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Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a saboteur. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identities because of the consequences of their actions.

Any unexplained adverse condition might be sabotage. Sabotage is sometimes called tampering, meddling, tinkering, malicious pranks, malicious hacking, a practical joke, or the like to avoid needing to invoke legal and organizational requirements for addressing sabotage.


A popular but false account of the origin of the term's present meaning is the story that less wealthy workers in France, who wore not leather but wooden shoes, used to throw these sabots into the machines to disrupt production.[1] This origin story is told in the 1991 movie Star Trek VI. This account is not supported by the etymology.[1] Rather, the French source word literally means to "walk noisily", as was done by sabot-wearing labourers, who interrupted production by means of labor disputes, not damage.[1]

One of its first appearances in French literature is in the Dictionnaire du Bas-Langage ou manières de parler usitées parmi le peuple of D'Hautel, edited in 1808.[2]

The verb "saboter" is also found in 1873–1874 in the Dictionnaire de la langue française of Émile Littré.[3] But it is at the end of the 19th century that it really began to be used with the meaning of "deliberately and maliciously destroying property" or "working slower". In 1897, Émile Pouget, a famous syndicalist and anarchist wrote "action de saboter un travail" (action of sabotaging a work) in Le Père Peinard[4] and in 1911 he also wrote a book entitled Le Sabotage.[5]

As industrial action[edit]

Unauthorized stencil urging sabotage and picketing

At the inception of the Industrial Revolution, skilled workers such as the Luddites (1811–1812) used sabotage as a means of negotiation in labor disputes.




For the IWW, sabotage's meaning expanded to include the original use of the term: any withdrawal of efficiency, including the slowdown, the strike, working to rule, or creative bungling of job assignments.[8]

One of the most severe examples was at the construction site of the Robert-Bourassa Generating Station in 1974, in Québec, Canada, when workers used bulldozers to topple electric generators, damaged fuel tanks, and set buildings on fire. The project was delayed a year, and the direct cost of the damage estimated at $2 million CAD. The causes were not clear, but three possible factors have been cited: inter-union rivalry, poor working conditions, and the perceived arrogance of American executives of the contractor, Bechtel Corporation.[9]

As environmental action[edit]

Certain groups turn to destruction of property to stop environmental destruction or to make visible arguments against forms of modern technology they consider detrimental to the environment. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other law enforcement agencies use the term eco-terrorist when applied to damage of property. Proponents argue that since property cannot feel terror, damage to property is more accurately described as sabotage. Opponents, by contrast, point out that property owners and operators can indeed feel terror. The image of the monkey wrench thrown into the moving parts of a machine to stop it from working was popularized by Edward Abbey in the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang and has been adopted by eco-activists to describe destruction of earth damaging machinery.

From 1992 to late 2007 a radical environmental activist movement known as ELF or Earth Liberation Front engaged in a near constant campaign of decentralized sabotage of any construction projects near wild lands and extractive industries such as logging and even the burning down of a ski resort of Vail Colorado.[10] ELF used sabotage tactics often in loose coordination with other environmental activist movements to physically delay or destroy threats to wild lands as the political will developed to protect the targeted wild areas that ELF engaged.[11][12]

As war tactic[edit]

World War II poster from the United States

In war, the word is used to describe the activity of an individual or group not associated with the military of the parties at war, such as a foreign agent or an indigenous supporter, in particular when actions result in the destruction or damaging of a productive or vital facility, such as equipment, factories, dams, public services, storage plants or logistic routes. Prime examples of such sabotage are the events of Black Tom and the Kingsland Explosion. Like spies, saboteurs who conduct a military operation in civilian clothes or enemy uniforms behind enemy lines are subject to prosecution and criminal penalties instead of detention as prisoners of war.[13][14] It is common for a government in power during war or supporters of the war policy to use the term loosely against opponents of the war. Similarly, German nationalists spoke of a stab in the back having cost them the loss of World War I.[15]


Sabotage, done well, is inherently difficult to detect and difficult to trace to its origin. During World War II, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated 19,649 cases of sabotage and concluded the enemy had not caused any of them.[17]



  • When possible, refer all matters to committees for "further study and consideration". Attempt to make the committees as large as possible—never fewer than five
  • Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible.
  • Haggle over precise wordings of communications, minutes, resolutions.
  • Spread disturbing rumors that sound like inside information.


