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45-566: The National Resistance Army ( NRA ) was a guerilla army and the military wing of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) that fought in the Ugandan Bush War against the government of Milton Obote , and later the government of Tito Okello . NRA was supported by Muammar Gaddafi . NRA was formed in 1981 when Yoweri Museveni 's Popular Resistance Army (PRA) merged with ex-president Yusuf Lule 's group,

90-462: A decisive battle . Attrition warfare does not include Blitzkrieg or using concentration of force and a decisive battle to win. The side that reinforces their army at a higher speed will normally win the war. Clausewitz called it the exhaustion of the adversary. A side that perceives itself to be at a marked disadvantage may deliberately seek out attrition warfare to neutralize its opponent's advantages over time. Sun Tzu has stated that there

135-453: A highly superior army using the guerrilla strategy in combination with a scorched earth policy and people's war (see also attrition warfare against Napoleon ). In correct Spanish usage, a person who is a member of a guerrilla unit is a guerrillero ( [geriˈʎeɾo] ) if male, or a guerrillera ( [geriˈʎeɾa] ) if female. Arthur Wellesley adopted the term "guerrilla" into English from Spanish usage in 1809, to refer to

180-610: A series of battles of attrition along the Isonzo River between June 1915 and November 1917. Attritional warfare in World War I has been shown by historians such as Hew Strachan to have been used as a post hoc ergo propter hoc excuse for failed offensives. Contemporary sources disagree with Strachan's view on this. While the Christmas Memorandum is a post-war invention, the strategy of attritional warfare

225-417: A strategic option for combatants possessing greater resources or asymmetric advantages over their adversaries, it also carries considerable drawbacks. Perhaps the most common reason for failure of attrition warfare is related to the time required to fulfill one's war goals. The geopolitical and strategic situation may shift dramatically over long periods of time, potentially giving the opponent an edge if victory

270-432: A strategic result. The difference between war of attrition and other forms of war is somewhat artificial since even a single battle normally contains an element of attrition. A strategy of attrition is an attempt to cause the enemy great losses in a single stroke (such as by encirclement and capture). Attrition warfare also tries to increase the friction in a war for the opponent. While attrition warfare might appear to be

315-522: A target and then disappeared into civilian crowds frustrated the British enemy. The best example of this occurred on Bloody Sunday (21 November 1920), when Collins's assassination unit, known as "The Squad" , wiped out a group of British intelligence agents ("the Cairo Gang ") early in the morning (14 were killed, six were wounded) – some regular officers were also killed in the purge. That afternoon,

360-658: Is a military strategy consisting of belligerent attempts to win a war by wearing down the enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel , materiel and morale . The word attrition comes from the Latin root atterere , meaning "to rub against", similar to the "grinding down" of the opponent's forces in attrition warfare. Attrition warfare represents an attempt to grind down an opponent's ability to make war by destroying their military resources by any means including guerrilla warfare , people's war , scorched earth and all types of battles apart from

405-572: Is a textbook example of attrition warfare, where Russia interfered with Napoleon's military logistics and won the war without a decisive battle . One of the best visual representations of the Russian attrition warfare strategies was created by Charles Joseph Minard . It shows the steady decrease of the number of soldiers of the French Grande Armée during the course of the war. One commonly known example of attrition warfare might be on

450-576: Is also a type of irregular warfare : that is, it aims not simply to defeat an invading enemy, but to win popular support and political influence, to the enemy's cost. Accordingly, guerrilla strategy aims to magnify the impact of a small, mobile force on a larger, more cumbersome one. If successful, guerrillas weaken their enemy by attrition , eventually forcing them to withdraw. Tactically, guerrillas usually avoid confrontation with large units and formations of enemy troops but seek and attack small groups of enemy personnel and resources to gradually deplete

495-437: Is no country that has benefitted from prolonged warfare, but Russia in 1812 won the war with attrition warfare against Napoleon . When attritional methods have worn down the enemy sufficiently to make other methods feasible, attritional methods are often complemented or even abandoned by other strategies. World War I military commanders on both sides ineffectively relied on attrition warfare, which resulted in casualties without

