Guerrilla warfare and Talk:Judiciary Act of 1789: Difference between pages

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{{WikiProject Law|class=Start|importance=Mid}}

{{Wiktionary|guerrilla}}

{{WikiProject United States|class=Start|importance=Mid}}

{{History of war}}

== Nitpick ==

'''Guerrilla warfare''' (also spelled '''guerilla''') is a method of combat by which a smaller group of combatants attempts to use its mobility to defeat a larger, and consequently less mobile, army. Typically the smaller guerrilla army will either use its defensive status to draw its opponent into terrain which is better suited to the former or take advantage of its greater mobility by conducting strategic surprise attacks. This method of conducting war can be traced back at least as far as the 3rd century B.C. to describe [[Fabius Maximus]]’ strategies against [[Hannibal]]’s forces during the [[Second Punic War]], but it is most frequently associated with armed struggles, usually of a revolutionary nature, from the 19th century on. Primary contributors to modern theories of guerrilla war include [[Mao Zedong]], [[Abd el-Krim]], [[T. E. Lawrence]], [[John Brown]], [[Vo Nguyen Giap]], [[Josip Broz Tito]], [[Irish War of Independence|Michael Collins]], [[Tom Barry]], [[Che Guevara]], and [[Charles de Gaulle]].

I just made a modification to the text, and my justification is just a little bit too large for the edit summary. Basically, the article contained the following text: "Each district comprised one state, except for the districts of Maine and Kentucky, which at the time were part of Massachusetts and Virginia, respectively." Well, that's not quite true: the districts of Massachusetts and Virginia didn't comprise one state either. So I flipped it around: all of the states except two comprised one district. I then expanded on how Massachusetts and Virginia were divided.

==Etymology==

Guerrilla, from the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] term ''guerra'', or ''War'', with the ''-illa'' ending diminutive, could be translated as ''small war''. The use of the diminutive is probably to evoke the difference in size between the guerrilla army and the state army against which they fight. The term was invented in [[Spain]] to describe the tactics used to resist the [[France|French]] [[regime]] instituted by [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon Bonaparte]]. Its meaning was soon broadened to refer to any similar resistance of any time or place. The Spanish word for guerrilla fighter is ''guerrillero''. The change of usage of ''guerrilla'' from the tactics employed to the person implementing them is a late 19th century mistake: in most languages the word still denotes the specific style of warfare. However, this is changing under the influence of broad English usage.

— [[User:DLJessup|DLJessup]] ([[User talk:DLJessup|talk]]) 17:47, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

==Tactics==

Guerrilla tactics are based on [[intelligence (information gathering)|intelligence]], [[ambush]], [[deception]], [[sabotage]], and [[espionage]], undermining an authority through long, low-intensity confrontation. It can be quite successful against an unpopular foreign regime: a guerrilla army may increase the cost of maintaining an occupation or a colonial presence above what the foreign [[power (international)|power]] may wish to bear. These tactics are useful in demoralizing an enemy from attacking while raising that morale of your side. Attacking in small groups, using camouflage and often captured weapons of that enemy, guerilla tactics allows to constantly keep the pressure on the enemy while escaping the encounter and diminishing their numbers. Guerilla tactics are based upon the element of surprise in which one army is attacked by another but is too big to respond and the smaller army that attacked has already escaped with valuable intelligence and even commandeered weapons and equipment.

The Judiciary Act of 1789 never fulfilled its Constitutional needs. Congress was given no responsibilty for legislation affecting the Supreme Court. They could pass legislation that could be ratified by the States and incorporated into the Constitution as an Amendment. They did this with the Bill of Rights, the first Ten Amendments. In addition, there is no vote recorded by the House of Representatives on official documents before it was given to President Washington to sign. Since an act of Congress cannot exceed powers given to it except by Amendment, all decisions rendered by an illegal court must be null and void and a Constitutional Amendment must be pursued regarding the composition of the Supreme Court.

Commando operations are not guerrilla warfare (Richard Taber, “The War of the Flea : Guerrilla Warfare, Theory and Practice”. [[Paladin Press|Paladin]], London, 1977) while they lack the political goal. Commando troops, as the British commando, were a branch of the armed forces. Guerrilla warfare is the expression of [[Sun Tzu|Sun Tzu's]] [[The Art of War|Art of War]], in contrast to [[Carl von Clausewitz|Clausewitz's]] [[Total war|unlimited use of brute force]].

The Constitution also states that the Supreme Court shall hear ALL cases involving violation of the Constitution. The Congressional law passed through the efforts of Chief Justice Taft is also null and void for Congress has no power to change any word in the Constitution without use of the Amendment procedure.

It is amazing that none of the "experts" regarding Constitutional law ever brought these facts to light.

Shel Haas

Sources: The Congressional Record, The Constitution of the United States of America

However, guerrilla warfare has generally been unsuccessful against native regimes, which have nowhere to retreat to and are highly knowledgeable about their own people, society, and culture. The rare examples of successful guerrilla warfare against a native regime include the [[Cuban Revolution]] and the [[Chinese Civil War]], as well as the [[Sandinista]] overthrow of a military dictatorship in [[Nicaragua]]. More common are the unsuccessful examples of guerrilla warfare, which include [[Malaysia]] (then [[Federation of Malaya|Malaya]]) during the [[Malayan Emergency]], [[Bolivia]], [[Argentina]], and the [[Philippines]]. The [[Tamil Tigers|Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]] (LTTE), fighting for an independent homeland in the north and east of [[Sri Lanka]], achieved significant military successes against the Sri Lankan military and the government itself for twenty years. It was even able to use these tactics effectively against the [[IPKF]] forces sent by India in the mid-1980s, which were later withdrawn for varied reasons, primarily political. The mutual attrition on both sides in the island led to a ceasefire following the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]].