Value of simple sabotage in wartime[edit]


In World War I[edit]


On 11 January 1917, Fiodore Wozniak, using a rag saturated with phosphorus or an incendiary pencil supplied by German sabotage agents, set fire to his workbench at an ammunition assembly plant near Lyndhurst, New Jersey, causing a four-hour fire that destroyed half a million 3-inch explosive shells and destroyed the plant for an estimated at $17 million in damages. Wozniak's involvement was not discovered until 1927.[21]

On 12 February 1917, Bedouins allied with the British destroyed a Turkish railroad near the port of Wajh, derailing a Turkish locomotive. The Bedouins traveled by camel and used explosives to demolish a portion of track.[22]

Post World War I[edit]



In World War II[edit]


The Polish Home Army Armia Krajowa, who commanded the majority of resistance organizations in Poland (even the National Forces, except the Military Organization Lizard Union; The Home Army also included the Polish Socialist Party – Freedom, Equality, Independence) and coordinating and aiding the Jewish Military Union as well as more reluctantly helping the Jewish Combat Organization, was responsible for the greatest number of acts of sabotage in German—occupied Europe. The Home Army's sabotage operations Operation Garland and Operation Ribbon are just two examples. In all, the Home Army damaged 6,930 locomotives, set 443 rail transports on fire, damaged over 19,000 rail cars "wagony", and blew up 38 rail bridges, not to mention the attacks against the rail roads. The Home Army was also responsible for 4,710 built-in flaws in parts for aircraft engines and 92,000 built-in flaws in artillery projectiles, among other examples of significant sabotage. In addition, over 25,000 acts of more minor sabotage were committed. It continued to fight against both the Germans and the Soviets; however, it did aid the Western Allies by collecting constant and detailed information on the German rail, wheeled, and horse transports.[25] As for Stalin's proxies, their actions lead to a great number of the Polish and Jewish hostages, mostly civilians, murdered in reprisal by the Germans. The Gwardia Ludowa destroyed around 200 German trains during the war, and indiscriminately threw hand grenades into places frequented by Germans.

The French Resistance ran an extremely effective sabotage campaign against the Germans during World War II. Receiving their sabotage orders through messages over the BBC radio or by aircraft, the French used both passive and active forms of sabotage. Passive forms included losing German shipments and allowing poor quality material to pass factory inspections. Many active sabotage attempts were against critical rail lines of transportation. German records count 1,429 instances of sabotage from French Resistance forces between January 1942 and February 1943. From January through March 1944, sabotage accounted for three times the number of locomotives damaged by Allied air power.[23] See also Normandy Landings for more information about sabotage on D-Day.

During World War II, the Allies committed sabotage against the Peugeot truck factory. After repeated failures in Allied bombing attempts to hit the factory, a team of French Resistance fighters and Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents distracted the German guards with a game of soccer while part of their team entered the plant and destroyed machinery.[26]


After World War II[edit]


From 1948 to 1960, the Malayan Communists committed numerous effective acts of sabotage against the British Colonial authorities, first targeting railway bridges, then hitting larger targets such as military camps. Most of their efforts were centered around crippling Malaysia's colonial economy and involved sabotage against trains, rubber trees, water pipes, and electric lines. The Communist's sabotage efforts were so successful that they caused backlash amongst the Malaysian population, who gradually withdrew support for the Communist movement as their livelihoods became threatened.[28]

In Mandatory Palestine from 1945 to 1948, Jewish groups opposed British control. Though that control was to end according to the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine in 1948, the groups used sabotage as an opposition tactic. The Haganah focused their efforts on camps used by the British to hold refugees and radar installations that could be used to detect illegal immigrant ships. The Stern Gang and the Irgun used terrorism and sabotage against the British government and against lines of communications. In November 1946, the Irgun and Stern Gang attacked a railroad twenty-one times in a three-week period, eventually causing shell-shocked Arab railway workers to strike. The 6th Airborne Division was called in to provide security as a means of ending the strike.[29]

In Vietnam[edit]

The Viet Cong used swimmer saboteurs often and effectively during the Vietnam War. Between 1969 and 1970, swimmer saboteurs sunk, destroyed, or damaged 77 assets of the U.S. and its allies. Viet Cong swimmers were poorly equipped but well-trained and resourceful. The swimmers provided a low-cost/low-risk option with high payoff; possible loss to the country for failure compared to the possible gains from a successful mission led to the obvious conclusion the swimmer saboteurs were a good idea.[30]

During the Cold War[edit]

On 1 January 1984, the Cuscatlan bridge over Lempa river in El Salvador, critical to flow of commercial and military traffic, was destroyed by guerrilla forces using explosives after using mortar fire to "scatter" the bridge's guards, causing an estimated $3.7 million in required repairs, and considerably impacting on El Salvadoran business and security.[31]


As crime[edit]

Some criminals have engaged in acts of sabotage for reasons of extortion. For example, Klaus-Peter Sabotta sabotaged German railway lines in the late 1990s in an attempt to extort DM10 million from the German railway operator Deutsche Bahn. He is now serving a sentence of life imprisonment. In 1989, ex-Scotland Yard detective Rodney Whitchelo was sentenced to 17 years in prison for spiking Heinz baby food products in supermarkets, in an extortion attempt on the food manufacturer.[33]

As political action[edit]

The term political sabotage is sometimes used to define the acts of one political camp to disrupt, harass or damage the reputation of a political opponent, usually during an electoral campaign, such as during Watergate. Smear campaigns are a commonly used tactic. The term could also describe the actions and expenditures of private entities, corporations and organizations against democratically approved or enacted laws, policies and programs.

After the Cold War ended, the Mitrokhin Archives were declassified, which included detailed KGB plans of active measures to subvert politics in opposing nations.