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540-555: Is not achieved soon enough. Additionally, the attrition strategies gives opponents time to adjust tactics and strategy. Although the strategy is typically victorious for the more well-resourced nation, it may eventually fail due to operational and geopolitical mishaps, such as Athens during the Peloponnesian War , or due to strategic miscalculations, such as Germany during the Battle of Britain . The French invasion of Russia

585-538: Is often regarded as the inventor of guerrilla warfare due to his use of irregular warfare in the Chu-Han contention to attack Chu convoys and supplies. In the medieval Roman Empire , guerrilla warfare was frequently practiced between the eighth through tenth centuries along the eastern frontier with the Umayyad and then Abbasid caliphates. Tactics involved a heavy emphasis on reconnaissance and intelligence, shadowing

630-407: Is often used as political propaganda by belligerents (most often by governments in power) to denounce opponents whose status as terrorists is disputed. While the primary concern of guerrillas is the enemy's active military units, actual terrorists largely are concerned with non-military agents and target mostly civilians. Attribution: Attrition warfare Attrition warfare

675-454: Is that vanguardism by cadres of small, fast-moving paramilitary groups can provide a focus for popular discontent against a sitting regime, and thereby lead a general insurrection . Although the original approach was to mobilize and launch attacks from rural areas, many foco ideas were adapted into urban guerrilla warfare movements. Guerrilla warfare is a type of asymmetric warfare : competition between opponents of unequal strength. It

720-643: The Acholi people and were in part seen as a form of revenge for Operation Bonanza , the scorched-earth operation there that had been ordered by Milton Obote during his presidency. From 1986 to 1990, the Museveni regime tried to end various insurgencies and establish control over the army. Despite repeated government claims that the NRA had defeated the UNLA and other rebel groups, insurgent activity continued, especially in

765-597: The Crossbarry Ambush in March 1921 are the most famous examples of Barry's flying columns causing large casualties to enemy forces. The Algerian Revolution of 1954 started with a handful of Algerian guerrillas. Primitively armed, the guerrillas fought the French for over eight years. This remains a prototype for modern insurgency and counterinsurgency, terrorism, torture, and asymmetric warfare prevalent throughout

810-959: The Royal Irish Constabulary force consisting of both regular RIC personnel and the Auxiliary Division took revenge, shooting into a crowd at a football match in Croke Park , killing fourteen civilians and injuring 60 others. In West County Cork , Tom Barry was the commander of the IRA West Cork brigade . Fighting in west Cork was rural, and the IRA fought in much larger units than their fellows in urban areas. These units, called " flying columns ", engaged British forces in large battles, usually for between 10 – 30 minutes. The Kilmichael Ambush in November 1920 and

855-814: The Uganda Freedom Fighters (UFF). Museveni, then leader of the Uganda Patriotic Movement party, alleged electoral fraud and declared an armed rebellion, following the victory of Uganda Peoples Congress in the bitterly disputed 1980 general election . Museveni, who had guerrilla war experience with the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO) in Mozambique, and his own Front for National Salvation (FRONASA) formed in Tanzania to fight Idi Amin , led

900-540: The Western Front during World War I . Both military forces found themselves in static defensive positions in trenches running from Switzerland to the English Channel . For years, without any opportunity for maneuvers, the only way the commanders thought that they could defeat the enemy was to repeatedly attack head on and grind the other down. One of the most enduring examples of attrition warfare on

945-536: The 19th century: ...our troops should...fight while protected by the terrain...using small, mobile guerrilla units to exhaust the enemy...denying them rest so that they only control the terrain under their feet. More recently, Mao Zedong's On Guerrilla Warfare , Che Guevara 's Guerrilla Warfare , and Lenin's Guerrilla warfare , were all written after the successful revolutions carried out by them in China, Cuba and Russia, respectively. Those texts characterized

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990-711: The Bangladesh Forces, was the guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military, paramilitary and civilians during the Bangladesh Liberation War that transformed East Pakistan into Bangladesh in 1971. An earlier name Mukti Fauj was also used. The growth of guerrilla warfare was inspired in part by theoretical works on guerrilla warfare, starting with the Manual de Guerra de Guerrillas by Matías Ramón Mella written in

1035-625: The Indian subcontinent. It was one of the bloodiest and hardest wars waged by East India Company in India with Presidency army regiments that suffered losses as high as eighty percent in 10 years of warfare. The Dominican Restoration War was a guerrilla war between 1863 and 1865 in the Dominican Republic between nationalists and Spain , the latter of which had recolonized the country 17 years after its independence. The war resulted in