Guerrillas in wars against foreign powers do not principally direct their attacks at civilians, as they desire to obtain as much support as possible from the population as part of their tactics. Civilians are primarily attacked or assassinated as punishment for [[collaboration]]. Often such an attack will be officially sanctioned by guerrilla command or tribunal. An exception is in [[civil war]]s, where both guerrilla groups and organized armies have been known to commit [[atrocity|atrocities]] against the civilian population.

== The Picture of the 1st Page ==

[[Mao Zedong]], during the Chinese civil war, summarized the Red Army's principles of warfare in the following points for his troops: ''The enemy advances, we retreat. The enemy camps, we harass. The enemy tires, we attack. The enemy retreats, we pursue.'' Mao made a distinction between [[Mobile Warfare]] (''yundong zhan'') and Guerrilla Warfare (''youji zhan'').

Is this image entirely necessary? I feel that unless a higher resolution can be shown for reading purposes, the use of such an image is lost. [[User:Absolute Zerr|Absolute Zerr]] 00:22, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

[[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]] of the [[Irish Republican Army]], who orchestrated the [[Anglo-Irish war]] of 1919-1921, had a more succinct principle behind his campaign of intelligence, assassination, and propaganda: create "bloody mayhem".

Guerrillas are in danger of not being recognized as lawful [[combatant]]s because they may not wear a [[uniform]], (to mingle with the local population), or their uniform and distinctive emblems may not be recognised as such by their opponents. Article 44, sections 3 and 4 of the 1977 [[Protocol I|First Additional Protocol]] to the [[Geneva Conventions]], "relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts", does recognise combatants who, due to the nature of the conflict, do not wear uniforms as long as they carry their weapons openly during military operations. This gives non-uniformed guerrillas lawful combatant status against countries that have ratified this convention. However, the same protocol states in Article 37.1.c that "''the feigning of civilian, non-combatant status''" shall constitute [[perfidy]] and is prohibited by the Geneva Conventions. Guerrilla warfare can constitute psychological terror and submission upon their captors as well. This act of submission is a way of relieving information from an opponent is used by outnumbering the individual.

Guerrilla warfare is classified into two main categories: urban guerrilla warfare and rural guerrilla warfare. In both cases, guerrillas rely on a friendly population to provide supplies and intelligence. Rural guerrillas prefer to operate in regions providing plenty of cover and concealment, especially heavily forested and mountainous areas. Urban guerrillas, rather than melting into the mountains and jungles, blend into the population and are also dependent on a support base among the people.

Foreign support in the form of soldiers, weapons, sanctuary, or, at the very least, statements of sympathy for the guerrillas can greatly increase the chances of victory for an insurgency. However, it is not always necessary.

[[Mao Zedong|Maoist]] theory of people's war divides warfare into three phases. In the first phase, the guerrillas gain the support of the population through attacks on the machinery of government and the distribution of [[propaganda]]. In the second phase, escalating attacks are made on the government's [[military]] and vital institutions. In the third phase, conventional fighting is used to seize cities, overthrow the government, and take control of the country.

Guerrilla tactics were summarized into the ''' Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla<ref>{{cite web | title= Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla | url=http://www.baader-meinhof.com/students/resources/print/minimanual/manualtext.html | accessdate = November 19 | accessyear=2005 }}</ref>'' in 1969 by [[Carlos Marighella]]. This text was banned in several countries including the United States. This is probably the most comprehensive and informative book on guerrilla strategy ever published, and is available free online. Texts by Che Guevara and Mao Zedong on guerrilla warfare are also available.

John Keats wrote about an American guerrilla leader in World War 2: Colonel [[Wendell Fertig]], who in 1942 organized a large force of guerrillas who harassed the Japanese occupation forces on the Philippine Island of Mindanao all the way up to the liberation of the Philippines in 1945. His abilities were later utilized by the United States Army, when Fertig helped found the United States Army Special Warfare School at [[Fort Bragg, North Carolina]]. Others included Col. Aaron Bank and Col. Russell Volckmann. Volckmann, in particular, commanded a guerrilla force which operated out of the Cordillera of Northern Luzon, in the Philippines from the beginning of World War II to its conclusion. He remained in radio contact with US Forces, prior to the invasion of [[Lingayen Gulf]].

Guerrilla warfare sometimes involves surrounding nations, which are affected by a popular uprising against the neighbouring government. A case in point was the [[Mukti Bahini]] guerrillas who fought alongside the [[Indian Army]] in the 14-day [[Bangladesh Liberation War]] in 1971 against [[Pakistan]] that resulted in the creation of the state of [[Bangladesh]].

[[T. E. Lawrence]], best known as "Lawrence of Arabia," introduced a theory of guerrilla warfare tactics in an article he wrote for the Encyclopedia Britannica published in 1938. In that article, he compared guerrilla fighters to a gas. The fighters disperse in the area of operations more or less randomly. They or their cells occupy a very small intrinsic space in that area, just as gas molecules occupy a very small intrinsic space in a container. The fighters may coalesce into groups for tactical purposes, but their general state is dispersed. Such fighters cannot be "rounded up." They cannot be contained. They are extremely difficult to "defeat" because they cannot be brought to battle in significant numbers. The cost in soldiers and material to destroy a significant number of them becomes prohibitive, in all senses, that is physically, economically, morally, etc. It should be noted that Lawrence describes a non-native occupying force as the enemy (e.g. the Turks).

