Political Violence and the Liberation Movements: 1960–1990

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thula Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Political Violence ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Guerrilla Warfare ◽  
National Committee ◽  
External Feature ◽  
History Of ◽  
Armed Resistance ◽  
Liberation Movements ◽  
Resistance Movement ◽  
The Military

This chapter looks at the history of the armed struggles waged by South Africa’s liberation movements between 1960 and 1990. Among the organisations considered are the African National Congress (ANC), the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), the National Committee of Liberation/Armed Resistance Movement (NCL/ARM), the Yu Chi Chan Club, and the Black Consciousness Movement, along with their military offshoots Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), Poqo, the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA), the Azanian National Liberation Army (AZANLA) and others. The respective insurgencies are considered individually and comparatively, focusing on the tactical and strategic approaches adopted by the movements. The military methods employed by the organisations included sabotage, insurrection, guerrilla warfare and conventional conflict. The choices that they made regarding strategies and tactics were influenced by demographic, geographic, political and socio-economic considerations. But in addition to these South African factors, geopolitics also influenced the scope and intensity of armed resistance. This was because for the greater part of the period considered in the chapter, the organisations were movements-in-exile. Accordingly, their access to training, weapons, camps and infiltration routes was dependent on external goodwill. Operations within South Africa had to take cognisance of this external feature. The chapter concludes with a consideration of the process of the integration of the guerrilla armies into South Africa’s new national defence force after 1990.

Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK): The ANC’s Armed Wing, 1961–1993

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arianna Lissoni
Keyword(s):  
African National Congress ◽  
Guerrilla Warfare ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
Armed Struggle ◽  
Guerrilla War ◽  
Political Work ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
History Of ◽  
Apartheid Regime ◽  
The Military

Launched in 1961 by leaders of the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa and the South African Communist Party (SACP), Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) was the military wing of the ANC until its disbandment in 1993. The initial stage of MK’s armed struggle involved sabotage against government installations and other symbols of the apartheid regime by a small group of operatives. Under increasing repression by the apartheid state, and thanks to the support received from African and socialist countries, MK adopted a strategy of guerrilla warfare as armed struggle assumed an increasingly central role in the liberation struggle, although the military was understood as an extension of political work, that is, linked to the reinvigoration of political struggle and organizations. Geopolitical constraints prevented MK from waging a conventional guerrilla war, and from the 1970s MK adjusted its strategy by turning to armed propaganda and people’s war. While debates on the role of MK in South Africa’s liberation are often reduced to the relative success or failure of military strategy and action, the history of MK remains a sensitive topic post-apartheid, carrying significant weight both symbolically and in the lives of thousands of people who served in its ranks, including women, who joined and participated in MK throughout the three decades of its existence.

An Island of Killing and Slaughter: Anti-Guerrilla Warfare and Civilian-Targeted Violence in Panay, 1943

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 535-556
Author(s):  
Kelly Maddox
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Complete Picture ◽  
Guerrilla Warfare ◽  
Military Strategy ◽  
Civilian Population ◽  
Targeted Violence ◽  
History Of ◽  
Resistance Movement ◽  
Scholarly Attention

Between July and December 1943, Japanese forces in Panay, the Philippines, perpetrated large-scale and widespread atrocities that deliberately targeted the civilian populace of the island. Houses were burned, crops destroyed, livestock slaughtered, and thousands of civilians of all ages and genders were killed. These atrocities were employed strategically as part of an anti-guerrilla campaign designed to compel civilians to give up their support for a guerrilla resistance movement which had flourished in Panay since the surrender of USAFFE troops in May 1942. The conduct of Japanese troops during this campaign was a drastic departure from earlier anti-guerrilla efforts which had avoided attacks against the civilian population in favour of pacification policies. In this article, I draw on Japanese, Philippine and US sources to reconstruct the history of anti-guerrilla warfare and civilian-targeted violence in Panay, a case that has received limited scholarly attention, to build a more complete picture of the context in which Japanese strategy shifted so dramatically in 1943. I explore the circumstances in which Japanese commanders decided to employ violence against civilians and offer some insights into the factors that shaped the radicalisation of military strategy useful for understanding atrocities perpetrated by Japanese forces in other contexts.

