Hydraulic warfare (HW) is the use of

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

from reservoirs, rivers, canals, and other water features to impede the operations of an opposing force. This may involve breaching dams and rerouting watercourses. It can be used to impede the advance of an attacker or to reduce the resources and tactical options for defenders. The technique has been used to create "devastating floods, isolate troops, cut off supply lines, hinder river crossings, and disrupt military timetables".

History

Between the years 1500 and 2000, some 1/3 of floods in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

southwest were deliberately caused during wartime. The tactic was typically ineffective, and had damaged the land and local population. In 1938,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

breached the dikes of the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

to slow the advance of Japanese forces during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

. The flood became known as the largest such act in history. HW was used by

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. British forces destroyed the Moehne and

Edersee Dam The Edersee Dam is a hydroelectric dam spanning the Eder river in northern Hesse, Germany. Constructed between 1908 and 1914, it lies near the small town of Waldeck at the northern edge of the Kellerwald. Breached by Allied bombs during Worl ...

s in Western Germany to cut off the supply of water, power, river navigation, and flood protection to the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

regime. The breach of the Moehne dam unleashed a flood of 310,000 cfs, costing 1,200 lives. Bridges were washed out for 30 miles below the dam, and two power plants were submerged. The destruction of the Edersse dam produced similar flows and damaged infrastructure all the way to the Mittelland canal. Navigation was also disrupted as no water was available to stabilize the level of water in the river. Germany struck again by flooding the

Pontine marshes 250px, Lake Fogliano, a coastal lagoon in the Pontine Plain The Pontine Marshes (, also ; it, Agro Pontino , formerly also ''Paludi Pontine''; la, Pomptinus Ager by Titus Livius, ''Pomptina Palus'' (singular) and ''Pomptinae Paludes'' (plur ...

in Italy, slowing the advance of Allied forces. Germany also flooded the Ay and Ill rivers in France and the

Rur river The Rur or Roer (german: Rur ; Dutch and li, Roer, , ; french: Rour) is a major river that flows through portions of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a right (eastern) tributary to the Meuse ( nl, links=no, Maas). About 90 perce ...

in Germany. German forces flooded the

Liri The Liri (Latin Liris or Lyris, previously, Clanis; Greek: ) is one of the principal rivers of central Italy, flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea a little below Minturno under the name Garigliano. Source and route The Liri's source is in the Mon ...

, Garigliano, and Rapido Rivers in Italy in early 1944. The Garigliano flood disrupted a British crossing, with knock-on effects on the

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome and the Battle for Cassino, was a series of four assaults made by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The ultimate objective was ...

. Conversely, the Germans dammed up the Rapido river below an attempted crossing, creating a quagmire and delaying the operation. The term originated in the 1950s, with the

US Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

. In 2022 and 2023, the appearance of flooded areas indicated the use of HW during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

References

External links

* {{Cite journal , last=DZIUBAN , first=STANLEY W. , date=1950 , title=Implications of Artificial Flooding in Military Operations , url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44561030 , journal=The Military Engineer , volume=42 , issue=285 , pages=13–15 , jstor=44561030 , issn=0026-3982 Warfare by type Russo-Ukrainian War