Demoralization (warfare)
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines morale as "the mental and emotional condition (as of enthusiasm, confidence, or loyalty) of an individual or group with regard to the function or tasks at hand)".[1]
The Changing Minds website declares about the military tactic of demoralization:
| “ | Morale in warfare is a remarkably important thing. An impassioned small force can and has, many times, defeated a much larger force that has been carefully demoralized beforehand.
Soldiers who lose the will to fight either fight poorly or throw down their weapons with relatively little encouragement. Commanders who are demoralized will likewise avoid battle and more readily sue for peace. Demoralization also works with the people back in the home nation. If the population supports the war, then there will be many more volunteers and a broad support for a bellicose government. If, on the other hand, the population believes the war is unwinnable and unjust, then any political party supporting the war will be seen as arrogant and out of touch with its electorate... Demoralizing the opposing force can be done in many ways and the effect of constant attacks on their confidence can be like a death from a thousand cuts. One of the main demoralizing forces is unexpected defeat, for example when a weaker enemy outsmarts you with a superior strategy. Likewise, a smarter enemy who keeps you guessing can lead you to fear humiliating or terrifying defeat at any time.[2] |
” |
Military forces who are demoralized have lower levels of military discipline, apathy problems and high desertion rates[3]
The Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu wrote: "For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill (a variant translation is "Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.").[4]
Demoralization in sports
"Beat your opponent where he is strongest, and you demoralize him." - Vince Lombardi
War and demoralization quotes
- "War has been avoided from a due sense of the miseries, and the demoralization it produces, and of the superior blessings of a state of peace and friendship with all mankind." - Thomas Jefferson
See also
External links
- Winning Without Fighting: The Chinese Psychological Warfare Challenge, Heritage Foundation
- Psychological Warfare during World War II, Eisenhower Foundation
- The Power of Psychological Warfare in World War II
- Propaganda: psychological warfare in the First World War
- The 5 most demoralizing tactics used in recent military history
Notes
- ↑ Definition of morale, Merriam-Webster dictionary
- ↑ Demoralization - Changing Minds website
- ↑ Military demoralization, The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential website
- ↑ Sun Tzu - Wikiquote