Guerrilla Warfare and the Filipino Resistance on Negros Island in the Bisayas, 1942–1945

1964 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donn V. Hart
Keyword(s):  
The Philippines ◽  
Guerrilla Warfare ◽  
Recent History ◽  
Historic Period ◽  
History Of ◽  
Resistance Movement ◽  
Negros Island

The most recent history of the Philippines makes no reference to guerrilla activities or the resistance movement in Negros, although brief comments are included about the rest of the Bisayas. Yet Negrenses, both indigenous and “adopted,” have been unusually active in recording the history of their island during the war years. Recently two additional books were added to the expanding literature on wartime Negros. Since 1946 seven books have been published (one is a mimeographed monograph) on this broad topic for Negros. Unfortunately, many of these sources have not been utilized in more general accounts of occupied Philippines. Probably there is more material on this historic period for Negros than the rest of the Bisayas, with the exception of Leyte.

scholarly journals The Creation of the Polish Legions and the Supreme National Committee in August 1914.

Sowiniec ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (45) ◽  
pp. 21-49
Author(s):  
Mateusz Drozdowski
Keyword(s):  
Armed Forces ◽  
The Political ◽  
National Committee ◽  
Political Aspect ◽  
Organizational Infrastructure ◽  
Parallel Structures ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Military ◽  
Military Units

The aim of the article is to present the events of the end of July and the fi rst weeks of August 1914 which led to the creation of two parallel structures: the Polish Legions and the Supreme National Committee, providing political and organizational infrastructure to the former. This topic has already been repeatedly tackled by Polish historians. Most studies, however, focused on the person of Jozef Piłsudski, as well as on the military aspect of the history of Polish Legions. However, this article presents the political aspect of the events in question, including the attempts to answer two important questions about the genesis of the Polish Legions, ie. who and under what circumstances came up with the idea of creating the Legions as regular military units being a part of the armed forces of the Austro- -Hungarian Empire and at the same time having a national, Polish character.

scholarly journals O impacto da Revolução Cubana sobre a esquerda brasileira (1959-1974) [Artículo evaluado por pares]

2018 ◽  
pp. 65-79
Author(s):  
Jean Rodrigues Sales
Keyword(s):  
Cuban Revolution ◽  
Guerrilla Warfare ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Practice ◽  
Military Dictatorship ◽  
Ideological Debate ◽  
Armed Resistance ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Military ◽  
Present Thesis

esumenEl objetivo principal de este texto es analizar la influencia de la Revolución Cubana sobre las izquierdas comunistas brasileñas en el período de 1959 a 1974. Se trata de entender en qué medida las ideas del foquismo y la guerra de guerrillas influenciaron el debate ideológico de los comunistas brasileños y cuáles fueron sus desdoblamientos para sus formulaciones teóricas y su práctica política. La conclusión general es que diversos aspectos del ideario revolucionario cubano estuvieron presentes en el surgimiento de la izquierda revolucionaria brasileña, en el debate respecto de la lucha armada contra la dictadura militar y en la adopción de la bandera del socialismo por una parte de esa izquierda. Palabras ClaveRevolución Cubana; Guerra de guerrillas; Comunismo brasileño Abstract The main objective of the present thesis is to analyze the relationships between the Brazilian communist leftist movements and the Cuban revolution between 1959 and 1974. We aim at understanding how far the ideas of the foquismo and the guerilla war influenced the ideological debate of the Brazilian communists and the consequences for its theoretical formulations and the political practice. The general conclusion is that the Cuban revolutionary process was mainly present in the debate on the definition of the armed resistance to the military dictatorship and the adoption of socialism by a part of that leftist movement. Key-wordsCuban Revolution; Guerrilla Warfare; Brazilian Communism.  

With Masses and Arms

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel La Serna
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Guerrilla Warfare ◽  
Political Movement ◽  
Shining Path ◽  
Revolutionary Movement ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Media ◽  
Historical Memories ◽  
Experiences Of Women

