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36Principle · Group 5

Interior Lines

Interior lines strategy

“If you stand in the middle with short routes, you can shift your forces faster than separated opponents and defeat them one after another before they unite.”

Interior lines are the short routes of whoever stands in the middle.

Group 5: Position and SpaceT1 Classical Theory of War
Go to the in-depth section ↓
In the middle, a group of golden dots gathers; to the left and right stands a larger teal circle, and above, a long mist-blue arc separates them. Short golden lines carry almost all the dots first to the left circle, which falls apart, then to the right one; in the final image of a second version, the two circles find each other across the arc and close in on the middle like a frame.
In short

If you stand in the middle with short routes, you can shift your forces faster than separated opponents and defeat them one after another before they unite.

What it’s about: Interior lines are the short routes of whoever stands in the middle. Two opponents are coming from two sides; together they are stronger than you. Between them lies an obstacle, and their route to each other is long. Yours to each of them is short. Then what decides is not overall strength but strength at the point where the struggle is happening right now.

In depth

The principle in detail

Three steps through the principle: grasp it, place it, put it to work. Open each topic on its own.

The core messageCore statement and 3 clarifications
In essence

Short routes turn time and space into strength. If you can shift faster, you can be superior at the decisive point even though you are weaker overall.

It does not say
That the middle is always an advantage. If your opponents coordinate and arrive at the same time, whoever is in the middle gets enveloped.
It does not say
That you should serve both sides at once. The advantage arises only when you take on one side fully and deliberately keep the other thin.
It also says
A center has to be protected. If the middle fails, every route is hit at once.
The explanationThe advantage lasts only as long as the others are separated and you are fast enough.

The advantage lasts only as long as the others are separated and you are fast enough. If you hesitate in the middle, you give them time to coordinate, and then the middle turns into an encirclement.

The question

Where are you standing between two sides right now, and are you using your short routes before they come to an understanding?

The signs3 signs when you heed it · 3 when you overlook it
When you heed it
  • You tackle one problem area after another with full force.
  • You know how long the other side can manage without you.
  • You notice early when two opponents begin to coordinate.
When you overlook it
  • You spread time and people evenly across all fronts, and nowhere is it enough.
  • Decisions sit unmade until the others have come to an understanding.
  • You feel safe in the middle, even though you were encircled long ago.
The backgroundFrom Antoine-Henri Jomini’s work “Précis de l’art de la guerre” (1838). · T1 Classical Theory of War
  1. 1838
    OriginAntoine-Henri Jomini

    Précis de l’art de la guerre

  2. Tradition T1
    TraditionClassical Theory of War

    Carl von Clausewitz, Antoine-Henri Jomini, Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, Frederick William Lanchester

    See the tradition on the Origin page
Read more: the full background

From Antoine-Henri Jomini’s work “Précis de l’art de la guerre” (1838). Supplemented by experience with networks that run through a center, such as the Federal Express hub in operation since 1973.

The research2 sources: 1 classic, 1 case study · 1838–2021 · with limitations of the research
2 sources1838–2021 period1 classic1 case study
Strength of evidence
  1. weak
  2. moderate
  3. strong

The proposition is a rule drawn from military history without measurement, and the campaigns of Helmuth von Moltke the Elder already show conditions under which it does not hold.

  1. 1838
    Classic
    Antoine-Henri Jomini

    “Précis de l’art de la guerre” (Brussels edition, 1838): distinguishes interior and exterior lines of operations and derives the advantage of interior lines from Napoleon’s campaigns.

  2. 2021
    Case study
    Alice Myers

    “Federal Express Begins Operations”: on April 17, 1973, 14 jets deliver 186 packages overnight to 25 cities; everything runs through the central hub in Memphis.

Where the research reaches its limits
  • The middle can become a trap.
  • Interior lines work only as long as the opponents are separated and slow; the railway and the telegraph already reduced the advantage in the 19th century.
  • A center is also vulnerable: if it fails, the whole network comes to a standstill.
Read more: what research shows

Antoine-Henri Jomini made the term widely known. In his “Précis de l’art de la guerre” (Summary of the Art of War) of 1838, he distinguishes interior and exterior lines of operations and derives the advantage of interior lines mainly from the campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte. He wanted to draw fixed rules from military history; there is no measurement behind them. In 1866 at Königgrätz, Helmuth von Moltke the Elder showed the counterpoint: with the railway and the telegraph, armies marching separately united only on the battlefield. Outside war, the idea appears in networks with a center. Starting on April 17, 1973, Federal Express routed all packages through Memphis at night, connecting 25 cities via a single hub.