1080-533: The NRA subsequently integrated many UPA and UPDA personnel into its ranks, thousands of others rejected the peace accord and continued to fight against the NRA. After the 1995 Ugandan constitution was enacted, the NRA was renamed the Uganda People's Defence Force . Guerrilla warfare Although the term "guerrilla warfare" was coined in the context of the Peninsular War in the 19th century,

1125-409: The NRA to victory against Ugandan government troops ( UNLA ) in 1986. By the time the victorious NRA entered Kampala in 1986, about a quarter of its 16,000 combatants were Banyarwanda , while Fred Rwigema was its deputy commander. The NRA then became the national army. Shortly afterwards, the UNLA carried out a number of attacks against civilians in the north of Uganda. The attacks largely targeted

1170-666: The Normans were unfamiliar with, to spring surprise attacks upon them. Since the Enlightenment , ideologies such as nationalism , liberalism , socialism , and religious fundamentalism have played an important role in shaping insurgencies and guerrilla warfare. In the 17th century, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj , founder of the Maratha Kingdom , pioneered the Shiva sutra or Ganimi Kava (Guerrilla Tactics) to defeat

1215-588: The Western Front is the Battle of Verdun , which took place throughout most of 1916. Erich von Falkenhayn later claimed that his tactics at Verdun were designed not to take the city but rather to destroy the French Army in its defense. Falkenhayn is described as wanting to "bleed France white" and thus the attrition tactics were employed in the battle. Soldiers on the Italian Front fought

1260-669: The attempt to wear down the enemy, to attack small detachments in an ambush and devised the Fabian strategy , which the Roman Republic used to great effect against Hannibal 's army, see also His Excellency : George Washington : the Fabian choice. The Roman general Quintus Sertorius is also noted for his skillful use of guerrilla warfare during his revolt against the Roman Senate . In China, Han dynasty general Peng Yue

1305-586: The colonial armies in Morocco. In the early 20th century Michael Collins and Tom Barry both developed many tactical features of guerrilla warfare during the guerrilla phase of the 1919–1921 Irish War of Independence . Collins developed mainly urban guerrilla warfare tactics in Dublin City (the Irish capital). Operations in which small Irish Republican Army (IRA) units (3 to 6 guerrillas) quickly attacked

1350-613: The enemy retreats, we pursue." At least one author credits the ancient Chinese work The Art of War with inspiring Mao's tactics. In the 20th century, other communist leaders, including North Vietnamese Ho Chi Minh , often used and developed guerrilla warfare tactics, which provided a model for their use elsewhere, leading to the Cuban " foco " theory and the anti- Soviet Mujahadeen in Afghanistan . Guerrilla groups may use improvised explosive devices and logistical support by

1395-459: The enemy, evacuating threatened population centres, and attacking when the enemy dispersed to raid. In the later tenth century this form of warfare was codified in a military manual known by its later Latin name as De velitatione bellica ('On Skirmishing') so it would not be forgotten in the future. The Normans often made many forays into Wales, where the Welsh used the mountainous region, which

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1440-683: The individual fighters (e.g., "I have recommended to set the Guerrillas to work"), and also (as in Spanish) to denote a group or band of such fighters. However, in most languages guerrilla still denotes a specific style of warfare. The use of the diminutive evokes the differences in number, scale, and scope between the guerrilla army and the formal, professional army of the state. Prehistoric tribal warriors presumably employed guerrilla-style tactics against enemy tribes: Primitive (and guerrilla) warfare consists of war stripped to its essentials:

1485-534: The inventor of guerilla warfare. Guerrilla warfare has been used by various factions throughout history and is particularly associated with revolutionary movements and popular resistance against invading or occupying armies. Guerrilla tactics focus on avoiding head-on confrontations with enemy armies, typically due to inferior arms or forces, and instead engage in limited skirmishes with the goal of exhausting adversaries and forcing them to withdraw (see also attrition warfare ). Organized guerrilla groups often depend on

