Fabian strategy

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This strategy derives its name from Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, the dictator of the Roman Republic given the task of defeating the great Carthaginian general Hannibal in southern Italy during the Second Punic War (218–202 BC). At the start of the war, Hannibal boldly crossed the Alps in wintertime and invaded Italy. Due to Hannibal's skill as a general, he repeatedly inflicted devastating losses on the Romans despite the numerical inferiority of his army—quickly achieving two crushing victories over the Romans at the Battle of Trebbia and the Battle of Lake Trasimene and the catastrophic defeat of the Roman legions at the Battle of Cannae. After these disasters the Romans appointed Fabius Maximus as dictator. Well aware of the military superiority of the Carthaginians and the ingenuity of Hannibal, Fabius initiated a war of attrition which was designed to exploit Hannibal's strategic vulnerabilities.

Hannibal suffered from two particular weaknesses. First, he was commander of an invading foreign army on Italian soil, effectively cut off from the home country by the difficulty of seaborne resupply. His only hope of destroying Rome was by enlisting the support of her allies. As long as the Italians remained loyal to Rome, then there was no hope that Hannibal would win; but should the Romans keep on losing battles, their allies' faith in Rome would weaken. Therefore, Fabius calculated that the way to defeat Hannibal was to avoid engaging with him in pitched battles, so as to deprive him of victories. He determined that Hannibal's extended supply lines, and the cost of maintaining the Carthaginian army in the field, meant that Rome had time on its side. Rather than fight, Fabius shadowed Hannibal's army and avoided battle, instead sending out small detachments against Hannibal's foraging parties, and maneuvering the Roman army in hilly terrain, so as to nullify Hannibal's decisive superiority in cavalry. Residents of small northern villages were encouraged to post lookouts, so that they could gather their livestock and possessions and take refuge in fortified towns. He used interior lines to ensure that at no time could Hannibal march on Rome without abandoning his Mediterranean ports, while at the same time inflicting constant, small, debilitating defeats on the North Africans. This, Fabius had concluded, would wear down the invaders' endurance and discourage Rome's allies from going over to the enemy, without having to challenge the Carthaginians to a decisive battle.

Hannibal's second weakness was that much of his army was made up of mercenaries from Gaul and Spain, who had no great loyalty to Hannibal, although they disliked Rome. Being mercenaries, they were unequipped for siege-type battles; having neither the equipment nor the patience for such a campaign. The mercenaries desired quick, overwhelming battles and raids of villages for plunder, much like land-based pirates. As such, Hannibal's army was virtually no threat to Rome, a walled city which would have required a long siege to reduce, which is why Hannibal never attempted it. Hannibal's only option was to beat Roman armies in the field quickly before plunder ran out and the Gauls and Spaniards deserted for plunder elsewhere. Fabius's strategy of delaying battle and attacking supply chains thus hit right at the heart of Hannibal's weakness; time, not energy, would cripple Hannibal's advances. The Fabian strategy, though effective in some ways, was perceived as cowardly and unbecoming of the Fabian name, established by his ancestors' victories in pitched battles.[citation needed]

Political opposition[edit]

Fabius's strategy, though a military success, was a political failure. His indirect policies, while tolerable among wiser minds in the Roman Senate, were deemed unpopular, because the Romans had been long accustomed to facing and besting their enemies directly in the field of battle. The Fabian strategy was in part ruined because of a lack of unity in the command of the Roman army. The magister equitum, Marcus Minucius Rufus, a political enemy of Fabius, is famously quoted exclaiming,

Did 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... a Carthaginian foreigner, who was advanced even this far from the remotest limits of the world, through our dilatoriness and inactivity?

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 allowed them the 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 terrified allies, believing that Rome was incapable of protecting them, might defect and pledge their allegiance to the Carthaginians. Since Fabius won no large-scale victories, the Roman Senate removed him from command. Their chosen replacement, Gaius Terentius Varro, led the Roman army into the debacle at the Battle of Cannae. The Romans, after experiencing this catastrophic defeat and losing countless other battles, had at this point learned their lesson. They utilized the strategies Fabius had taught them, and 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).

Later usage[edit]

The strategy was used by the medieval French general Bertrand du Guesclin during the Hundred Years' War against the English following a series of disastrous defeats in pitched battles against Edward, the Black Prince. Eventually du Guesclin was able to recover most of the territory that had been lost.

The most noted use of Fabian strategy in American history was by George Washington, sometimes called the "American Fabius" for his use of the strategy during the first year of the American Revolutionary War. While Washington had initially pushed for traditional direct engagements and victories, he was convinced of the merits of using his army to harass the British rather than engage them both by the urging of his generals in his councils of war, and by the pitched-battle disasters of 1776, especially the Battle of Long Island. In addition, with a history as a Colonial officer and having witnessed Indian warfare, Washington predicted this style would aid in defeating the traditional battle styles of the British Army.

However, as with the original Fabius, Fabian strategy is often more popular in retrospect than at the time. To the troops, it can seem like a cowardly and demoralizing policy of continual retreat. Fabian strategy is sometimes combined with scorched earth tactics that demand sacrifice from civilian populations. Fabian leaders may be perceived as giving up territory without a fight, and since Fabian strategies promise extended war rather than quick victories, they can wear down the will of one's own side as well as the enemy. 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!"

Later in history, Fabian strategy would be employed all over the world. Used against Napoleon's Grande Armée the Fabian strategy proved to be decisive in the defense of Russia. Sam Houston effectively employed a Fabian defense in the aftermath of the Battle of the Alamo, using delaying tactics and small-unit harrying against Santa Anna's much larger force, to give time for the Army of Texas to grow into a viable fighting force. When he finally met Santa Anna, on the fields of San Jacinto, Houston chose the time for attack equally well, launching his forces while the Mexican Army was lounging in siesta. The resulting victory ensured the establishment of the Republic of Texas. Houston's detractors were able to see the validity of his delaying tactics, with the victory at San Jacinto, otherwise improbable. During the First Indochina War, the Vietnamese independentists used the Fabian strategy by utilizing delaying and hit-and-run tactics and scorch-earth strategy against the better-equipped French forces, which indeed prolonged the war but later made both the French high command and home front weary against it, much worsened by the eventual Vietnamese victory at Dien Bien Phu.

Fabian Socialism[edit]

Fabian Socialism, the ideology of the Fabian Society which originated in 1884 and launched the Labour Party in the United Kingdom in 1904, utilizes the same strategy of a "war of attrition" in their aim to bring about a socialist state. The advocation of gradualism distinguished this brand of socialism from those who condone revolutionary action.

See also[edit]