The '''strategy of the central position''' ({{Langx|fr|stratégie de la position centrale}})<ref>{{cite web | url=https://reseauinternational.net/la-desastreuse-invasion-decentree-de-napoleon-de-la-russie/?print=printf | title=La désastreuse invasion décentrée de Napoléon de la Russie | date=29 January 2018 }}</ref> was a key tactical doctrine followed by Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars.<ref>{{cite book |title=Elements of Military Art and Science |first=Henry Wager |last=Halleck |publisher=BiblioBazaar |year=2008 |orig-date=1862 |page=51}}</ref> It involved attacking two cooperating armies at their hinge, swinging around to fight one until it fled, then turning to face the other. The strategy allowed the use of a smaller force to defeat a larger one. However, these tactics, while successful at the battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras, failed at the Battle of Waterloo, and Napoleon was defeated because he was not able to prevent the joining of the British and Dutch forces by the Prussian forces.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Napoleonic Revolution |url=https://archive.org/details/napoleonicrevolu00holt |url-access=registration |first=Robert B. |last=Holtman |year=1967 |publisher=J.B. Lippincott Company}}</ref>
At the battle of Blenheim (1704), the Duke of Marlborough and his ally Prince Eugene of Savoy realising the French were weak in the centre initially concentrated their attacks on the wings. When Marshal Tallard, the French Commander, further weakened his central position to reinforce the fortified villages on the wings of his position, Marlborough launched a battle winning attack through the centre.<ref>{{cite web | author=Staff | title=The Duke of Marlborough: Masterstroke at Blenheim | date=26 January 2016 |work=Warfare History Network |publisher=Sovereign Media |url=http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/military-history/the-duke-of-marlborough-masterstroke-at-blenheim/ | accessdate=2 October 2016}}</ref>
Central position also describes the overall strategic situation of Frederick the Great<ref>"...but he occupied a central position from which ... take his assailants in detail ..."({{cite book |title=Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' War |first=Frederick William |last=Longman |publisher=Longmans Green & Co. |year=1898 |pages=106–107}}).</ref> during the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War in the Eighteenth Century where, although Prussia was surrounded by enemies, Frederick was able to use his central position to maneuver and attack each enemy separately despite being vastly outnumbered overall.
In World War II, Rommel maintained a central position on the Mareth Line between allied forces in Tunisia and Libya.<ref>"Rommel could execute a classic example of the central position. From the Mareth Line, Rommel could strike first at the Americans and British in Tunisia, then turn back on Montgomery coming up from Libya".({{cite book |title=How Wars Are Won: The 13 Rules of War—From Ancient Greece to the War on Terror |last=Bevin |first=Alexander |year=2002 |location=New York |isbn=1-4000-4948-2 |pages=144–43}} )</ref>
The tactic loses at least some of its advantage when employed against successive wings or flanks of a single force with a unified command structure, as a single defending force's better communication and coordination enable it to better execute a pincer movement against the attacker.
==See also== *Defeat in detail *Interior lines
==References== <references />
Category:Military strategy Category:Napoleonic Wars