==Examples==

===Examples of countries and wars where guerrilla campaigns were successful===

* [[Algeria]]

* [[Angola]]

* [[Afghanistan]]

* [[East Timor]]

* [[Cuba]]

* [[Haitian Revolution]] [http://www.historynet.com/mh/blhaitianwar/]

* [[Indonesia]]

* [[Mozambique]]

* [[Lebanon]]

* [[Philippines]]' during the Japanese occupation of WWII

* portions of the [[Wars of Scottish Independence]]; notably, actions led by [[Robert the Bruce]]

* [[Irish War of Independence]] 1919-1921

* [[Vietnam War|Vietnam - The National Congress (Viet Mihn)]] 1947 - 1954

* [[National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam|National Liberation Front]] forces throughout the [[Vietnam War]] in the 1960s and early 1970s.

* [[Nepali Conflict]]

* The [[Partisans (Yugoslavia)|Partisans]] of [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]

* [[Iraq Conflict|Iraq]] In [[Operation Vigilant Resolve]] and [[Operation Matador (Iraq)|Operation Matador]]. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7823375/] [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/15/AR2005051500785_pf.html]

* [[Vietnam]]

* [[Somalia]] In [[Battle of Mogadishu]]

* [[Chinese Civil War|China (Communists vs. Nationalists)]]

* [[Malaya]]

* [[American Revolutionary War]]

*Hezbollah vs Israel 1982 and 2006

In many cases, guerrilla tactics allow a small force to hold off a much larger and better equipped enemy for a long time, as in [[Russia]]'s [[Second Chechen War]] and the [[Second Seminole War]] fought in the swamps of [[Florida]] (United States of America).

===Examples of unsuccessful guerrilla campaigns===

*[[Irish Civil War]] 1922-23

*[[Border Campaign (IRA)]] 1956-62

*Spanish republican guerrillas after the [[Spanish Civil War]]

*[[Second Boer War]]

*[[Greek Civil War]]

*[[Malayan Emergency]]

*[[Bolivia]]

*[[Congo]]

*[[Philippine American War]] 1899-1902

*[[Poland]] 1939-1944, unsuccessful up till USSR liberation from German occupation

*[[Uruguay]] 1965-1973, the [[Tupamaros]] were suppressed by the army forces that later took power

*[[Dominican Republic]] US forces suppressed Dominican guerrillas

*[[Latvia]], [[Estonia]] and [[Lithuania]] 1944-1956, [[Forest Brothers]]

{{sectstub}}

===Examples of ongoing guerrilla warfare===

*[[Sri Lanka]]

*[[Arab-Israeli Conflict]]

*[[Lord's Resistance Army]]

*[[Zapatista]]

*[[Chechen War]]

*[[Afghanistan]]

*[[Iraq Conflict|Iraq]]

*[[Ivorian Civil War]] ended in 2004 but [[UNOCI]] is still handling the rebels who are attacking [[UN]] peacekeepers

===Guerrillas in Europe===

Over centuries of history, many guerrilla movements appeared in Europe to fight foreign occupation forces. The [[Fabian Strategy]] applied by the [[Roman Republic]] against [[Hannibal]] in the [[Second Punic War]] could be considered an early example of guerrilla tactics. After witnessing several disastrous defeats at the hands of Hannibal, the Roman dictator Fabius Maximus decided to modify traditional warfare methods. More often full-scale pitched campaigns were exchanged for small-scale skirmishes, sieges, sabotage attempts, assassinations and raiding parties. The Romans set aside the typical military doctrine of crushing the enemy in a single battle and initiated a successful, albeit unpopular, war of attrition against the Carthaginians that lasted for 14 years. In expanding their own Empire, the Romans encountered numerous examples of guerrilla resistance to their legions as well.

Mongols also faced guerrillas composed by armed peasants in [[Hungary]] after the [[Battle of Mohi]]. During [[The Deluge (Polish history)|The Deluge]] in [[Poland]] guerrilla tactics were applied. In the 19th century, peoples of the [[Balkans]] used guerrilla tactics to fight the [[Ottoman empire]]. In the [[100 years war]] between England and France, commander [[Bertrand du Guesclin]] used guerrilla tactics to pester the English invaders. During the [[Scanian War]], a pro-Danish guerrilla group known as the [[Snapphane]] fought against the Swedes. In 17th century [[Ireland]], Irish irregulars called [[tories]] and [[rapparees]] used guerrilla warfare in the [[Irish Confederate Wars]] and the [[Williamite war in Ireland]]. The [[Finland|Finns]] guerrillas, [[Sissi (Finnish guerrilla)|''sissis'']], fought against [[Russia]]n occupation troops in the [[Great Northern War]] 1710-1721. The Russians retaliated brutally on civilian populace; the period is called ''Isoviha'' (Grand Hatred) in Finland.

====Europe 1800-1900====

=====Napoleonic Wars=====

In the [[Napoleonic Wars]] many of the armies lived off the land. This often led to some resistance by the local population if the army did not pay fair prices for produce they consumed. Usually this resistance was sporadic, and not very successful, so it is not classified as guerrilla action. There are three notable exceptions, though:

* The rebellion of [[1809]] in the [[Tyrol]] led by [[Andreas Hofer]].

