In military affairs, victory in one battle is not always decisive. Military history has witnessed such triumphs that came at too high a price. Their name is Pyrrhic victories.
Origin of the term "Pyrrhic victory"
In the art of warfare, this term refers to a victory that is equivalent to defeat or even exceeds it in terms of losses. The name of the term comes from the name of the Greek commander Pyrrhus, who coveted the laurels of Alexander the Great and won one of the most destructive victories in the history of military affairs. However, Pyrrhus was not the only one to make the classic mistake of a commander - having won a battle, he lost the war.
Before the devastating triumph of Pyrrhus, the expression “Cadmean victory” was in use.
Battles of Heraclea and Ausculum
The devastating victory of the same name came at a high price to the leader of the army of Epirus, the ambitious commander Pyrrhus, who decided to conquer Rome. He first invaded Italy in 280 BC. e., having concluded an alliance with the Greek-speaking city of Tarentum. He led an army of 25 thousand warriors and 20 war elephants, which the Roman opponents saw for the first time. Elephants had a decisive influence on the victory at Heraclea.
Enraged, Pyrrhus continued to capture the Roman Republic and a year later reached Ausculum. This time the Romans were better prepared and, despite the defeat, inflicted enormous damage on Pyrrhus's army. According to Plutarch, after the victory at Ausculum, Pyrrhus said that one more such victory over the Romans - and he would have no army left at all. After further defeats, the Greek conqueror stopped his military campaign against Rome and in 275 BC. e. went back to Greece.
Battle of Malplaquet
After the King of Spain, Charles II of Habsburg, died without leaving an heir, a military conflict broke out between France and the allied Anglo-Danish-Austrian forces over the empty throne. It lasted 14 years and was called the War of the Spanish Succession. The conflict reached its climax in 1709 at Malplaquet, when the Allied army of one hundred thousand met with French soldiers, whose number reached 90 thousand. The Allied commander-in-chief, the Duke of Marlborough, was impatient to crush the French, and on September 11 he launched a large-scale offensive with infantry and cavalry. The French used a number of shelters and obstacles, but despite this, the Duke's troops, after seven hours of bloody battle, broke the enemy's resistance. The Habsburg army was so tired and thinned out that it allowed the French to retreat with minimal losses.
The Battle of Malplaquet was the largest military operation of the 18th century. The losses of the French army amounted to 12 thousand people, while the Allied forces lost twice as many, which at that time amounted to a quarter of the entire Habsburg army. The French commander-in-chief, Duke de Villars, in a report to King Louis XIV, repeated the words of Pyrrhus, saying that if God deigns to give the opponents another such victory, not a trace will remain of their army. The bloodshed at Malplaquet sowed discord among the Allied marshals, and by 1712 the agreement began to lose its force.
Battle of Bunker Hill
In 1775, the first blood began to be shed in the War of Independence from the British Crown. On June 17, a thousand-strong militia unit tried to resist the capture of several heights near Boston. At Bunker Hill they encountered trained and armed Imperial Army soldiers outnumbering the militia two to one. The Americans successfully fired back and managed to push back two attempted attacks by the Red Caftans. On the third attempt, the militia had no ammunition left, and they were forced to retreat.
The victory was too costly for the British; they lost half of their squad and were forced to occupy another height. The militia took their defeat as a moral victory over the enemy - they coped with a professional military detachment, which also had a numerical advantage.
Battle of Borodino
Lermontov’s famous poem begins with a question: “Tell me, uncle, it’s not without reason...” And it’s not without reason... The Battle of Borodino became the bloodiest day in Napoleon’s military campaign. In 1812, Bonaparte was closer than ever to Moscow. Before this, the Russian commanders had happily pretended to be retreating, but on the approaches to the city, Kutuzov turned his army around to face the enemy. The French did not waste time and rushed into a direct attack on the fortifications of the Russian army. The battle was bloody and lengthy, only in the evening the French managed to break the enemy. Napoleon took pity on his elite warriors and allowed Kutuzov to withdraw the army with minimal losses.
Napoleon remained king of the battlefield, which was littered with the bodies of the dead French. His army lost 30 thousand soldiers - half as many as the Russian army. Thirty thousand turned out to be too large a number, especially when conducting military operations on unfriendly Russian soil. The capture of Moscow did not bring relief, since the city lay in ruins - residents set it on fire immediately after the arrival of the French. Faced with Russian unwillingness to surrender, severe cold and hunger, Napoleon lost 400 thousand of his soldiers.
