Guerrillas and counter-insurgency

This chapter surveys military and operational aspects of the main guerrilla and counter-insurgency campaigns across Axis-occupied Europe and Asia. It emphasizes historical precedents, concepts of insurgency and counterinsurgency, and how far expectations for such warfare were met. The guerrilla warfare examined here is not identical to the ‘Resistance’, which encompassed a broader spectrum of activity, including guerrilla warfare. Nor is it identical to Allied ‘special’ forces, such as the Chindits, who operated behind Axis lines. Guerrilla warfare has a rich theoretical basis, the contributors to which include T. E. Lawrence and Mao Zedong. It developed particularly extensively after 1945. Drawing on such theory, the chapter defines guerrillas as irregular fighters operating predominantly in large, armed groups, usually native to the region of operations, from a rural base that is difficult to access. They operate among a largely rural population who, though not directly involved in ‘guerrilla’ activities, are essential for supply and intelligence. Guerrilla activities during the Second World War typically included sabotaging occupiers’ communications and supply, exacting reprisals against native ‘collaborators’, mounting attacks of varying scale upon Axis occupation personnel, and attempting to broaden support among the population. Guerrillas during the Second World War, fighting as part of a wider global conflict, were often aided by the Allies and, in the case of Soviet guerrillas, supported directly from an adjacent unoccupied national hinterland. Guerrilla commanders often aspired to eventually extending their operations to urban areas or fighting their opponents in conventional battle. Counter-insurgency is a term dating from after 1945, but it describes an already long-established practice. Its broad aim is to complete or maintain successful military occupation, and to contain or annihilate guerrillas in order to secure communications and occupation administration. During the Second World War, counter-insurgency also sought to secure occupied territory for economic exploitation, and to render it safe for transit of supplies to the front line.