The world wars could be loosely considered Pyrrhic victories.


The best example of a pyrrhic victory is in the anglo-zulu war, in which Ntshingwayo Khoza set 22,000 zulu warriors, about 55% of the male population of zululands to attack 1,400 British soldiers in a surprise attack at the Battle of Isandlwana.

Although less than 100 soldiers escaped survived, 4000 zulus, about 10% of the entire male population were lost or substantially wounded in defeating a poorly maintained and inexperienced third of the army in the area. To make matters worse for king Cetshwayo, later that day a force of 5000 zulus took on a hospital with 142 men in it, including all ranks. The zulus, amred with weapons from the earlier pyrrhic victory failed to do any more than kill 17 soldiers and wound 15. This was at an expense of almost 1000 soldiers.