Battle of Chancellorsville
The second largest battle of the American Civil War demonstrates the unique tactical approach of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Despite being outnumbered twice by Joseph Hooker's Army of the Potomac, Lee was able to turn the tide of the battle in his favor. Taking enormous risks and disregarding doctrine, General Lee divided his troops and twice attacked better-prepared enemy positions. Unexpected maneuvers by the Confederates prevented Hooker from encircling General Lee's army, and a few days later the Unionists were forced to retreat in disgrace.
Although the Battle of Chancellorsville is considered a masterpiece of military art and elevated General Lee's tactical intelligence to new heights, victory was not easy for the Confederates. The commander-in-chief's closest adviser, General Stonewall Jackson, was killed in the skirmish, and the total losses of the Army of Virginia amounted to 13 thousand people. While Hooker's army was able to replenish its ranks with new recruits, the Confederates' victory at Chancellorsville brought only historical glory.
Excursion into history
In 280 BC, King Pyrrhus and his large army landed in Italy. On Pyrrhus's side were the rebellious Samnites. The army included war elephants, which came as a big surprise to the Romans. The first battle ended in a decisive victory for Pyrrhus's army, even though the Romans were vastly outnumbered. A year later, in 279, the Romans sent a new army to crush Pyrrhus. After a long battle, Pyrrhus again managed to defeat the Romans, but, counting his losses, the king cried out: “Another such victory and I will be left without an army!” The Romans fought bravely, and the losses were equal - 15 thousand people.
Achievements of Pyrrhus
The king of Epirus is famous not only for the phrase “Pyrrhic victory,” but also for some achievements that enriched the military affairs of that time. It was he who first began to surround the battle camp with a ditch and rampart for defense. After the battle with the Romans, the expression "Pyrrhic victory" became widespread. Basically, it is pronounced when one has had to pay a lot for success. Such victories include the Battle of Malplaquet and the War of the Spanish Succession (1709). Then the British, after defeating the French, discovered that a third of their army had died. The Battle of Maloyaroslavets (1812) was also a Pyrrhic victory. The French then still managed to take the city, but, as you know, the Napoleonic army did not receive anything worthwhile from such an acquisition.
Contemporaries often compared Pyrrhus to a dice player, whose every throw is successful, but who does not know how to use the luck that has befallen him. As a result, this feature of Pyrrhus became the cause of his death. In addition, it was the war elephants, his secret “miracle weapon,” that played a decisive role in his death.
Battle of Argos
When Pyrrhus's army was besieging Argos, his warriors found an opportunity to quietly enter the sleeping city, but the king decided to introduce war elephants into the city. But since they did not pass through the gate, this caused a noise, and the Argives grabbed their weapons. The battle in the narrow streets led to general confusion, no one heard orders, and it was impossible to determine where anyone was. As a result, Argos became a huge trap for the Epirus army. Trying to get out of the city, Pyrrhus sent a messenger to his son with orders to break down the walls so that his army could leave the “captured city.” But his order was misunderstood, and the son of Pyrrhus went to the city to save his father. At the gate, two streams - those retreating and those who were rushing to their rescue - collided. In this pandemonium, Pyrrhus died at the hands of the mother of the warrior Argos, with whom he fought. The woman decided to help her son and threw a tile at Pyrrhus, hitting him directly in the neck, which was not protected by armor.
"Pyrrhic victory": meaning
So, a Pyrrhic victory is called a victory for which a very high price had to be paid. This is a success that can be equated with failure. In St. Petersburg, in the very center of the city, the Admiralty Tower is located. Against the sky at the corners of the tower you can see four sitting warriors. Few people know who they are, but these are the four most famous generals of ancient times: Caesar, Achilles, Pyrrhus and Alexander.
Pyrrhic victory Pyrrhic victoryAccording to the ancient Greek historian Plutarch, King Pyrrhus of Epirus in 279 BC. e., after his victory over the Romans at Asculum, he exclaimed: “Another such victory, and we are lost.” Another version of the same phrase is known: “Another such victory, and I will be left without an army.”
In this battle, Pyrrhus won thanks to the presence of war elephants in his army, against which at that time the Romans did not yet know how to fight and therefore were powerless against them, “as if before rising water or a destructive earthquake,” as the same Plutarch wrote. The Romans then had to leave the battlefield and retreat to
his camp, which, according to the customs of those times, meant the complete victory of Pyrrhus. But the Romans fought courageously, so the winner that day lost as many soldiers as the vanquished - 15 thousand people. Hence this bitter confession of Pyrrhus.
