Earth and water.
To give in to this demand of 'soil and water' would be equivalent to surrendering the nation and it's people to Persian control : it meant to surrender .
he committed suicide.
Unconditional Surrender
Demand... Is correct
U.S.-British demand for "unconditional surrender
during the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Truman inherited Unconditional Surrender from from FDR.
Hand over their weapons and surrender.
Earth and water, as a symbol of their agreement to Persian rule under Persian provincial governors and local tyrants appointed by Persia.
Xerxes, the Persian king, demanded that Leonidas and the Greeks surrender and submit to Persian rule, offering them a chance to join his forces in exchange for their safety. He sought their weapons and insisted on their loyalty, aiming to subdue the Greek city-states through intimidation. Leonidas famously refused, choosing instead to fight for Greek freedom and honor, which led to the historic Battle of Thermopylae.
A weak verbal substitute for the promised "second front".
April 1861