Cannon fodder is an informal term for military personnel who are regarded or treated as expendable in the face of enemy fire. The term is generally used in situations where soldiers are forced to deliberately fight against hopeless odds (with the foreknowledge that they will suffer extremely high casualties) in an effort to achieve a strategic goal. Examples include trench warfare in World War I and Russian infantry offensives on the Western Front of World War II. The term may also be used (somewhat perjoratively) to differentiate infantry from other forces (such as artillery, air force or the navy), who generally have a much higher survival rate. Cannon Fodder is an expression used to denote the treatment of armed forces as a worthless commodity to be expended. ... Trench warfare is a form of war in which both opposing armies have static lines of defence. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Western Front was a term used during the First and Second World Wars to describe the contested armed frontier between lands controlled by Germany to the East and the Allies to the West. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme in World War I. Infantry are soldiers who fight primarily on foot with small arms in organized military units, though they may be transported to the battlefield by horses, ships, automobiles, skis, bicycles, or other means. ...

The term derives from fodder - food for livestock - however in this case soldiers are the metaphorical food sent against cannons. Fodder growing from barley In agriculture, fodder or animal feed is any foodstuff that is used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, including cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. ... Not to be confused with Canon. ...

Origins of the term

The concept of regarding soldiers as nothing more than "food" to be consumed by battle was known at least as far back as the 16th century. For example, in William Shakespeare's play "Henry IV, Part 1" there is a scene where Prince Henry ridicules John Falstaff's pitiful group of soldiers. Falstaff replies to Prince Henry with cynical references to gunpowder and tossing bodies into mass grave pits, saying that his men are "good enough to toss; food for powder, food for powder; they’ll fill a pit as well as better [men]..." (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Title page of the first quarto (1598) The History of Henrie the Fourth, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare. ... Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare primarily as a companion to Prince Hal, the future King Henry V. Round and glorious, tradition holds that Shakespeare wrote the part for his second comedian, a fat man, John Heminges, who played a bold... Cynicism was originally the philosophy of a group of ancient Greeks called the Cynics (main article), founded by Antisthenes. ... Smokeless powder Gunpowder is a pyrotechnic composition, an explosive mixture that burns rapidly, producing volumes of hot gas which can be used as a propellant in firearms and fireworks. ... Image:Mass Grave Bergen Belsen May 1945. ...

The supposedly first attested use of expression "cannon fodder" belongs to a French writer, François-René de Chateaubriand. In his anti-napoleonic pamphlet "De Buonaparte et des Bourbons", published in 1814, he criticized the cynical attitude towards recruits, that prevailed in the end of Napoleon's reign: "On en était venu à ce point de mépris pour la vie des hommes et pour la France, d'appeler les conscrits la matière première et la chair à canon" — "the contempt for the lives of men and for France herself has come to the point of calling the conscripts 'the raw material' and 'the cannon fodder'."^[1] François-René de Chateaubriand, painting by Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson, beginning of 19th century. ... ... Year 1814 (MDCCCXIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ...

Human Wave Attacks

Main article human wave attack This article is about the military tactic. ...

Cannon fodder infantrymen are the core participants in human wave attacks, where massive waves of poorly armed, trained, and equipped soldiers are sent in a charging attack designed to overwhelm defenders with sheer offensive human mass (as opposed to superior strategy, movement, or technology). This article is about the military tactic. ...

These attacks are popular among militaries which posess very large numbers of conscript soldiers, but lack the means or funding to train or arm them to the same standard as their enemy. It was the offensive technique of choice for Communist militaries during the mid-20th Century, due to their huge numerical infantry superiority but greatly outdated technology and training. Examples include the Stalinist Soviet Union during World War II, and Mao's Red China during the Korean War, where casualty ratios of 1:50 were commonplace. Mao Zedong himself reportedly summed up the strategic value of such attacks by stating simply "We have more soldiers than you have bullets." Stalinism is a brand of political theory, and the political and economic system implemented by Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. ... The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) is a communist state, comprising most of the cultural, historic, and geographic area known as China. ... Combatants United Nations:  Republic of Korea,  Australia,  Belgium,  Luxembourg,  Canada,  Colombia,  Ethiopia,  France,  Greece,  Luxembourg,  Netherlands,  New Zealand,  Philippines,  South Africa,  Thailand,  Turkey,  United Kingdom,  United States Medical staff:  Denmark,  Australia,  Italy,  Norway,  Sweden Communist states:  Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,  Peoples Republic of China,  Soviet Union Commanders... “Mao” redirects here. ...

With the advent of military weapons technology specifically designed to annihilate massed infantry attacks (such as air and artillery-borne cluster munitions), the technique has largely been abandoned (at least doctrinally) by modern armies. Peacetime and increased funds have also enabled most large 3rd-world-nations to develop their combined arms training and technology to a point where more contemporary military strategies have been implemented; an official doctrine based on human wave attacks is no longer economically feasible or necessary. Honest John Missile warhead cutaway, showing M139 Sarin bomblets (photo circa 1960) Cluster munitions are air-dropped or ground launched shells that eject multiple small submunitions (bomblets). ... Combined arms is an approach to warfare which seeks to integrate different arms of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects. ...

Other uses

In popular culture, the term has become an example of a stock character. For example, in works of fiction, particularly science fiction, cannon fodder is a (sometimes collective) term used for unnamed or otherwise unimportant characters whose sole purpose in the story is to die in battle or other types of conflict to add to the bodycount in order to give the appearance of grandiose battles (see also "Stormtrooper Syndrome", redshirt). Popular culture, sometimes called pop culture, consists of widespread cultural elements in any given society. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... The Stormtrooper effect, also called Stormtrooper syndrome ,The Inverse Ninja Principle or The Principle of Evil Marksmanship, is a cliché in works of fiction where the antagonists are unrealistically ineffective in combat against the protagonists. ... The typical unlucky red shirt: Lt. ...

