"conduct tending to bring about acceptance of (the certainty of) defeat" [OED], 1918; see defeatist.
Entries linking to defeatism
defeatist
1918, adjective and noun, in reference to pacifists and political opposition in Britain, from French défaitiste, which was used there in reference to the Russians who sought to end their war with Germany; see defeat (n.) + -ist. Their opposition, in the original Russian context, were called defensists.