Fabian strategy
The Fabian strategy is a
By extension, the term is also applied to other situations in which a large, ambitious goal is seen as being out of reach, but may be accomplished in little steps.[1]
Rome versus Carthage: The Second Punic War
This strategy derives its name from Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus,[2] the dictator of the Roman Republic given the task of defeating the great Carthaginian general Hannibal in southern Italy during the Second Punic War (218–201 BC).[3] At the start of the war, Hannibal boldly crossed the Alps and invaded Italy.[4] Due to his skill as a general, Hannibal repeatedly inflicted devastating losses on the Romans—quickly achieving two crushing victories over Roman armies at Trebia and Lake Trasimene[5][6] After these disasters, the Romans gave full authority to Fabius Maximus as dictator. Fabius initiated a war of attrition, fought through constant skirmishes, limiting the ability of the Carthaginians to forage for food and denying them significant victories.[7][8]
Hannibal was handicapped by two weaknesses. First, he was commander of an invading foreign army (on Italian soil), and was effectively cut off from his home country in North Africa by difficulty of seaborne resupply over the Mediterranean Sea.[9] As long as Rome's allies remained loyal, there was little he could do to win. Hannibal tried to convince the allies of Rome that it was more beneficial for them to side with Carthage (through a combination of victory and negotiation).[10] Fabius calculated that, in order to defeat Hannibal, he had to avoid engaging him altogether (so as to deprive him of victories). He determined that Hannibal's largely extended supply lines (as well as the cost of maintaining the Carthaginian army in the field) meant that Rome had time on its side.[citation needed]
Fabius avoided battle as a deliberate strategy.
Hannibal's second weakness was much of his army being made up of
With no main Roman army to attack, Hannibal's army became virtually no threat to Rome, which was a walled city that required a long siege to take. Fabius's strategy struck at the heart of Hannibal's weakness. Time, not major battles, would cripple Hannibal.
Political opposition
Fabius's strategy, though a military success and tolerable to wiser minds in the
Are we come here to see our allies butchered, and their property burned, as a spectacle to be enjoyed? And if we are not moved with shame on account of any others, are we not on account of these citizens... which now not the neighboring Samnite wastes with fire, but a Carthaginian foreigner, who has advanced even this far from the remotest limits of the world, through our dilatoriness and inactivity?[15]
As the memory of the shock of Hannibal's victories grew dimmer, the Roman populace gradually started to question the wisdom of the Fabian strategy, the very thing which had given them time to recover. It was especially frustrating to the mass of the people, who were eager to see a quick conclusion to the war. Moreover, it was widely believed that if Hannibal continued plundering Italy unopposed, the allies, believing that Rome was incapable of protecting them, might defect to the Carthaginians.
Since Fabius won no large-scale victories, the Senate removed him from command. Their chosen replacement, Gaius Terentius Varro, led the Roman army into a debacle at the Battle of Cannae. The Romans, after experiencing this catastrophic defeat and losing countless other battles, had by this point learned their lesson. They utilized the strategies that Fabius had taught them, which, they finally realized, were the only feasible means of driving Hannibal from Italy.
This strategy of attrition earned Fabius the cognomen "Cunctator" (The Delayer).[3]
Later examples
During Antony's Atropatene campaign, the Parthians first destroyed the isolated baggage train and siege engines of the invaders. As Antony proceeded to lay siege on the Atropatenian capital, they began harassing the besiegers, forcing them to retreat.
During the
The strategy was used by the medieval French general
The most noted use of Fabian strategy in
During the American Revolution, John Adams' dissatisfaction with Washington's conduct of the war led him to declare, "I am sick of Fabian systems in all quarters."[18]
Throughout history, the Fabian strategy has been employed all over the world. Used against
During the First Indochina War, the Viet Minh used the strategy by utilizing delaying and hit-and-run tactics and scorched-earth strategy against the better-equipped French forces, which prolonged the war and caused both the French high command and home front to grow weary of the fighting, ending with the decisive Vietnamese victory at Dien Bien Phu. The Viet Cong and the PAVN would later use this strategy against the Americans and ARVN forces during the Vietnam War.
Fabian socialism
See also
- Attrition warfare
- Battle of annihilation
- Fleet in being
- Guerrilla warfare
- U.S. Army Strategist
References
- ^ Alvin Ang, "How To Use The “Fabian Strategy” To Slow-Boil Your Way To Success", Mind Cafe, Feb. 6, 2021; accessed 2023.06.21.
- ^ "Fabian Strategy". George Washington's Mount Vernon. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
- ^ a b "Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus | Roman statesman and commander". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
- ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
- ^ "Battle of the Trebbia River | Roman-Carthaginian history". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
- ^ "Battle of Trasimene | Roman-Carthaginian history". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
- JSTOR 44079478.
- ISBN 9781134507122.
- ISBN 9781597976862.
- ISBN 9781139488624.
- ISBN 9780306824258.
- ISBN 9781597977661.
- ^ Clare, Israel Smith (1893). Ancient Greece and Rome. Werner Company. p. 923.
- ISBN 9781439164495.
- ^ Livy (1872). The History of Rome. Bell. p. 781.
- Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
- ISBN 978-1400032532.
- ISBN 9780836953183.
- )
- ^ J.C. Smuts, Jan Christiaan Smuts (Cape Town: Cassell & Company LTD, 1952), 170.
- ^ "Fabianism | socialist movement". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-05-11.
- Liddell Hart, B. H.Strategy. London: Faber & Faber, 1967 (2nd rev. ed.)