* In [[Napoleon's invasion of Russia]] of [[1812]] two actions were ordered by [[Tsar]] [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander]] which could be seen as initiating guerrilla tactics. The [[Fire of Moscow (1812)|burning of Moscow]] after it had been occupied by Napoleon's [[Grand Army]], depriving the French of shelter in the city, resembled guerrilla action insofar as it was an attack on the available resources rather than directly on the troops (and insofar as it was a Russian action rather than an inadvertent consequence of nineteenth-century troops' camping in a largely abandoned city of wooden buildings). In a different sense, the imperial command that the Russian serfs should attack the French resembled guerrilla tactics in its reliance on partisans rather than army regulars. This did not so much spark a guerrilla war as encourage a revengeful slaughter of French deserters by Russian peasants.

* In the [[Peninsular War]] the British, encouraged by the spontaneous mass resistance in Spain against Napoleon, gave aid to the Spanish guerrillas who tied down tens of thousands of French troops. The continual losses of troops caused Napoleon to describe this conflict his "Spanish ulcer". The British gave this aid because it cost them much less than it would have done to equip British soldiers to face the French troops in conventional warfare. This was one of the most successful partisan wars in history and was where the word ''guerrilla'' was first used in this context. The [[Oxford English Dictionary]] lists [[Wellington]] as the oldest known source, speaking of "Guerrillas" in 1809.

Poet [[William Wordsworth]], a former radical turned conservative, showed a surprising early insight into guerrilla methods in his pamphlet on the [[Convention of Cintra]].

* "It is manifest that, though a great army may easily defeat or disperse another army, less or greater, yet it is not in a like degree formidable to a determined people, nor efficient in a like degree to subdue them, or to keep them in subjugation–much less if this people, like those of Spain in the present instance, be numerous, and, like them, inhabit a territory extensive and strong by nature. For a great army, and even several great armies, cannot accomplish this by marching about the country, unbroken, but each must split itself into many portions, and the several detachments become weak accordingly, not merely as they are small in size, but because the soldiery, acting thus, necessarily relinquish much of that part of their superiority, which lies in what may be called the engineer of war; and far more, because they lose, in proportion as they are broken, the power of profiting by the military skill of the Commanders, or by their own military habits. The experienced soldier is thus brought down nearer to the plain ground of the inexperienced, man to the level of man: and it is then, that the truly brave man rises, the man of good hopes and purposes; and superiority in moral brings with it superiority in physical power.” (''William Wordsworth: Selected Prose'', [[Penguin Classics]] 1988, page 177-8.)

===== Others =====

*In 1848, both ''[[The Nation (Irish newspaper)|The Nation]]'' and [[United Irishman|''The United Irishman'']] advocated guerrilla warfare to overthrow English rule in [[Ireland]], though no actual warfare took place.

*The [[Poland|Poles]] used guerrilla warfare during the [[January Uprising]] of 1863-1865, against [[Tsarist Russia]].

====Europe 1900&ndash;2000====

=====Anglo-Irish War=====

The wars between [[Ireland]] and the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|British]] state, have been long and over the centuries have covered the full spectrum of the types of warfare. The Irish fought the first successful 20th century war of independence against the British Empire and the United Kingdom. After the military failure of the [[Easter Rising]] in 1916, the [[Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) resorted to guerrilla tactics involving both [[urban warfare]] and [[flying column]]s in the countryside during the [[Anglo-Irish War]] (Irish War of Independence) of 1919 to 1921. The chief IRA commanders in the localities during this period were [[Tom Barry]], [[Dan Breen]], [[Liam Lynch (general)|Liam Lynch]], and [[Seán Mac Eoin]]. The British security forces were fought to a standstill and the of the UK government agreed to meet representatives of the Irish uprising, who since the [[Irish (UK) general election, 1918|1918 General Election]] held seventy-three of the one hundred and five parliamentary seats for the island, to negotiate a settlement, leading to the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] It created the [[Irish Free State]] of 26 counties as a [[dominion]] within the [[British Empire]]; the other 6 counties remained part of the UK. [[Sinn Féin]] and the [[Irish Republican Army]] split into pro- and anti-Treaty factions with the anti-Treaty IRA forces losing the [[Irish Civil War]] (1922-23) which followed. The partition of Ireland laid the seeds for the later troubles.

===== World War II =====

[[Image:Soviet guerilla.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Soviet partisan fighters behind German lines in Belarus in 1943]]

