TheFabian strategy is amilitary strategy wherepitched battles andfrontal assaults are avoided in favor of wearing down an opponent through awar of attrition and indirection. While avoiding decisivebattles, the side employing this strategy harasses its enemy throughskirmishes to cause attrition, disruptsupply and affect morale. Employment of this strategy implies that the side adopting this strategy believes time is on its side, usually because the side employing the strategy is fighting in, or close to, their homeland and the enemy is far from home and by necessity has long and costly supply lines. It may also be adopted when no feasible alternative strategy can be devised.

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]

This strategy derives its name fromQuintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus,^[2] thedictator of theRoman Republic given the task of defeating the greatCarthaginian generalHannibal in southernItaly during theSecond Punic War (218–201 BC).^[3] At the start of the war, Hannibal boldlycrossed 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 atTrebia in 218 BC andLake Trasimene in 217 BC.^[5][6] After these disasters, the Romans gave full authority to Fabius Maximus asdictator. 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 being a commander of an invading foreign army (on Italian soil), and was effectively cut off from his home country in North Africa due to the difficulty of seaborne resupply over theMediterranean 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 extendedsupply 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.^[11] He sent out small military units to attack Hannibal's foraging parties^[12] while keeping the Roman army in hilly terrain to nullify Carthaginiancavalry superiority.^[13] Residents of small villages in the path of the Carthaginians were ordered by Fabius to burn their crops creatingscorched earth and take refuge infortified towns.^[14] Fabius usedinterior lines to ensure that Hannibal could not march directly on Rome without having to first abandon his Mediterranean ports (supply lines). At the same time, Fabius began to inflict constant, small, debilitating defeats on the Carthaginians. This, Fabius had concluded, would wear down the invaders' endurance and discourage Rome's allies from switching sides, without challenging the Carthaginians to major battles. Once the Carthaginians were sufficiently weakened and demoralized by lack of food and supplies, Fabius and his well-fed legions would then fight a decisive battle in the hope of crushing the Carthaginians once and for all.

Hannibal's second weakness was that much of his army was made up ofSpanish mercenaries andGaulish allies. Their loyalty to Hannibal was shallow; though they disliked Rome, they mainly desired quick battles and raids for plunder. They were unsuited for longsieges, and possessed neither the equipment nor the patience for such tactics. The tedium of countless small-skirmish defeats sapped their morale, causing them to desert.

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.

Fabius's strategy, though a military success and tolerable to wiser minds in theRoman Senate, was unpopular; the Romans had been long accustomed to facing and besting their enemies directly on the field of battle. The Fabian strategy was, in part, ruined because of a lack of unity in the command of the Roman army. Themagister equitum,Marcus Minucius Rufus, a political enemy of Fabius, famously exclaiming:

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 neighboringSamnite 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 in 216 BC. Their chosen replacement,Gaius Terentius Varro, led the Roman army into a debacle at theBattle 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 thecognomen "Cunctator" (The Delayer).^[3]

DuringAntony'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.^{[citation needed]}

During theHanzhong Campaign in 219 AD, one year before the fall of ancient China'sHan dynasty, the warlordLiu Bei and his strategistFa Zheng captured strategic locations from the forces of the rival warlordCao Cao, resulting in the death of one of Cao Cao's top generals,Xiahou Yuan. Cao Cao attempted to recapture those locations but Liu Bei's forces refused to engage.^{[citation needed]}

Nearly a decade later, the Fabian strategy was used bySima Yi as part ofZhuge Liang's Northern campaigns. Zhuge Liang's campaigns had some success but often lacked supplies to capitalise on gains. By the time of the fifth expedition (234 AD), Sima Yi maintained a defensive stance and did not engage Zhuge Liang's Shu troops. Zhuge Liang fell ill while trying to push through the defensive lines and died at theWuzhang Plains that same year.

During theRoman campaign against Persia prosecuted byJulian in 363 AD, the main Persian army underShapur II let the numerically superior Romans advance deep into their territory, avoiding a full-scale battle at the expense of the destruction of their fortresses. As the fortified Persian capital seemed impregnable, Julian was lured into Persia's interior, where the Persians employedscorched earth tactics. Shapur II's army appeared later and engaged in continuous skirmishes only after the starving Romans were in retreat, resulting in a disastrous Roman defeat.^[16]

The Fabian strategy was used by KingRobert the Bruce in combination withscorched earth tactics in theFirst War of Scottish Independence against the English after the disastrous defeats at theBattle of Dunbar,Battle of Falkirk, andBattle of Methven. Eventually King Robert was able to regain the entire kingdom of Scotland which had been conquered by the English.^{[citation needed]}

The strategy was used by the medieval French generalBertrand du Guesclin during theHundred Years' War against the English following a series of disastrous defeats in pitched battles againstEdward, the Black Prince. Eventually du Guesclin was able to recover most of the territory that had been lost.^{[citation needed]}

During theItalian Wars, after a first defeat in pitched battle inSeminara, Spanish generalGonzalo Fernández de Córdoba used Fabian tactics to retake southern Italy fromCharles VIII of France's army, compelling the French to withdraw after theSiege of Atella. Despite his success, he took to reform his army inpike and shot manner.^[17]

The most noted use of Fabian strategy inAmerican history was byGeorge Washington, sometimes called the "American Fabius" for his use of the strategy during the first year of theAmerican Revolutionary War. While Washington had initially pushed for traditional direct engagements using battle lines, he was convinced of the merits of using his army to harass theBritish 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 theBattle of Long Island. In addition, given his background as a colonial officer who had participated in asymmetriccampaigns againstNative Americans, Washington predicted that this style would aid in defeating the traditional tactics of theBritish Army (his predictions were proven correct).^[18]John Adams' dissatisfaction with Washington's conduct of the war led him to declare, "I am sick of Fabian systems in all quarters."^[19]

Throughout history, the Fabian strategy has been employed all over the world. Used againstNapoleon'sGrande Armée in combination withscorched earth andguerrilla war, it proved decisive in defeating theFrench invasion of Russia.Sam Houston effectively employed a Fabian defense in the aftermath of theBattle of the Alamo, using delaying tactics and small-unit harrying againstSanta Anna's much larger force, to give time for the Army of Texas to grow into a viable fighting force.^[20] When he finally met Santa Anna atSan Jacinto, the resulting victory ensured the establishment of the Republic of Texas. During the First World War in German East Africa, GeneralsPaul von Lettow-Vorbeck andJan Smuts both used the Fabian strategy in their campaigns.^[21]

During theFirst Indochina War, theViet 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 atDien Bien Phu. TheViet Cong and thePAVN would later use this strategy against the Americans andARVN forces during theVietnam War.^{[citation needed]}

There are some indications that the Ukraine strategy in theRussian invasion of Ukraine has been a war of attrition.^{[citation needed]}

Fabian socialism, the ideology of theFabian Society (founded in 1884), significantly influenced theLabour Party in theUnited Kingdom. It utilizes the same strategy of a "war of attrition" to facilitate the society's aim to bring about asocialist state. The advocation ofgradualism distinguished this brand ofsocialism from those who favorrevolutionary action.^[22]

• Attrition warfare
• Battle of annihilation
• Fleet in being
• Guerrilla warfare
• U.S. Army Strategist