# Scorched earth?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scorched-earth/362802>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [June 30, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scorched-earth/362802 "2006-06-30T21:14:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sinussauce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@sinussauce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinussauce)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scorched-earth/362802/1 "2006-06-30T21:14:47Z")

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In [today’s column about the death penalty and millionaires](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/060630.html) Cecil used the phrase “…scorched earth policy…” What did he mean by that? Where does the expression come from?

Here’s the sentence: “Dozens died, but **the scorched-earth policy backfired** , encouraging targets to take their chances with the law; one witness at Buchalter’s eventual murder trial in 1941 agreed to testify only after being shot in the head on Buchalter’s instructions. Buchalter was convicted despite spending an estimated quarter million on his defense.”

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**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scorched-earth/362802/2 "2006-06-30T21:29:22Z")

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[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=scorch](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=scorch)

> [@](#):
>
> _Scorched earth_ military strategy is 1937, translation of Chinese _jiaotu_, used against the Japanese in their advance into China.

[Scorched earth - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorched_earth) as a starter for further historical background.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scorched-earth/362802/3 "2006-06-30T21:32:27Z")

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The original useage is in warfare: If the enemy is about to take land from you, you destroy it yourself (by burning fields, etc., hence the name) so that the enemy won’t be able to derive any benefit from it. Alternately, an invading army might scorch the earth as they move, so that when the enemy farmers move back in after the army has moved on, they won’t be able to support their own army at the front. In American history, Ulysses Grant was famous for this tactic, and I think the term may have been coined in reference to him.

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**Author:** ![Happy\_Clam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@Happy\_Clam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Clam)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2006, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scorched-earth/362802/4 "2006-07-02T15:47:04Z")

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I was fairly certain that the tactic was first named after Russian actions to counter the advance of Napoleon, but I can’t seem to find a cite (suggesting that I am wrong, maybe).

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**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scorched-earth/362802/5 "2006-07-02T22:51:39Z")

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[QUOTE=Happy Clam]  
I was fairly certain that the tactic was first named after Russian actions to counter the advance of Napoleon, but I can’t seem to find a cite (suggesting that I am wrong, maybe).  
[/QUOTE]

I don’t know whether that was when the tactic was named, but it’s been used for millenia - [Tamerlane](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamerlane) is notorious for having been particularly thorough in his use of this tactic.