In [[World War II]], several guerrilla organisations (often known as [[resistance movement]]s) operated in the countries occupied by [[Nazi Germany]]. These included the Polish [[Home Army]], [[Slovak National Uprising]], [[Soviet partisans]] (see also [[Russian Guerrilla Warfare of WWII]]), [[National Liberation Army of Yugoslavia|Yugoslav Partisans]], Bulgarian NOVA, [[French resistance]] or [[Maquis (WW2)|Maquis]], Italian partisans, [[ELAS]] and royalist forces in [[Greece]]. Many of these organisations received help from the [[Special Operations Executive]] (SOE) which along with the [[British Commando|commandos]] was initiated by [[Winston Churchill]] to "set Europe ablaze." The SOE was originally designated as 'Section D' of [[MI6]] but its aid to resistance movements to start fires clashed with MI6's primary role as an intelligence-gathering agency. When Britain was under threat of invasion, SOE trained [[Auxiliary Units]] to conduct guerrilla warfare in the event of invasion. Not only did SOE help the resistance to tie down many German units as garrison troops, so directly aiding the conventional war effort, but also guerrilla incidents in occupied countries were useful in the propaganda war, helping to repudiate German claims that the occupied countries were pacified and broadly on the side of the Germans. Despite these minor successes, many historians believe that the efficacy of the European resistance movements has been greatly exaggerated in popular novels, films and other media. Contrary to popular belief, the resistance groups were only able to seriously counter the German in areas that offered the protection of rugged terrain. In relatively flat, open areas, such as France, the resistance groups were all too vulnerable to decimation by German regulars and pro-German collaborationists. Only when operating in concert with conventional Allied units were the resistance groups to prove indispensable. When the [[United States|U.S.]] entered the war, the US [[Office of Strategic Services]] (OSS) co-operated and enhanced the work of SOE as well as working on its own initiatives in the Far East. Even the [[Home Guard]] were trained in guerrilla warfare in the case of invasion of England. [[Osterly Park]] was the first of 3 such schools established to train the Home Guard.

===== Post World War II =====

After World War II, during the 1940s and 1950s, thousands of fighters in [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]] and [[Lithuania]] (see [[Forest Brothers]]) participated in unsuccessful guerrilla warfare against Soviet occupation.<ref>[http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=68053 Could the Baltic States have resisted to the Soviet Union?]; [http://www.angelfire.com/de/Cerskus/english/links1.html Crimes of Soviet Communists] &mdash; Wide collection of sources and links about Guerrilla war in the Baltic states against Soviet occupation</ref>

In the late 1960s [[the Troubles]] began again in [[Northern Ireland]]. They had their origins in the partition of Ireland during the [[Irish War of Independence]]. They came to an end with the signing of the [[Good Friday Agreement]] in 1998. The peace is fragile and it is too early to tell if a permanent end to the conflict has occurred and which group, if any, won. The violence was characterised by an [[Provisional IRA campaign 1969-1997|armed campaign]] against the British presence in [[Northern Ireland]] by the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]], British counter-insurgency policy, and attacks on the [[Irish nationalism|nationalist]] population by [[Ulster loyalism|loyalist paramilitaries]] who had strong links to the British state forces.<ref>http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/collusion/source.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/2955941.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/2956337.stm</ref>

Although both loyalist and republican paramilitaries carried out terrorist atrocities against [[civilian]]s which were often tit-for-tat, a case can be made for saying that attacks such as the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|Provisional IRA]] carried out on British soldiers at [[Warrenpoint Ambush|Warrenpoint]] in 1979 was a well planned guerrilla ambush.<ref>{{cite web | title=BBC ON THIS DAY : 27 : 1979: Soldiers die in Warrenpoint massacre | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/27/newsid_3891000/3891055.stm | accessdate = November 19 | accessyear=2005 }}</ref> The [[PIRA]], [[Loyalist]] [[paramilitary|paramilitaries]] and various anti-[[Good Friday Agreement]] splinter-groups could be called guerrillas but are usually called terrorists by both the [[United Kingdom|British]] and [[Ireland|Irish]] governments. The news media such as the [[BBC]] and [[CNN]] will often use the term "gunmen" as in ''"IRA gunmen"<ref>{{cite web | title=BBC - History - War and Conflict | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/troubles/hungerstrikes/negotiations.shtml | accessdate = November 19 | accessyear=2005 }}</ref> or "Loyalist gunmen"<ref>{{cite web | title=CNN - Almanac - [[27 November]] [[1996]] | url=http://www.cnn.com/almanac/9611/27/ | accessdate = November 19 | accessyear=2005 }}</ref> committed a "terrorist" act''. Since 1995 CNN also uses guerrilla as in ''"IRA guerrilla" and "Protestant guerrilla"<ref>{{cite web | title=CNN - IRA splinter gang kills top Protestant guerrilla - [[December 27]] [[1997]] | url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9712/27/n.ireland.killing/ | accessdate = November 19|accessyear=2005 }}</ref>''. [[Reuters]], in accordance with its principle of not using the word terrorist except in direct quotes, refers to "''guerrilla groups''".<ref>{{cite web | title=http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=584330&section=news | url=http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=584330&section=news | accessdate = November 19 | accessyear=2005 }}</ref>

==== Europe 2000 &ndash; present ====

Currently, the [[Corsica]]n [[FLNC]] and other groups such as the [[History of Modern Greece|Greek]] [[Marxist]] [[Revolutionary Organization [[17 November]]]] claim to be guerrillas, but are commonly recognized as terrorists since they have murdered civilians on almost all occasions (collateral damages according to them) and not always purely legitimate military targets. Furthermore, this is how the governments and media of their respective countries (foreign invader governments according to these groups) prefer to refer to them.

The ongoing war between pro-independence groups in [[Chechnya]] and the Russian government is currently the most active guerrilla war in Europe. Most of the incidents reported by the Western news media are very gory terrorist acts against Russian civilians committed by Chechen separatists outside Chechnya. However, within Chechnya the war has many of the characteristics of a classic guerrilla war. See the article [[History of Chechnya]] for more details.

