Scorched-earth defense
The scorched-earth defense is a form of risk arbitrage and anti-takeover strategy.
Albert Speer
By February 1945, Speer was working to supply areas about to be occupied with food and materials to get them through the hard times ahead. On March 19, 1945, Hitler issued his Nero Decree, ordering a scorched earth policy in both Germany and the occupied territories. The plan included forcing millions of people on a long trek without food or supplies which would have resulted in a "hunger catastrophe" according to Speer; Hitler had no compunction about this, believing that only the "inferior ones" would have survived the battles.