Miguel La Serna’s gripping history of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) provides vital insight into both the history of modern Peru and the link between political violence and the culture of communications in Latin America. Smaller than the well-known Shining Path but just as remarkable, the MRTA emerged in the early 1980s at the beginning of a long and bloody civil war. Taking a close look at the daily experiences of women and men who fought on both sides of the conflict, this fast-paced narrative explores the intricacies of armed action from the ground up. While carrying out a campaign of urban guerrilla warfare ranging from vandalism to kidnapping and assassinations, the MRTA vied with state forces as both tried to present themselves as most authentically Peruvian. Appropriating colors, banners, names, images, and even historical memories, hand-in-hand with armed combat, the Tupac Amaristas aimed to control public relations because they insightfully believed that success hinged on their ability to control the media narrative. Ultimately, however, the movement lost sight of its original aims, becoming more authoritarian as the war waged on. In this sense, the history of the MRTA is the story of the euphoric draw of armed action and the devastating consequences that result when a political movement succumbs to the whims of its most militant followers.

scholarly journals The Significance of the Bernardine Fund in the Study of Historiographical Narratives on Kmicic’s Armia Krajowa Brigade

Knygotyra ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 96-122
Author(s):  
Tomaš Božerocki
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Storage Medium ◽  
World War ◽  
Central State ◽  
Armed Resistance ◽  
State Archives ◽  
Heads Of State ◽  
Resistance Movement ◽  
The Military

During World War II, in 1939–1944, there was a Polish armed resistance movement in Eastern Lithuania, which was called Armia Krajowa (Home Army) in the abstract. In researching the activities of Armia Krajowa (AK) in Eastern Lithuania, not only historiography is valuable, but also surviving documents and memoirs, as well as the Bernardine Fund preserved in the Lithuanian Central State Archives. So far, this Fund does not seem to receive much attention from scientists researching the activities of AK in Lithuania, as well as archives compiled by Poles residing in other countries. Based on the concept of storage medium, the article analyzes the case of the Bernardine Fund in the context of archival research of the Polish diaspora. During the analysis of the documents kept in the Bernardine Fund, it was observed that the said Fund held significant documents that could supplement / replace the existing narrative about Kmicic’s AK partisan brigade. Kmicic’s AK partisan brigade is noteworthy, as it is the first armed AK unit to launch a consistent armed resistance, but so far there are no separate studies dedicated to the activities of this brigade. The storage medium is the basis of memory communication that gives authenticity to the constructed memory narrative. The Bernardine Fund is a storage medium that originated in the past and reached the present unchanged / slightly changed, and that contains a certain memory narrative about AK. The Bernardine Fund and the documents contained in it are valuable storage media that can help reveal the situation of the residents of Eastern Lithuania during World War II and shed new light on the military activities of AK. In the context of research and preservation of the written heritage of the Polish diaspora, this medium has not yet received the attention of scientists, although the example of the Kmicic’s AK brigade proved that this Fund contains documents that reveal hitherto unknown aspects of AK activities. A fact turns into an event only when certain groups draw their attention to it, when they give meaning to it and start talking and writing about it, and it begins to be remembered. All significant events are just someone’s creations, created just to justify the present in a way that is convenient for the collective, the political elite, or the heads of state. The case of Kmicic’s brigade has proven that no fact is completely lost. If a fact is not currently updated and used, it does not mean that it will be the case all the time. The documents kept in the Fund reflect that during the formation of the historiographical narrative, the collective memory of the said brigade, part of the events was deliberately omitted in order to give integrity to the narrative being formed.

Finding Foreign Policy: Researching in Five South African Archives

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 379-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Graham
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
South African ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Second World War ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
History Of ◽  
Liberation Movements ◽  
Areas Of Interest ◽  
Second World

The turbulent modern history of South Africa, which includes notable events such as the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, the banning and exile of the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), and the dramatic transition from apartheid to democracy in the early 1990s, has drawn academics from a number of fields to studying the nation from a variety of angles. Two such topics which have attracted scholarly attention are the foreign policy of South Africa both during apartheid, and subsequently after its demise in 1994, and the multi faceted activities of the liberation movements fighting against it. When looking at the international relations of South Africa from the end of the Second World War, through until the present day, it is almost impossible to analyse this dimension of South Africa's past without examining the lasting effects that the political mindset of apartheid had upon foreign policy decision making, and the international community. Likewise, the history of the liberation movements such as the ANC and the PAC were shaped by their attempts to defeat apartheid and the eventual end to the struggle. The histories of the ANC and South African foreign policy are inextricably linked, demonstrating the importance of what has, and is occurring in the country, creating a complex, but truly intriguing area of research for academics.Conducting archival research on these two areas of interest is relatively easy in South Africa, with on the whole, well stocked, largely deserted, and easy to use archives located across the country.

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