The term was found in English in a 1937 report on the Second Sino-Japanese War. The retreating Chinese forces burned crops and destroyed infrastructure including cities to sabotage the logistics of the advancing … See more

Clausewitz wrote in Principles of War:
In defensive just as in offensive warfare, it is necessary to pursue a great aim: the destruction of the … See more

European Scythian campaign
The Scythians used scorched-earth methods against the Persian Achaemenid Empire, led by King Darius the Great, during his See more

Second Punic War
During the Second Punic War in 218–202 BCE, both Carthaginians and Romans used the method … See more

Notable historic examples of successful scorched-earth tactics include the failed Swedish, French and German invasion of Russia, Sherman's march to the sea during the American Civil War, Kit Carson's campaign during the Navajo Wars in 1863 and See more

March of the Ten Thousand
The Greek general Xenophon recorded in his Anabasis that the withdrawing enemy burnt up the grass … See more

Third Punic War
After the end of the Third Punic War in 146 BCE, the Roman Senate also elected to use this method to … See more