Contemporaries compared Pyrrhus to a dice player who always makes a successful throw, but does not know how to take advantage of this luck. As a result, this feature of Pyrrhus destroyed him. Moreover, his own “miracle weapon” - war elephants - played an ominous role in his death.
When Pyrrhus's army was besieging the Greek city of Argos, his warriors found a way to infiltrate the sleeping city. They would have captured it completely bloodlessly, if not for Pyrrhus’ decision to introduce war elephants into the city. They did not pass through the gates - the combat towers installed on them were in the way. They began to remove them, then put them back on the animals, which caused a noise. The Argives took up arms, and fighting began in the narrow city streets. There was general confusion: no one heard orders, no one knew who was where, what was happening on the next street. Argos turned into a huge trap for the Epirus army.
Pyrrhus tried to quickly get out of the “captured” city. He sent a messenger to his son, who was standing with a detachment near the city, with an order to urgently break down part of the wall so that the Epirus warriors would quickly leave the city. But the messenger misunderstood the order, and the son of Pyrrhus moved to the city to the rescue of his father. So two oncoming streams collided at the gates - those retreating from the city and those who rushed to their aid. To top it all off, the elephants rebelled: one lay down right at the gate, not wanting to move at all, the other, the most powerful, nicknamed Nikon, having lost his wounded driver friend, began to look for him, rush around and trample both his own and other people’s soldiers. Finally, he found his friend, grabbed him with his trunk, put him on his tusks and rushed out of the city, crushing everyone he met.
In this commotion, Pyrrhus himself died. He fought with a young Argive warrior, whose mother, like all the women of the city, stood on the roof of her house. Being near the scene of the fight, she saw her son and decided to help him. Having broken out a tile from the roof, she threw it at Pyrrhus and hit him in the neck, unprotected by armor. The commander fell and was finished off on the ground.
But, besides this “sadly born” phrase, Pyrrhus is also known for some achievements that enriched the military affairs of that time. So. He was the first to surround the military camp with a defensive rampart and ditch. Before him, the Romans surrounded their camp with carts, and that was how its arrangement usually ended.
Allegorically: a victory that came at a very high price; success equals defeat (ironic).
Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M.: “Locked-Press”. Vadim Serov. 2003.
Pyrrhic victory King Pyrrhus of Epirus in 279 BC. defeated the Romans at the Battle of Ausculum. But this victory, as Plutarch (in the biography of Pyrrhus) and other ancient historians say, cost Pyrrhus such great losses in the army that he exclaimed: “Another such victory, and we are lost!” Indeed, in the next year, 278, the Romans defeated Pyrrhus. This is where the expression “Pyrrhic victory” arose, meaning: a dubious victory that does not justify the sacrifices made for it.
Dictionary of popular words. Plutex. 2004.
What does "Pyrrhic victory" mean?
Maxim Maksimovich
There is a region of Epirus in Greece. King Pyrrhus of Epirus in 280 BC. e. waged a long and brutal war with Rome. Twice he managed to win; His army had war elephants, but the Romans did not know how to fight with them. Nevertheless, the second victory was given to Pyrrhus at the cost of such sacrifices that, according to legend, he exclaimed after the battle: “Another such victory - and I will be left without an army!”
The war ended with the defeat and retreat of Pyrrhus from Italy. The words “Pyrrhic victory” have long since become a designation for success, bought at such a high price that, perhaps, defeat would have been no less profitable: “The victories of the fascist troops near Yelnya and Smolensk in 1941 turned out to be “Pyrrhic victories.”
~Fish~
Ausculum, a city in the North. Apulia (Italy), near which in 279 BC. e. There was a battle between the troops of the Epirus king Pyrrhus and the Roman troops during the wars of Rome for the conquest of the South. Italy. The Epirus army broke the resistance of the Romans within two days, but its losses were so great that Pyrrhus said: “one more such victory and I will have no more soldiers left.” Hence the expression “Pyrrhic victory.”
The expression “Pyrrhic victory” also became popular. How did it come about? What does it mean?
Roma Subbotin
Pyrrhic victory
There is a region of Epirus in Greece. King Pyrrhus of Epirus in 280 BC. e. waged a long and brutal war with Rome. Twice he managed to win; His army had war elephants, but the Romans did not know how to fight with them. Nevertheless, the second victory was given to Pyrrhus at the cost of such sacrifices that, according to legend, he exclaimed after the battle: “Another such victory - and I will be left without an army!” The war ended with the defeat and retreat of Pyrrhus from Italy. The words “Pyrrhic victory” have long since become a designation for success, bought at such a high price that, perhaps, defeat would have been no less profitable: “The victories of the fascist troops near Yelnya and Smolensk in 1941 turned out to be “Pyrrhic victories.”
