Karánsebesism

I like this, from the Byline Times:

In 1788, the Austrian Army headed east to engage the Ottomans in the Austro-Turkish war.

On the night of 21 September and on the eve of battle, a detachment of Austrian hussars crossed the River Timis, on the outskirts of Karánsebes, in what is modern-day Romania, and made camp.

At some point, they met Romani people selling food, schnapps and wine and, hungry after their advance and noting that there was no enemy in the vicinity, they imbibed heavily in everything available.

The hussars came from the very highest ranks of Austrian society and saw themselves as a cut above the hoi polloi. So, when some hours later the exhausted infantry turned up demanding food and alcohol, the Hussars dismissively told them they couldn’t have any as they’d bought it all for themselves.

A barrel was overturned, a single shot was fired and soon after that all hell broke loose.

In the confusion, many soldiers beyond the immediate friendly fire incident, believed that they were being attacked by the enemy and mistakenly opened up on the hussars, who in turn retreated on horseback through their own camp thinking that they were being attacked by the Turks. As they galloped through the line, the artillery units, believing them to be Ottoman cavalry, opened fire.

Fairly swiftly, the entire army was retreating from itself, while fighting a rearguard – against itself.

The following morning, the bemused Ottomans arrived, ready for battle, only to discover that everyone was dead, wounded or dispersed.

[There seems to be no handy term for such lunacy, but ]

Let me propose ‘Karánsebesism’ – the act of attacking yourself, creating confusion and ultimately defeating your own side for no better reason than that you are drunk on self-importance.

In all truth, the lofty Cabinet of Conservative hussars probably don’t care about the result of the Brexit war. They are less concerned with winning, more bothered about having been seen to have won.