating point in military strategy is the point at which a military force is no longer able to perform its operations.^[1]

On the offensive, the culminating point marks the time when the attacking force can no longer continue its advance, because of supply problems, the opposing force, or the need for rest.^[2] The task of the attacker is to complete its objectives before the culminating point is reached. The task of the defender on the other hand, is to bring the attacking force to its culminating point before its objectives are completed.^[3]

The concept of a culminating point (Kulminationspunkt) was formulated by the Prussian general and military theorist Carl von Clausewitz in his book On War published in 1832 (Book 7, Chapter 5).

See also

• Defence in depth
• Loss of Strength Gradient
• Strategic depth

References

External links

• The Culminating Point of Attack
• Culminating Points Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine

This military-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e