1530-593: The local population. The opposing army may come at last to suspect all civilians as potential guerrilla backers. The guerrillas might get political support from foreign backers and many guerrilla groups are adept at public persuasion through propaganda and use of force. Some guerrilla movements today also rely heavily on children as combatants, scouts, porters, spies, informants, and in other roles. Many governments and states also recruit children within their armed forces. No commonly accepted definition of "terrorism" has attained clear consensus. The term "terrorism"

1575-671: The many times larger and more powerful armies of the Mughal Empire . Kerala Varma (Pazhassi Raja) (1753–1805) used guerrilla techniques chiefly centred in mountain forests in the Cotiote War against the British East India Company in India between 1793 and 1806. Arthur Wellesley (in India 1797–1805) had commanded forces assigned to defeat Pazhassi's techniques but failed. It was the longest war waged by East India Company during their military campaigns on

1620-407: The murder of enemies; the theft or destruction of their sustenance, wealth, and essential resources; and the inducement in them of insecurity and terror. It conducts the basic business of war without recourse to ponderous formations or equipment, complicated maneuvers, strict chains of command, calculated strategies, timetables, or other civilized embellishments. Evidence of conventional warfare , on

1665-414: The northern, eastern, and western regions. In April 1988, 3,000 former Uganda People's Army (UPA) fighters and members of several other small rebel groups accepted a government amnesty by surrendering and declaring their support for Museveni's regime. In June 1988, the president concluded a peace agreement with Uganda People's Democratic Army (UPDA) commander Lieutenant Colonel John Angelo Okello. Although

1710-476: The opposing force while minimizing their own losses. The guerrilla prizes mobility, secrecy, and surprise, organizing in small units and taking advantage of terrain that is difficult for larger units to use. For example, Mao Zedong summarized basic guerrilla tactics at the beginning of the Chinese Civil War as: "The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack;

1755-467: The other hand, did not emerge until 3100 BC in Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Chinese general and strategist Sun Tzu , in his The Art of War (6th century BC), became one of the earliest to propose the use of guerrilla warfare. This inspired developments in modern guerrilla warfare. In the 3rd century BC, Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus , used elements of guerrilla warfare, such as the evasion of battle,

1800-517: The people against their oppressors, and that he fights in order to change the social system that keeps all his unarmed brothers in ignominy and misery. In the 1960s, the Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara developed the foco (Spanish: foquismo ) theory of revolution in his book Guerrilla Warfare , based on his experiences during the 1959 Cuban Revolution . This theory was later formalized as "focal-ism" by Régis Debray . Its central principle

1845-548: The support of either the local population or foreign backers who sympathize with the guerrilla group's efforts. The Spanish word guerrilla is the diminutive form of guerra ("war"); hence, "little war". The term became popular during the early-19th century Peninsular War , when, after the defeat of their regular armies, the Spanish and Portuguese people successfully rose against the Napoleonic troops and defeated

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1890-406: The tactic of guerrilla warfare as, according to Che Guevara 's text, being "used by the side which is supported by a majority but which possesses a much smaller number of arms for use in defense against oppression". Why does the guerrilla fighter fight? We must come to the inevitable conclusion that the guerrilla fighter is a social reformer, that he takes up arms responding to the angry protest of

1935-527: The tactical methods of guerrilla warfare have long been in use. In the 6th century BC , Sun Tzu proposed the use of guerrilla-style tactics in The Art of War . The 3rd century BC Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus is also credited with inventing many of the tactics of guerrilla warfare through what is today called the Fabian strategy , and in China Peng Yue is also often regarded as

1980-642: The withdrawal of Spanish forces and the establishment of a second republic in the Dominican Republic. The Moroccan military leader Abd el-Krim ( c.  1883 – 1963) and his father unified the Moroccan tribes under their control and took up arms against the Spanish and French occupiers during the Rif War in 1920. For the first time in history, tunnel warfare was used alongside modern guerrilla tactics, which caused considerable damage to both

2025-561: The world today. In South Africa , African National Congress (ANC) members studied the Algerian War, prior to the release and apotheosis of Nelson Mandela ; in their intifada against Israel, Palestinian fighters have sought to emulate it. Additionally, the tactics of Al-Qaeda closely resemble those of the Algerians. The Mukti Bahini (Bengali: মুক্তিবাহিনী, translates as "freedom fighters", or liberation army), also known as

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