A Pyrrhic victory ( //ˌpɪɹ.ɪk ˈvɪk.t(ə)ɹ.i// or PEER-ik VIK-tree) is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. Someone who wins a Pyrrhic victory has been victorious in some way. However, the heavy toll negates any sense of achievement or profit.
Pyrrhic victory is named after king Pyrrhus of Epirus, whose army suffered irreplaceable casualties in defeating the Romans at the Battle of Heraclea in 280 BC and the Battle of Asculum in 279 BC, during the Pyrrhic War. After the latter battle, Plutarch relates in a report by Dionysius:
The armies separated; and, it is said, Pyrrhus replied to one that gave him joy of his victory that one other such victory would utterly undo him. For he had lost a great part of the forces he brought with him, and almost all his particular friends and principal commanders; there were no others there to make recruits, and he found the confederates in Italy backward. On the other hand, as from a fountain continually flowing out of the city, the Roman camp was quickly and plentifully filled up with fresh men, not at all abating in courage for the loss they sustained, but even from their very anger gaining new force and resolution to go on with the war.
In both Epirote victories, the Romans suffered greater casualties but they had a much larger pool of replacements, so the casualties had less impact on the Roman war effort than the losses of King Pyrrhus.
The report is often quoted as
Ne ego si iterum eodem modo uicero, sine ullo milite Epirum reuertar.
Another such victory and I come back to Epirus alone.
or
If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined.
This list comprises examples of battles that ended in a Pyrrhic victory. It is not intended to be complete but to illustrate the concept.
Battle of Asculum (279 BC) – Pyrrhus of Epirus and Italian allies against the Romans – The Romans, though suffering twice as many casualties, could easily replenish their ranks. Pyrrhus lost a great part of the forces he had brought to Italy and most of his commanders, and he withdrew to Sicily.Battle of Avarayr (451) – Vartan Mamikonian and Christian Armenian rebels against the Sassanid Empire – The Persians were victorious but the battle proved to be a strategic victory for Armenians, as Avarayr paved the way to the Nvarsak Treaty (484 AD), which assured Armenian autonomy and religious freedom.Siege of Szigetvár (1566) – Ottoman–Habsburg wars – Although the Ottoman Turks won the battle, it can be seen as a Pyrrhic victory because of the Turkish casualties, the death of Sultan Suleiman, and the battle delayed the Ottoman push for Vienna that year, thereby suspending Ottoman expansion in Europe.Battle of Malplaquet (1709) – War of the Spanish Succession – The battle was an Allied victory because Marlborough's army kept possession of the battlefield, but it had suffered double the French casualties and could not pursue. The French army withdrew in good order and relatively intact, and it remained a potent threat to further Allied operations.Battle of Bunker Hill (1775) – American Revolutionary War – After mounting three assaults on the colonial forces, the British won control of the Boston peninsula in the early stages of the war. The engagement cost many more casualties than the Americans had incurred (including a large number of officers) and led the British to adopt a more cautious methods, which helped American rebel forces; the political repercussions increased colonial support for independence.Battle of Guilford Court House (1781) – American Revolutionary War – In this short battle, the British force defeated a superior American army; the British lost a considerable number of men and their drive to conquer the southern colonies changed course.Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands (1942) – World War II, Solomon Islands Campaign – Japanese and Allied naval forces met during the struggle for Guadalcanal and nearby islands. After an exchange of carrier air attacks, U.S. surface ships retreated with one carrier sunk and another severely damaged. The Japanese carrier forces achieved a tactical victory but the loss of irreplaceable veteran aircrews was to the strategic advantage of the Allies.Battle of Chosin Reservoir (1950) – Korean War – The Chinese army attempted to encircle and destroy the UN forces but in a 17-day battle in freezing weather, the UN forces inflicted crippling losses on the Chinese while making a fighting withdrawal. The Chinese occupied northeast Korea but they did not recover until the spring, and the UN maintained a foothold in Korea.Battle of Vukovar (1991) – Croatian War of Independence – The Serbian militant Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) laid siege to the city of Vukovar, held by the Croatian National Guard and civilian volunteers. After 87 days the ruined city fell to the JNA. The siege exhausted the JNA and was a watershed in the Croatian War.The term is used as an analogy in business, politics and sport to describe struggles that end up ruining the victor. Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr commented on the necessity of coercion in preserving the course of justice by warning,
Moral reason must learn how to make coercion its ally without running the risk of a Pyrrhic victory in which the ally exploits and negates the triumph.
In Beauharnais v. Illinois, a 1952 U.S. Supreme Court decision involving a charge proscribing group libel, Associate Justice Black alluded to Pyrrhus in his dissent,
If minority groups hail this holding as their victory, they might consider the possible relevancy of this ancient remark: "Another such victory and I am undone".
A related expression is "winning a battle but losing the war". This describes a poor strategy that wins a lesser objective but overlooks and loses the larger objective.
A "hollow victory" or "empty victory" is one in which the victor gains little or nothing. Examples include:
In a murder trial, where a guilty verdict brings justice for the victim but the family is still bereft.A court-martial clears an officer of blame in a military accident but the death and damage cannot be undone.A civil case is decided in favor of the plaintiff but the awarded amount of money or property is less than he spent to bring the lawsuit.Victory in a battle or war which, by winning, caused additional problems in the futureA campaign that did not achieve its goals despite the claim of victory.