Guerrilla Warfare

I

Introduction

Guerrilla Warfare, military or paramilitary operations conducted in enemy-held territory by irregular forces, often groups indigenous to that territory.

II

Guerrilla Tactics

Lacking the numerical strength and weapons to oppose a regular army in the field, guerrillas avoid pitched battles. Instead, they operate from bases established in remote and inaccessible terrain, such as forests, mountains, and jungles, and depend on the support of the local inhabitants for recruits, food, shelter, and information. The guerrillas may also receive assistance in the form of arms, medical supplies, and military advisers from their own or allied regular armies.

The tactics of guerrillas are those of harassment. Striking swiftly and unexpectedly, they raid enemy supply depots and installations, ambush patrols and supply convoys, and cut communication lines, hoping thereby to disrupt enemy activities and to capture equipment and supplies for their own use. Because of their mobility, the dispersal of their forces into small groups, and their ability to disappear among the civilian population, guerrillas are extremely difficult to capture.

III

Origin of Guerrilla Warfare

The term guerrilla (Spanish, “little war”) originated in the early 19th century during the Peninsular War when, after the defeat of Spain's regular forces, Spanish irregulars and civilians rose up against the French occupying forces. The practice of guerrilla warfare, however, dates from antiquity; for example, the Bible tells of the Israelite conquest of Canaan, led by Joshua, involving harassment and ambush of the enemy. Later Jewish resistance to foreign rule was expressed in the series of fierce guerrilla operations against the Romans in the 1st century ad; led by the Zealot sect, this revolt was climaxed by the seizure of Masada and the massacre of the Roman garrison there in ad 66.

IV

Guerrilla Warfare in the Western World

Guerrilla-like warfare has figured in European history since the 12th century, when the Welsh, armed with longbows, fiercely defended their borders against Norman invaders. Through the centuries, peasant revolts against oppression were frequently characterized by guerrilla tactics. One of the bloodiest guerrilla actions was the peasant revolt of 1793-1796 in the Vendée, in western France, against the revolutionary government and in support of the Roman Catholic Church. Guerrilla actions played major roles in 19th-century nationalist uprisings, notably the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829) and the efforts of the patriots Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi to unify Italy in the 1830s and 1840s.

Classic examples of guerrilla warfare include the attacks of more than 300 bands of French francs-tireurs, or snipers, on invading German troops during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871); the Boer raids against British troops that were occupying the Transvaal and the Orange Free State during the South African War (Boer War) (1899-1902); and, during World War II, the activities of the underground bands known as Maquis who fought German forces occupying France.