Sabotage
Deliberate action to weaken through disruption or destruction.
Sabotage is the intentional act of weakening a government, organization, or effort through means like disruption, destruction, or demoralization. A person who does this is called a saboteur, and they usually hide their identity to avoid legal or organizational consequences.
The word comes from the French *saboter*, meaning to botch or wreck. It originally referred to labor disputes where workers wearing wooden shoes called *sabots* disrupted production. A common but false story claims poor workers in Liège, Belgium, threw their sabots into machinery. The term first appeared in French literature in an 1808 dictionary, defined as making noise with sabots or bungling. The word *sabotage* itself appeared later, in an 1873–1874 dictionary, where it mainly meant making sabots. By the late 19th century, it came to mean deliberately destroying property or working slowly. In 1897, anarchist Émile Pouget wrote about "action de saboter un travail" (sabotaging work), and he published a book on the subject in 1911.
As a form of industrial action, skilled workers like the Luddites used sabotage to negotiate during labor disputes in the early 1800s. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) promoted sabotage as self-defense and direct action against unfair conditions. IWW leader Big Bill Haywood was influenced by a French railroad strike in 1910: when the government drafted strikers into the army, they returned to work but deliberately bungled tasks—misdirecting freight and delaying perishables—winning their demands. For the IWW, sabotage included any withdrawal of efficiency, like slowdowns, strikes, or working to rule. A severe example occurred in 1974 at Quebec’s Robert-Bourassa Generating Station, where workers used bulldozers to knock over generators, damage fuel tanks, and set fires, causing a year-long delay and $2 million in damage. Possible causes included union rivalry, poor conditions, and perceived arrogance from American executives.
In environmental activism, groups have used property destruction to protest ecological harm. From 1992 to late 2007, the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) carried out decentralized sabotage against construction near wildlands and extractive industries, including an arson attack on a Colorado ski resort. ELF often coordinated loosely with other activists to physically delay or destroy threats to wild areas.
In war, sabotage refers to
- field
- Industrial action, environmental activism, warfare
- known_for
- Deliberate disruption or destruction to weaken an entity
- etymology
- From French 'saboter', meaning to bungle or wreck; linked to wooden shoes (sabots)
Lore & Background
The English word derives from the French word saboter, meaning to 'bungle, botch, wreck or sabotage'; it was originally used to refer to labour disputes, in which workers wearing wooden shoes called sabots interrupted production through different means. A popular but incorrect account of the origin of the term's present meaning is the story that poor workers in the Belgian city of Liège would throw a wooden sabot into the machines to disrupt production. One of the first appearances of saboter and saboteur in French literature is in the Dictionnaire du Bas-Langage ou manières de parler usitées parmi le peuple of d'Hautel, edited in 1808. In it the literal definition is to 'make noise with sabots' as well as 'bungle, jostle, hustle, haste'. The word sabotage appears only later. The word sabotage is found in 1873–1874 in the Dictionnaire de la langue française of Émile Littré. Here it is defined mainly as 'making sabots, sabot maker'. 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'.
Reader's Guide
Sabotage has been used as a means of negotiation in labor disputes since the Industrial Revolution, notably by the Luddites (1811–1812) and later by labor unions such as the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), which advocated sabotage as self-defense and direct action against unfair working conditions. The IWW was shaped in part by the industrial unionism philosophy of Big Bill Haywood, who witnessed a general strike on French railroads where workers used slowdowns and misdirection—called 'sabotage'—to win demands. In environmental action, groups like the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) from 1992 to late 2007 engaged in decentralized sabotage of construction projects and extractive industries. In warfare, sabotage includes acts by foreign agents or indigenous supporters, such as the Black Tom and Kingsland explosions. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Simple Sabotage Field Manual outlines both physical destruction and the 'human element'—including making faulty decisions, acting stupid, and spreading rumors—to harass and demoralize enemy administrators. Sabotage, done well, is inherently difficult to detect and trace.
Did You Know?
- A popular but incorrect account claims poor workers in Liège threw wooden sabots into machines to disrupt production.
- The word 'sabotage' first appeared in Émile Littré's 1873–1874 dictionary, defined mainly as 'making sabots'.
- The IWW's Big Bill Haywood was impressed by French railroad workers who used sabotage to win demands after being drafted into the army.
- During World War II, the FBI investigated 19,649 cases of sabotage and concluded the enemy had not caused any of them.
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