=== Guerrillas in the American Revolutionary War ===

While the [[American Revolutionary War]] is often thought of as a guerrilla war, guerrilla tactics were uncommon, and almost all of the battles involved conventional set-piece battles. Some of the confusion may be due to the fact that generals [[George Washington]] and [[Nathaniel Greene]] successfully used a strategy of harassment and progressively grinding down British forces instead of seeking a decisive battle, in a classic example of [[asymmetric warfare]]. Nevertheless the theater tactics used by most of the American forces were those of conventional warfare. One of the exceptions was in the south, where the brunt of the war was upon [[militia]] forces who fought the enemy [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] troops and their [[Loyalist]] supporters, but used concealment, surprise, and other guerrilla tactics to much advantage. General [[Francis Marion]] of [[South Carolina]], who often attacked the British at unexpected places and then faded into the swamps by the time the British were able to organized return fire, was named by them ''The Swamp Fox''. However, even in the south, most of the major engagements were set-piece battles of conventional warfare. See also [[Ethan Allen]] and the [[Green Mountain Boys]], for another Revolutionary example.

===Guerrillas in the American Civil War===

Irregular warfare in the [[American Civil War]] followed the patterns of irregular warfare in 19th century Europe. Structurally, irregular warfare can be divided into three different types conducted during the Civil War: 'People's War', 'partisan warfare', and 'raiding warfare'. The concept of 'People's war,' first described by Clausewitz in ''On War'', was the closest example of a mass guerrilla movement in the era. In general, this type of irregular warfare was conducted in the hinterland of the Border States (Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and northwestern Virginia), and was marked by a vicious neighbor against neighbor quality. One such example was the opposing irregular forces operating in Missouri and northern Arkansas from 1862 to 1865, most of which were pro-[[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] or pro-[[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] in name only and preyed on civilians and isolated military forces of both sides with little regard of politics. From these semi-organized guerrillas, several groups formed and were given some measure of legitimacy by their governments. [[Quantrill's Raiders]], who terrorized pro-Union civilians and fought Federal troops in large areas of Missouri and Kansas, was one such unit. Another notorious unit, with debatable ties to the Confederate military, was led by [[Champ Ferguson]] along the Kentucky-Tennessee border. Ferguson became one of the only figures of Confederate cause to be executed after the war. Dozens of other small, localized bands terrorized the countryside throughout the border region during the war, bringing total war to the area that lasted until the end of the Civil War and, in some areas, beyond.

Partisan warfare, in contrast, more closely resembles Commando operations of the 20th century. Partisans were small units of conventional forces, controlled and organized by a military force for operations behind enemy lines. The 1862 Partisan Ranger Act passed by the Confederate Congress authorized the formation of these units and gave them legitimacy, which placed them in a different category than the common 'bushwhacker' or 'guerrilla'. [[John Singleton Mosby]] formed a partisan unit which was very effective in tying down Federal forces behind Union lines in northern Virginia in the last two years of the war.

Lastly, deep raids by conventional cavalry forces were often considered 'irregular' in nature. The "Partisan Brigades" of [[Nathan Bedford Forrest]] and [[John Hunt Morgan]] operated as part of the cavalry forces of the [[Confederate Army of Tennessee]] in 1862 and 1863. They were given specific missions to destroy logistical hubs, railroad bridges, and other strategic targets to support the greater mission of the Army of Tennessee. By mid-1863, with the destruction of Morgan's raiders during the [[Morgan's Raid|Great Raid of 1863]], the Confederacy conducted few deep cavalry raids in the latter years of the war, mostly due to the losses in experienced horsemen and the offensive operations of the Union army. Federal cavalry conducted several successful raids during the war but in general used their cavalry forces in a more conventional role. A good exception was the 1863 [[Grierson's Raid]], which did much to set the stage for General [[Ulysses S. Grant]]'s victory during the [[Vicksburg Campaign]].

Federal counter-guerrilla operations were very successful in preventing the success of Confederate guerrilla warfare. In [[Arkansas]], Federal forces used a wide variety of strategies to defeat irregulars. These included the use of Arkansas Unionist forces as anti-guerrilla troops, the use of riverine forces such as gunboats to control the waterways, and the [[provost marshal]] military law enforcement system to spy on suspected guerrillas and to imprison those captured. Against Confederate raiders, the Federal army developed an effective cavalry themselves and reinforced that system by a large number of blockhouses and fortification to defend strategic targets.

However, Federal attempts to defeat Mosby's Partisan Rangers fell short of success due to Mosby's use of very small units (10&ndash;15 men) operating in areas considered friendly to the Rebel cause. Another regiment known as the "[[Thomas Legion]]," consisting of white and anti-Union [[Cherokee]] Indians, morphed into a guerrilla force and continued fighting in the remote mountain back-country of western [[North Carolina]] for a month after Lee's surrender at [[Appomattox]]. That unit was never completely suppressed by Union forces, but voluntarily ceased hostilities after capturing the town of [[Waynesville, North Carolina|Waynesville]] on [[May 10]] [[1865]].

In the late 20th century several historians have focused on the non-use of guerrilla warfare to prolong the war. Near the end of the war, there were those in the Confederate government, notably [[Jefferson Davis]] who advocated continuing the southern fight as a guerrilla conflict. He was opposed by generals such as [[Robert E. Lee]] who ultimately believed that surrender and reconciliation were better than guerrilla warfare.