In more recent times it has taken on the meaning of individuals who toil and work with little regard to work load, stress, and hours without any credit so that others may reap the rewards of their labor.

In video games, cannon fodder is a term for small, easily destroyable enemies, like those found within scrolling shooters. In fact, there was a game with the title Cannon Fodder produced in 1993 by Sensible Software. The video game made light of the expression by portraying the deaths of the animated soldiers in the game humorously, and allowing the player to quickly replace lost soldiers with new ones, while satirizing modern warfare. Namcos Pac-Man was a hit, and became a universal phenomenon. ... Scrolling shooters are a type of video game, a subgenre of shoot em up . ... In-game screesnhot (Mega Drive) Cannon Fodder was a short run of war video games developed by Sensible Software, a mix of both real-time strategy and action games. ... Logo Sensible Software was a highly regarded software house in the nineties from the United Kingdom that released several games, amongst those the popular Sensible Soccer series and Cannon Fodder. ...

Cultural and literary references

• In the movie Star Trek: Nemesis, it was noted that the Remans have a reputation as warriors — during the Dominion War, some of their troops were used as cannon fodder.
• The hero of the satirical novel The Good Soldier Švejk is drafted into the army as cannon fodder during World War I.
• In the first Blackadder series, the term is arrowfodder, referring to the same term, before cannons.
• Otomo Katsuhiro's Memories is composed of three episodes. One of them is named "Cannon Fodder", telling the story of a city perpetually at war, with cannons shooting at an enemy that is never shown.
• In the Bertolt Brecht-Hanns Eisler song "Abortion is Illegal (Ballad of Paragraph 218)," in order to discourage abortion, the doctor sings to an expectant mother, "You're going to make a lovely little mother/You're going to make a hunk of cannon fodder/That's what your belly's for."
• There is a Magic: The Gathering card called Fodder Cannon.
• Sensible Software released a game for the Commodore Amiga called Cannon Fodder. The release sparked controversy, due to use of a corn poppy on the game's title screen. The developers included a disclaimer during the games introduction sequence, informing players that, "This game is not in any way endorsed by the Royal British Legion".
• In the television show "Futurama", the DOOP general Zapp Brannigan often considers his troops to be cannon fodder as he often sends them to completely suicidal (and easily avoidable) missions (such as sending wave after wave of his own men to battle the Killbots until they reach their pre-set kill limit), often doing so as a way to test the loyalty of his troops or as a result of his own ineptitude as a strategist, while not participating in the mission at all or blaming his lieutenant if the mission fails.
• In the Halo (series) video Game series, The "Grunts", small warriors that fight for "The Covenant", are referred to by the "United Nations Space Corp" as: "Essentially Cannon Fodder"
• In the video game Red Alert 2 there is a multiplayer map called Canyon Fodder in which there are narrow canyons which the infantry must pass through.

Star Trek Nemesis (Paramount Pictures, 2002; see also 2002 in film) is the tenth feature film based on the popular Star Trek science fiction television series. ... In the fictional Star Trek universe, Remans are natives of the planet Remus. ... Combatants United Federation of Planets Klingon Empire Romulan Star Empire The Dominion Cardassian Union Breen Confederacy Commanders William J. Ross Benjamin Sisko Chancellor Gowron† General Martok Praetor Neral General Velal Legate Broca† Legate Corat Damar† Gul Dukat† the Female Changeling Vorta Weyoun† Thot Gor Thot Pran In the fictional Star... The Good Soldier Švejk is an unfinished satirical novel by Jaroslav Hašek. ... Blackadder is the generic name that encompasses four series of an acclaimed BBC One historical sitcom, along with several one-off installments. ... Memories (also Otomo Katsushiros Memories) is a 1996 anime based off three manga by artist/director Otomo Katsuhiro. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Bertolt Brecht Brecht redirects here. ... Hanns Eisler (July 6, 1898 - September 6, 1962) was a German and Austrian composer. ... Magic: The Gathering (colloq. ... Cannon Fodder is an expression used to denote the treatment of armed forces as a worthless commodity to be expended. ... Binomial name Papaver rhoeas L. The Corn Poppy or Red Poppy is the wild poppy of agricultural cultivation—Papaver rhoeas. ... Categories: Stub | British Army | Royal Air Force | Royal Navy ... Futurama is an Emmy Award-winning animated American sitcom created by creator of The Simpsons Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox network. ... Major General Webelo Zapp Brannigan is a fictional character in the television series Futurama. ... It has been suggested that Covenant Vehicles in Halo be merged into this article or section. ... Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 was the follow up to Red Alert. ...

See also

• Forlorn hope, the initial wave of troops attacking a fortress or other strongpoint, who usually took horrendous casualties.
• Redshirt, a character whose sole purpose is to die violently soon after being introduced. This term was originally used to describe the red-shirted security personnel of the original Star Trek series.
• Sacrificial lamb, a metaphorical reference for a person who has little if any chance of surviving an upcoming challenge, but seeks to sacrifice him or herself for the common good.

Forlorn hope is a military term that comes from the Dutch verloren hoop, which should be translated as lost troop although in Dutch it can also mean lost hope. The Dutch phrase fortutiously sounding like a accurate statement of the units future in English. ... The typical unlucky red shirt: Lt. ... The current Star Trek franchise logo Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment series and media franchise. ... A sacrificial lamb refers to a lamb (or metaphorical parallel) killed or discounted in some way in order to further some other cause. ...

References