The war will usually be won by the side with greater such resources.[1] The Vietnam War is typically used as a prime example of a war of attrition American strategy was to wear down the enemy until it lost its "will to fight".
Another example is World War I, when Russia, France, Britain, Italy and eventually the United States wore down Germany to the point of capitulation.
Most military theorists[who?] and strategists like Sun Tzu have viewed attrition warfare as something to be avoided. In the sense that attrition warfare represents an attempt to grind down an opponent through superior numbers, it represents the opposite of the usual principles of war, where one attempts to achieve decisive victories through manoeuvre, concentration of force, surprise, and the like.