===South African War===

Guerrilla tactics were used extensively by the forces of the [[Afrikaner]] republics in the [[Second Boer War]] in [[South Africa]] 1899-1902. After the British defeated the Boer armies in conventional warfare and occupied their capitals of [[Pretoria]] and [[Bloemfontein]], Boer [[commando]]s reverted to mobile warfare. Units led by leaders such as [[Christian de Wet]] harassed slow-moving British columns and attacked railway lines and encampments. The Boers were almost all mounted and possessed long range magazine loaded rifles. This gave them the ability to attack quickly and cause many casualties before retreating rapidly when British reinforcements arrived. In the early period of the guerrilla war, Boer commandos could be very large, containing several thousand men and even field artillery. However, as their supplies of food and ammunition gave out, the Boers increasingly broke up into smaller units and relied on captured British arms and ammunition.

To counter these tactics, the British under [[Kitchener]] interned Boer civilians into [[concentration camps]] and built hundreds of blockhouses all over the Transvaal and Orange Free State. Eventually, the Boer guerrillas surrendered in 1902, but the British granted them generous terms in order to bring the war to an end. This showed how effective guerrilla tactics could be in extracting concessions from a militarily more powerful enemy.

===Guerrilla warfare during the Second Sino-Japanese War===

Despite a common misconception, both Nationalist and Communist forces were active underground resistance in Japanese-occupied areas during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]. Even before the outbreak of total war in 1937, partisans were already present in [[Manchuria]] hampering Japan's occupation of the region. After the initial phases of the war, when large swaths of the [[North China Plain]] rapidly fell to the Japanese, underground resistance, supported by either Communist sympathisers or composed of disguised Nationalist soldiers, would soon rise up to combat the garrison forces. They were quite successful, able to sabotage railroad routes and ambush reinforcements. Many major campaigns, such as the four failed invasions of [[Changsha]], were caused by overly-stretched supply lines, lack of reinforcements, and ambushes by irregulars. The Communist cells, many having decades of prior experience in guerrilla warfare against the Nationalists, usually fared much better, and many Nationalist underground groups were subsequently absorbed into Communist ones. Usually in Japanese-occupied areas, the IJA only controlled the cities and railroad routes, with most of them countryside either left alone or with active guerrilla presence. The [[People's Republic of China]] has emphasised their contribution to the Chinese war effort, going as far to say that in addition to a "overt theatre", which in many cases they deny was effective, there was also a "covert theatre", which they claim did much to stop the Japanese advance.

=== Guerrillas in Israel and the Palestinian Territories===

European Jews fleeing from [[anti-Semitic]] violence (especially Russian [[pogroms]]) immigrated in increasing numbers to [[Palestine]]. When the British restricted Jewish immigration to the region (see [[White Paper of 1939]]), Jewish Palestinians began to use guerrilla warfare for two purposes: to bring in more Jewish refugees, and to turn the tide of British sentiment at home. Jewish groups such as the [[Lehi]] and the [[Irgun]] - many of whom had experience in the [[Warsaw Ghetto Uprising|Warsaw Ghetto battles]] against the Nazis, fought British soldiers whenever they could, including the [[King David Hotel Bombing|bombing of the King David Hotel]].

The creation of the state of Israel might be considered one of the greatest achievements of guerrilla warfare. The Jewish forces were composed of spontaneous groups of civilians working without formal military structure, fighting the British Empire, which had just emerged victorious from [[World War II]]. Some of these groups were amalgamated into the [[Israel Defence Force]] and subsequently fought in the [[1948 War of Independence]].)

[[Palestinian]] groups, among them the [[Palestinian Liberation Army]], soon initiated their own guerrilla warfare against the new Jewish state.

=== Guerrillas in Latin America ===

In the [[Mexican Revolution]] from 1910 to 1920, the populist revolutionary leader [[Emiliano Zapata]] employed the use of predominately guerrilla tactics. His forces, composed entirely of peasant farmers turned soldiers, wore no uniform and would easily blend into the general population after an operation's completion. They would have young soldiers, called "dynamite boys", hurl cans filled with explosives into enemy barracks, and then a large number of lightly armed soldiers would emerge from the surrounding area to attack it. Although Zapata's forces met considerable success, his strategy backfired as government troops, unable to distinguish his soldiers from the normal population, waged a broad and brutal campaign against the latter.

In the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, [[Latin America]] had a number of [[urban guerrilla]] movements whose strategy was to destabilize regimes and provoke a counter-reaction by the military. The theory was that a harsh military regime would oppress the [[middle class]]es who would then support the guerrillas and create a popular uprising.

While these movements did destabilize governments, such as [[Argentina]][http://polarmad.galeon.com/], [[Uruguay]], [[Guatemala]], and [[Peru]] to the point of military intervention, the military generally proceeded to completely wipe out the guerrilla movements, usually committing several [[atrocities]] among both civilians and armed insurgents in the process.

Several other [[left-wing]] guerrilla movements, often backed by [[Cuba]] and/or the [[Soviet Union]], attempted to overthrow US-backed governments or [[right-wing]] military [[dictatorship]]s. US-backed [[Contra]] guerrillas attempted to overthrow the left-wing elected [[Sandinista]] government of Nicaragua, though most of these groups should be considered mercenary juntas rather than rooted guerrillas. The Sandinista Revolution saw the involvement of [[Women and the Armed Struggle in Nicaragua]].

===Kashmir===

[[Kashmir]] has been disputed between both [[India]] and [[Pakistan]]. The territory has been disputed since the [[Partition of India|Indo-Pakistani Partition]] in 1947. Many guerrillas fight for an independent Kashmiri state, while other guerrillas wish to annex parts of Kashmir into [[Azad Kashmir|Pakistani-Administered Kashmir]].

===Vietnam War===

Within the [[United States]], the [[Vietnam War]] is commonly thought of as a guerrilla war. However, this is a simplification of a much more complex situation which followed the pattern outlined by Maoist theory.

