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A '''war of attrition''' is a war in which the competing sides seek to win by exhausting the enemy's resources, rather than by a decisive battlefield victory. Such wars tend to be long-lasting, with relatively static battlefronts. Probably the best modern example of a war of attrition was the conflict on the Western Front in the [[First World War]] (1914-1918); another is the [[Iran-Iraq War]] (1980-1988).

A '''war of attrition''' is a war in which the competing sides seek to win by exhausting the enemy's resources, rather than by a decisive battlefield victory. Such wars tend to be long-lasting, with relatively static battlefronts. Probably the best modern example of a war of attrition was the conflict on the [[Western Front]] in the [[First World War]] (1914-1918); another is the [[Iran-Iraq War]] (1980-1988).

No war is by intention a war of attrition; rather, the aggressor almost invariably expects a swift victory ([[Germany]] invading [[Belgium]] and [[France]] in 1914, Germany invading the [[USSR]] in 1941, the Allies invading [[Italy]] in 1943, [[Iraq]] invading [[Iran]] in 1980, [[terrorists]] attacking the [[United States]] in 2001), and it is only once such hopes are disappointed that a war takes on an attritional character.

No war is by intention a war of attrition; rather, the aggressor almost invariably expects a swift victory ([[Germany]] invading [[Belgium]] and [[France]] in 1914, Germany invading the [[USSR]] in 1941, the Allies invading [[Italy]] in 1943, [[Iraq]] invading [[Iran]] in 1980, [[terrorists]] attacking the [[United States]] in 2001), and it is only once such hopes are disappointed that a war takes on an attritional character.