Bulat Khaliullin
The Roman Republic fought with Greece in 200-300 BC. e.
The king of one small Greek state (Epirus) was Pyrrhus
In one of the campaigns, his army defeated the army of Rome, but suffered terrible losses
As a result, he lost the next battle, and then he himself was killed by a piece of a tiled roof during street fighting
Kikoghost
When Pyrrhus in 279 B.C. e. won another victory over the Roman army, examining it, he saw that more than half of the fighters had died. Amazed, he exclaimed: “Another such victory, and I will lose my entire army.” The expression means a victory that is equal to a defeat, or a victory for which too much has been paid.
Nadezhda Sushitskaya
A victory that came at too high a price. Too many losses.
The origin of this expression is due to the battle of Ascullus in 279 BC. e. Then the Epirus army of King Pyrrhus attacked the Roman troops for two days and broke their resistance, but the losses were so great that Pyrrhus remarked: “Another such victory, and I will be left without an army.”
The king who won at too great a cost. What answer?
Afanasy44
Pyrrhic victory- an expression that is included in all dictionaries of the world and appeared more than 2 thousand years ago, when the king of Epirus Pyrrhus was able to defeat the Romans near the town of Ausculum during his raid on the Apennine Peninsula. In a two-day battle, his army lost about three and a half thousand soldiers and only the successful actions of 20 war elephants helped him break the Romans.
King Pyrrhus, by the way, was a relative of Alexander the Great and was his second cousin, so he had someone to learn from. Although in the end he lost the war with the Romans, he returned to his place. And 7 years later, during an attack on Macedonia, he was killed in the city of Argos, when a woman from the city’s defenders threw tiles at him from the roof of a house.
Vafa Aliyeva
Pyrrhic victory - this expression owes its origin to the battle of Ausculum in 279 BC. e. Then the Epirus army of King Pyrrhus attacked the Roman troops for two days and broke their resistance, but the losses were so great that Pyrrhus remarked: “Another such victory, and I will be left without an army.”
Tamila123
We are talking about the king of Epirus and Macedonia - King Pyrrhus. He fought with Ancient Rome. King Pyrrhus suffered great losses, which is why that war became the phraseology “Pyrrhic victory” - a victory on the way to which there were so many losses that the taste of victory is not felt.
Valery146
The Greek king Pyrrhus won the battle with the enemy, losing more than half of his army and realized that one more such victory and he would have no soldiers left.
This is how the expression Pyrrhic victory appeared, that is, a victory achieved at a very high, usually unacceptable price!
It was probably PYRRHUS. Since then, this victory bears his name and is called a Pyrrhic victory, that is, the sacrifices made for this victory in no way correspond to the victory itself, but are equated to defeat. This is approximately how I understand this expression)))
Pyrrhic victory
Pyrrhic victory
According to the ancient Greek historian Plutarch, King Pyrrhus of Epirus in 279 BC. e., after his victory over the Romans at Asculum, he exclaimed: “Another such victory, and we are lost.” Another version of the same phrase is known: “Another such victory, and I will be left without an army.”
In this battle, Pyrrhus won thanks to the presence of war elephants in his army, against which at that time the Romans did not yet know how to fight and therefore were powerless against them, “as if before rising water or a destructive earthquake,” as the same Plutarch wrote. The Romans then had to leave the battlefield and retreat to
his camp, which, according to the customs of those times, meant the complete victory of Pyrrhus. But the Romans fought courageously, so the winner that day lost as many soldiers as the vanquished - 15 thousand people. Hence this bitter confession of Pyrrhus.
Contemporaries compared Pyrrhus to a dice player who always makes a successful throw, but does not know how to take advantage of this luck. As a result, this feature of Pyrrhus destroyed him. Moreover, his own “miracle weapon” - war elephants - played an ominous role in his death.
When Pyrrhus's army was besieging the Greek city of Argos, his warriors found a way to infiltrate the sleeping city. They would have captured it completely bloodlessly, if not for Pyrrhus’ decision to introduce war elephants into the city. They did not pass through the gates - the combat towers installed on them were in the way. They began to remove them, then put them back on the animals, which caused a noise. The Argives took up arms, and fighting began in the narrow city streets. There was general confusion: no one heard orders, no one knew who was where, what was happening on the next street. Argos turned into a huge trap for the Epirus army.