The [[National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam|National Liberation Front]] (NLF), drawing its ranks from the South Vietnamese peasantry and working class, used guerrilla tactics in the early phases of the war. However, by 1965 when U.S. involvement escalated, the National Liberation Front was in the process of being supplanted by regular units of the [[North Vietnamese Army]].

The [[North Vietnamese Army|NVA]] regiments organized along traditional military lines, were supplied via the [[Ho Chi Minh trail]] rather than living off the land, and had access to weapons such as [[tank]]s and [[artillery]] which are not normally used by guerrilla forces. Furthermore, parts of North Vietnam were "off-limits" by American bombardment for political reasons, giving the NVA personnel and their materiel a haven that does not usually exist for a guerrilla army.

Over time, more of the fighting was conducted by the North Vietnamese Army and the character of the war become increasingly conventional. The final offensive into [[South Vietnam]] in 1975 was a mostly conventional military operation in which guerrilla warfare played a minor, supporting role.

The [[Cu Chi Tunnels]] (''Địa đạo Củ Chi'') was a major base for guerrilla warfare during the Vietnam War. Located about 60km northwest of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), the Viet Cong used the complex system tunnels to hide and live during the days and come up to fight at nights.

=== Guerrilla warfare in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Kurdish Northern Iraq ===

Guerrilla warfare formed an integral part of the US/NATO military campaigns in [[Kosovo]] in the late 1990s and [[Afghanistan]] in 2001, which created a unique style of warfare combining low-technology guerrilla warfare with high-technology air power. In these campaigns, guerrilla fighters with coordination from [[special force]]s would engage the enemy, forcing them to move out into the open where they could be destroyed using air power supplied by the [[United States]]. In both cases, the guerrillas were able to take advantage of their local knowledge and willingness to take casualties to great effect when supplemented by outside air power. In Kosovo the [[Kosovo Liberation Army]], a separatist paramilitary force, was aided by the [[NATO]] air forces. Afghan Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud was known for his guerrilla tactics in the Soviet-Afghan war. In [[Afghanistan]] numerous anti-[[Taliban]] militias (consisting of regular soldiers and guerrillas), including the [[Afghan Northern Alliance]], were aided by US air power. This formula was used again, in the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]], against the [[Iraq]]i Army by [[Kurd]]ish [[Peshmerga]] guerrillas with the aid of U.S. special forces and the [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]].

=== Guerrillas in Iraq (since 2003) ===

Many guerrilla tactics are used by the [[Iraqi insurgency]] against the US-led coalition. Such tactics include the bombing of vehicles and human targets, [[suicide bombing]]s, [[ambushes]], and traditional hit and run raids. Although it is unclear how many US casualties can be attributed to insurgent guerrilla action, due to high numbers of non-combat related injuries and deaths being included in all available statistics of total coalition casualties, it is estimated that they have injured more than 18,000 coalition troops and killed over 2,700, including more than 2,500 US soldiers: In addition the insurgents established de facto control over the [[Al Anbar Governorate]][http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/], Insurgent control was maintained despite a series of coalition campaigns, due to the worsening violence in Baghdad leading to the recall of coalition forces. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/10/AR2006091001204.html?nav=rss_email/components]

[http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=20468]

==Influence on the arts==

*''[[Guerrilla (film)|Guerrilla]]'', a 2007 film

*[[Guerillas In Tha Mist]], a song by [[Da Lench Mob]]

*[[Guerrilla Girls]], a feminist artist group

*[[Guerrilla Radio]], a song by [[Rage Against the Machine]]

*[[Guerrilla War]], an [[arcade game]]

*[[Guerilla burlesque]], a style of burlesque performance that involves descending upon audiences, uninvited.

== See also ==

* [[Spass guerilla]] [sic—Deutsch]

* [[Guerrilla communication]]

* [[List of guerrillas|List of famous guerrillas]]

* [[List of guerrilla movements]]

* [[War]]

* [[Combatant]]

* [[Asymmetric warfare]]

* [[Vietnam War]]

* [[Lord's Resistance Army]]

* [[Gladio]]

* [[Edmund Charaszkiewicz]]

* [[Cavalry in the American Civil War]]

* [[Fictional resistance movements and groups]]

* [[Counter insurgency]]

* [[Directive control]]

* [[Basil Henry Liddell Hart]]

* [[Hans von Dach]], a Swiss army major famous for his book "Total Resistance: A War Manual for Everyone", which teaches the readers in guerrilla warfare

==References==

* {{cite book | last = Mackey | first = Robert R. | title = The UnCivil War: Irregular Warfare in the Upper South, 1861–1865 | ___location = Norman, Okla. | publisher = [[University of Oklahoma Press]] | year = 2004 | id = ISBN 0-8061-3624-3 }}

== Notes ==

<references />

== External links ==

{{commons|Guerrilla warfare}}

* [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/VNguerrilla.htm Guerrilla warfare on Spartacus Schoolnet]

* [http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/1937/guerrilla-warfare/ Mao on Guerrilla warfare]

* [http://www.nwc.navy.mil/press/Review/1998/winter/art5-w98.htm The Theory and Practice of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency]

* [http://www.army.mil/prof_writing/volumes/volume2/march_2004/3_04_1.html Relearning Counterinsurgency Warfare]

* [http://www.insurgentdesire.org.uk/warfare.htm Guerrilla Warfare]

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