What is "scorched earth"

a. (alternative spelling of scorched-earth English) n. (context military English) land that has been abandoned, in the face of an advancing enemy, after the destruction of all resources on it

A scorched earth policy is a military strategy that targets anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area. Specifically, all of the assets that are used or can be used by the enemy are targeted, such as food sources, transportation, communications, industrial resources, and even the people in the area.

The practice can be carried out by the military in enemy territory, or in its own home territory. It may overlap with, but is not the same as, punitive destruction of the enemy's resources, which is done for purely strategic/political reasons rather than strategic/operational reasons.

Notable historic examples of scorched earth tactics include the Russian army's strategy during the failed Napoleonic invasion of Russia, William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea in the American Civil War, Lord Kitchener's advance against the Boers, the initial Soviet retreat commanded by Joseph Stalin during the German Army's invasion of the Soviet Union in the Second World War, as well as the subsequent Nazi German retreat on the Eastern Front.

The strategy of destroying the food and water supply of the civilian population in an area of conflict has been banned under Article 54 of Protocol I of the 1977 Geneva Conventions. The relevant passage says:

Scorched Earth is a popular shareware artillery video game, which is a subgenre of strategy game. The game was developed in the DOS era, originally written by Wendell Hicken (using Borland C++ and Turbo Assembler), in which tanks do turn-based battle in two-dimensional terrain, with each player adjusting the angle and power of their tank turret before each shot. Moonbase Commander is a Spiritual successor.

Scorched earth is a military strategy or operational method that involves destroying anything useful to the enemy.

Scorched Earth may also refer to:

• Scorched Earth (video game), a shareware DOS computer game
• Scorched Earth (film), a 1969 Norwegian film
• Operation Scorched Earth, a Saudi military operation in north of Yemen
• Scorched Earth, a board wargame in the Europa series by Game Designers' Workshop
• Scorched Earth (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), an episode of the TV series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
• "Scorched Earth", a song from Avatar: Music from the Motion Picture
• Scorched Earth, the seventh and final novel in the Henderson's Boys series by Robert Muchamore

"Scorched Earth" is the thirteenth season premiere of the police procedural television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and the 273rd episode overall. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on September 21, 2011. In the episode, which was inspired by the Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexual assault case, an Italian diplomat is arrested when a hotel maid accuses him of rape. The District Attorney's office then brings the case to trial, which becomes increasingly complicated as the defense questions the maid's credibility. Meanwhile, Detective Olivia Benson ( Mariska Hargitay) struggles to cope with the aftermath of the squad room shooting.

The episode was written by David Matthews and was directed by Michael Slovis. It is the first episode to air since Christopher Meloni left the series as leading costar, and marks the first appearance of Kelli Giddish as Amanda Rollins, who was added to the main cast alongside Danny Pino in June 2011 following Meloni's departure. The episode featured guest appearances from Franco Nero, Stephanie March, and Linus Roache, who reprised his role as Michael Cutter from Law & Order. "Scorched Earth" received mostly positive reviews, though the cast changes received mixed reactions. According to Nielsen ratings, the episode's original broadcast was watched by 7.63 million viewers.

Scorched Earth is a 1969 Norwegian drama film directed by Knut Andersen. It was entered into the 6th Moscow International Film Festival where it won a Diploma.