Pyrrhus tried to quickly get out of the “captured” city. He sent a messenger to his son, who was standing with a detachment near the city, with an order to urgently break down part of the wall so that the Epirus warriors would quickly leave the city. But the messenger misunderstood the order, and the son of Pyrrhus moved to the city to the rescue of his father. So two oncoming streams collided at the gates - those retreating from the city and those who rushed to their aid. To top it all off, the elephants rebelled: one lay down right at the gate, not wanting to move at all, the other, the most powerful, nicknamed Nikon, having lost his wounded driver friend, began to look for him, rush around and trample both his own and other people’s soldiers. Finally, he found his friend, grabbed him with his trunk, put him on his tusks and rushed out of the city, crushing everyone he met.
In this commotion, Pyrrhus himself died. He fought with a young Argive warrior, whose mother, like all the women of the city, stood on the roof of her house. Being near the scene of the fight, she saw her son and decided to help him. Having broken out a tile from the roof, she threw it at Pyrrhus and hit him in the neck, unprotected by armor. The commander fell and was finished off on the ground.
But, besides this “sadly born” phrase, Pyrrhus is also known for some achievements that enriched the military affairs of that time. So. He was the first to surround the military camp with a defensive rampart and ditch. Before him, the Romans surrounded their camp with carts, and that was how its arrangement usually ended.
Allegorically: a victory that came at a very high price; success equals defeat (ironic).
Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M.: “Locked-Press”. Vadim Serov. 2003.
Pyrrhic victory
King Pyrrhus of Epirus in 279 BC. defeated the Romans at the Battle of Ausculum. But this victory, as Plutarch (in the biography of Pyrrhus) and other ancient historians say, cost Pyrrhus such great losses in the army that he exclaimed: “Another such victory, and we are lost!” Indeed, in the next year, 278, the Romans defeated Pyrrhus. This is where the expression “Pyrrhic victory” arose, meaning: a dubious victory that does not justify the sacrifices made for it.
Dictionary of catch words. Plutex. 2004.
Synonyms:
See what “Pyrrhic victory” is in other dictionaries:
Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
PYRRHIC VICTORY. see victory. Ushakov's explanatory dictionary. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 … Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
Noun, number of synonyms: 2 victory (28) defeat (12) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Synonym dictionary
Pyrrhic victory- wing. sl. King Pyrrhus of Epirus in 279 BC. e. defeated the Romans at the Battle of Ausculum. But this victory, as Plutarch (in the biography of Pyrrhus) and other ancient historians say, cost Pyrrhus such great losses in the army that he... ... Universal additional practical explanatory dictionary by I. Mostitsky
Pyrrhic victory- Book A victory devalued by excessive losses. The impresario jumped up and greeted Rachmaninov with a respectful, comic bow. I admit, you won... But no matter how it turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory. Serious tests await you... The entire collection is from my... ... Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Literary Language
Pyrrhic victory- stable combination A dubious victory that does not justify the sacrifices made for it. Etymology: After the name of the Epirus king Pyrrhus (Greek Pyrros), who defeated the Romans in 279 BC. e. a victory that cost him huge losses. Encyclopedic... ... Popular dictionary of the Russian language
Pyrrhic victory- A victory that came at the cost of such huge losses that it becomes doubtful or not worth it (from the historical event of the victory of King Pyrrhus over the Romans at the cost of huge losses) ... Dictionary of many expressions
Pyrrhus Campaign A Pyrrhic victory, a victory that came at too great a price; victory is equivalent to defeat. The origin of this expression is due to the battle of Auskul in 2 ... Wikipedia
- (on behalf of the Epirus king Pyrrhus, who won a victory over the Romans in 279 BC that cost him enormous losses) a dubious victory that does not justify the sacrifices made for it. New dictionary of foreign words. by EdwART, 2009 … Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
Pyrrhic victory- book. a victory that cost too much sacrifice, and is therefore tantamount to defeat. The expression is associated with the victory of the Epirus king Pyrrhus over the Romans (279 BC), which cost him such losses that, according to Plutarch, he exclaimed: “Another ... ... Phraseology Guide
Books
- Demyansk massacre. 171;Stalin's missed triumph 187;or 171;Hitler's Pyrrhic victory 187;? , Simakov A.. This massacre became the longest battle of the Great Patriotic War, which lasted for a year and a half, from September 1941 to March 1943. This bloody battle was declared by both sides...