Cabinet wars, derived from the German expressionKabinettskriege (German:[kabiˈnɛtsˌkʁiːɡə], singularKabinettskrieg), is a historical term to describe the shift in Europe from the regular, limited, aristocratic conflicts of the eighteenth century tototal war following the French Revolution.^[1] Historians define cabinet wars as a period of small conflicts not involving standing armies, but with a growing military class arising to advise monarchs.^[2] The term derived from the council thesecabinets provided during the period ofabsolute monarchies from the 1648Peace of Westphalia to the 1789French Revolution. These cabinets were marked bydiplomacy and a self-serving nobility.^[3][4]

Cabinet wars marked the period of limited conflicts between monarchs from 1648 to 1789. These conflicts define a transition from princely wars (Fürstenkriege) to state wars (Staatenkriege) andVolkskriege, or wars of the people or nation in the mid-nineteenth century such as theFrench Revolution.^[5] Cabinet wars were often more regulated, fought over lesser stakes, and revolved around noble territorial disputes and emerging state borders.^[6]

Cabinet wars, as historically defined, link the evolution of the state with evolution of modern warfare.^[7] These conflicts were marked by mercenary forces from different countries who did not identify with an abstract notion of the nation, rather than national standing militaries.^[8][9]

The contrast betweenKabinettskriege, cabinet wars, andStaatenkriege, or state wars, was popularized byHelmuth von Moltke the Elder^[10] who oversaw the modernization of the Prussian and Ottoman militaries. This classifications of three types of modern war: cabinet war,people's war andguerrilla war built off ofKarl von Clausewitz' two types of war.^[11]

This classification of cabinet wars stems from the analysis of warfare after theNapoleonic Wars by Clausewitz^[12] and other military writers of the time. Debate centered around the question of whether wars should be all encompassing, or more limited in nature. InOn War (1832) Clausewitz suggested a third type of war of limited strategy. Over time the classification became adopted in the lexicon of military historians.

Historians generally mark the end of the cabinet wars period with the beginning of the use ofconscription and thelevée en masse.^[13]

Cabinet wars were not just bracketed by theThirty Years' War and theFrench Revolution; they were marked by specific characteristics. Historians note the following features:

• Limited in scope – The goals of the war often revolved around maintaining a balance of power or small territorial gains amongst noble families.^[14]
• Limited military – Engagements were often with smaller professional armies and the battles fought by commanders limited in decisive commitment of arms. The cabinet wars marked the transition of mercenaries to professional soldiers.^[15]
• Limited religious goals – The wars before theThirty Years' War often turned on religious conflict. Until the rise ofnationalism, cabinet war battles did not rely on religion, idolatry, or symbolism.
• Limited outcomes – Cabinet wars did not reshuffle the balance of power in Europe nor replace heads of states.^[16]