In a coup d'etat[edit]


Railroads, where strategically important to the regime the coup is against, are prime targets for sabotage—if a section of the track is damaged entire portions of the transportation network can be stopped until it is fixed.[35]

Derivative usages[edit]

Sabotage radio[edit]



Arquilla and Rondfeldt, in their work entitled Networks and Netwars, differentiate their definition of "netwar" from a list of "trendy synonyms", including "cybotage", a portmanteau from the words "sabotage" and "cyber". They dub the practitioners of cybotage "cyboteurs" and note while all cybotage is not netwar, some netwar is cybotage.[36]


Counter-sabotage, defined by Webster's Dictionary, is "counterintelligence designed to detect and counteract sabotage". The United States Department of Defense definition, found in the Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, is "action designed to detect and counteract sabotage. See also counterintelligence".

In World War II[edit]

During World War II, British subject Eddie Chapman, trained by the Germans in sabotage, became a double agent for the British. The German Abwehr entrusted Chapman to destroy the British de Havilland Company's main plant which manufactured the outstanding Mosquito light bomber, but required photographic proof from their agent to verify the mission's completion. A special unit of the Royal Engineers known as the Magic Gang covered the de Havilland plant with canvas panels and scattered papier-mâché furniture and chunks of masonry around three broken and burnt giant generators. Photos of the plant taken from the air reflected devastation for the factory and a successful sabotage mission, and Chapman, as a British sabotage double-agent, fooled the Germans for the duration of the war.[37]

Borrowed into Japanese[edit]

In Japanese, the verb saboru (サボる) means to skip school or loaf on the job.

See also[edit]


  1. ^ a b c "Sabotage". Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. ^ D'Hautel, Charles-Louis (1808). Dictionnaire du Bas-Langage ou manières de parler usitées parmi le peuple [Dictionary of slang or ways to speak used by the people] (in French). D'Hautel et Schoell. p. 325. Saboteur : Sobriquet injurieux qu'on donne à un mauvais ouvrier, qui fait tout à la hâte, et malproprement.
  3. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1874). Dictionnaire de la langue française [Dictionary of the French language]. Hachette. p. 1790.
  4. ^ Pouget, Émile (1976). Le Père Peinard. Éditions Galilée. p. 53. ISBN 2718600306.
  5. ^ Pouget, Émile (1911). Le Sabotage. Marcel Rivière. pp. 3–66.
  7. ^ Jimthor, Stablewars, May 2008
  10. ^ Earth Liberation Front[unreliable source?]
  11. ^ "Earth Liberation Front".
  12. ^ "The Secret History of Tree Spiking – Part 1".
  13. ^ Wilbur Redington Miller (29 June 2012). The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America: An Encyclopedia. SAGE Publications. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-7618-6137-9.
  14. ^ David Churchman (9 May 2013). Why We Fight: The Origins, Nature, and Management of Human Conflict. University Press of America. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-7618-6137-9.
  15. ^ Archived 26 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ "Office of Strategic Services Simple Sabotage Manuel" (PDF). 17 January 1944. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  19. ^ "Office of Strategic Services Simple Sabotage Manuel" (PDF). 17 January 1944. pp. 28–31. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  20. ^ "Office of Strategic Services" (PDF). 17 January 1944. p. 2. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  21. ^ McGeorge II, Harvey J.; Christine C. Ketchem (1983–1984). "Sabotage: A Strategic Tool for Guerilla Forces". World Affairs. World Affairs Institute. 146 (3): 249–256 [250]. JSTOR 20671989.
  22. ^ Conduit, D.M.; et al. (1968). Challenge and Response in Internal Conflict, Volume II: The Experience in Europe and the Middle East. Washington: The American University.
  23. ^ a b Howard L. Douthit III, Captain, USAF (1988). The Use and Effectiveness of Sabotage as a Means of Unconventional Warfare- An Historical Perspective from World War I Through Vietnam. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio: Air Force Institute of Technology.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ Marrin, Albert (1985). The Secret Armies : Spies, Counterspies, and Saboteurs in World War II. New York: Atheneum. p. 77. ISBN 0-689-31165-6.
  25. ^ Home Army#Major operations
  26. ^ Marrin, Albert (1985). The Secret Armies : Spies, Counterspies, and Saboteurs in World War II. New York: Atheneum. p. 83. ISBN 0-689-31165-6.
  27. ^ Jean-Paul Pallud (28 May 1987). Ardennes, 1944: Peiper and Skorzeny. Osprey Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 0-85045-740-8.
  29. ^ Conduit, D.M.; et al. (1967). Challenge and Response In Internal Conflict, Volume II: The Experience in Europe and the Middle East. Washington: The American University.
  30. ^ Babyak, E.E., Jr., LtJG, USN (1971). Swimmer Sabotage or The Most Dangerous Mine. Charleston: Naval Mine Warfare School.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  33. ^ "Food Scare Scandals". The Independent. 16 June 1999.
  36. ^ John Arquilla; David Ronfeldt, eds. (2001). Networks and Netwars. RAND. pp. 5–7. ISBN 0-8330-3030-2.

External links[edit]