The related principles07 Concentration of Force · 15 Logistics · 38 Maneuver · 41 Speed
Concentration of ForceSpeed

To go deeper, see 07 Concentration of Force (gathering your forces at one point after another) and 41 Speed (without tempo, the window of time closes)

Logistics

15 Logistics is a reminder that short routes are above all short supply routes

Maneuver

38 Maneuver stands in tension with it: envelopment from outside is the answer to interior lines

Read more: the full text

To go deeper, see 07 Concentration of Force (gathering your forces at one point after another) and 41 Speed (without tempo, the window of time closes); 15 Logistics is a reminder that short routes are above all short supply routes. 38 Maneuver stands in tension with it: envelopment from outside is the answer to interior lines.

The action steps5 things you can actually do
  1. Map your situation: who is pressing from which side, and how long are your routes to each of them compared with their routes to each other?
  2. Decide which side you will take on fully first. Deliberately keep the other side thin and tell the people there for how long.

  3. Estimate how much time you have before the others can coordinate, and plan the shift within that window.

  4. Keep the routes in the middle short: clear responsibility for reallocations, few rounds of coordination.
  5. Regularly check whether the others are still separated. If they come to an understanding, change your deployment instead of relying on the middle.
The reflection questions3 questions: Between which two sides are you standing right now, and how long will it take them to coordinate?
  1. Between which two sides are you standing right now, and how long will it take them to coordinate?
  2. Where are you serving two problem areas halfway instead of one fully?
  3. How would you notice that your middle has turned into an encirclement?

Take your time with one question. Write down your answer – or talk it over with someone you trust.

To finish
The picture to rememberThe animation once more, with an explanation
  1. In the middle, a group of golden dots gathers
  2. To the left and right stands a larger teal circle, and above, a long mist-blue arc separates them
  3. Short golden lines carry almost all the dots first to the left circle, which falls apart, then to the right one
  4. In the final image of a second version, the two circles find each other across the arc and close in on the middle like a frame
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In context

Group 5: Position and Space

Guiding question: Where do you stand, and how much room do you have to move?

Stage 2 of 5: Understand the situation

Where the 92 principles come from: eight traditions of strategy, from classical war theory to dealing with uncertainty.

More about the origin

Background: WEGVISOR’s own selection from the strategy literature · More about the origin

Examples

The principle in practice

From the different spheres of society.

Government

Tannenberg 1914 and Interior Lines

In August 1914, two Russian armies march into East Prussia, separated by the Masurian Lakes. The weaker German Eighth Army stands between them, moves its forces by rail and on foot against one army and then turns against the other.

Interior Lines
Business

Frederick W. Smith, FedEx and Interior Lines

On April 17, 1973, Federal Express flies packages overnight to 25 cities for the first time. Every package goes to Memphis first, is sorted there and flies on from there. Frederick W. Smith turns the central position into a business model.

Interior Lines
Culture & Sports

Franz Beckenbauer, Euro 1972 and Interior Lines

Franz Beckenbauer turns the sweeper (libero), the last man in defense, into a player who directs the game from the middle. In 1972, West Germany wins the European Championship with him. From the central position, he can switch play faster than the opponent can reorganize.

Interior Lines
Government

Movie: Zulu

In the 1964 film “Zulu,” around 150 British soldiers defend a mission station against an enemy many times their number. They survive because, in a confined space, they get their men to the threatened point faster than the attackers on the outside can shift their assaults.

Interior Lines
FAQ

Questions about Interior Lines

What does the principle of Interior Lines say?

If you stand in the middle, you have shorter routes than opponents who surround you from outside. You can shift your forces faster and defeat separated opponents one after another before they unite.

Where does the principle of Interior Lines come from?

The term was made widely known by Antoine-Henri Jomini, above all through his “Précis de l’art de la guerre” of 1838. He derived it from Napoleon’s campaigns.

What are some examples of the principle of Interior Lines?

The Battle of Tannenberg in 1914, the Federal Express hub in Memphis and Franz Beckenbauer as an attacking sweeper at Euro 1972. In film, “Zulu” shows it.

How well is Interior Lines supported by research?

Evidence: weak – the proposition is a rule drawn from military history without measurement, and the campaigns of Helmuth von Moltke the Elder already show conditions under which it does not hold.

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