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Where most wars guerilla type insurgencies or where they huge campaigns? I can't think of too many, outside of the two World Wars, that were not mainly guerilla warfare. (and in most cases, those were the bloodiest and most brutal)
I think your classic wars, Alexander, Rome, Napoleon, Hundred Years War, American Civil War, etc were standard warfare. Though I'm sure some form of guerilla tactics did occur. Now the Welsh against Edward I used guerilla warfare and prevented the English from moving into the interior of Wales for some time. My question would be who has used guerilla warfare most successfully and when was the earliest use of it?
That's just what I was thinking – when did guerilla warfare first come into use? I suppose one would have to define the terms here. Surely there have been guerilla tactics for much of history but these would have been outside large-scale wars and may have been incidental to normal combat. Does "guerilla warfare" mean a war that is solely/primarily waged via guerilla means?
Or can guerilla warfare be a part of any large war? Was the American Revolution a whole bunch of small, guerilla wars (along with the major naval and ground battles)?It seems that many wars of national independence and civil wars were guerilla oriented? (America, Ireland, Italy for example) Do you agree?
I do think that the American Colonists employed conventional warfare methods in addition to guerilla tactics. I'm thinking something like Vietnam as being a war fought perhaps exclusively as a guerilla type of operation by the North Vietnamese. I don't know of any other war offhand that was fought this way by one side, though I admit my knowledge is weak in this area.
It is difficult to determine if whole conflicts were fought that way. While there were may battles where guerilla tactics were used, the Battle of Teutoburg forest was more of an ambush than guerilla tactics.
American Heritage Dictionary: guer?ril?la or gue?ril?la Audio Help (gə-rĭl'ə) Pronunciation Key n. A member of an irregular, usually indigenous military or paramilitary unit operating in small bands in occupied territory to harass and undermine the enemy, as by surprise raids.World Net: guerilla noun a member of an irregular armed force that fights a stronger force by sabotage and harassment The term irregular comes up. There have always been irregulars all the way back to the greeks (Peltasts) to harass the enemy and attempt to loosen tight formations.So are we talking irregular troops, working without a regular force, to sabatage and harass the enemy until defeat?
Here's a thread I started on another board awhile back. FM 3-24 is the COIN manual and FM 90-9 is the counterguerilla manual.These guys know what they're talking about too seeing that most of them are officers or civilians in high positions with advnaced degrees! (except BRUZ LEE..I think he was banned)Most of the topic is on page one, then it starts going off subject a bit.http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?t=3991
There is a guerrilla component to most wars. I think it constrains thinking to try to define warfare too narrowly. The Napoleonic Wars were mostly fought conventionally but the Peninsular campaign was largely a guerrilla campaign punctuated by pithed battles. There was also a large irregular component to the Russian campaign of 1812.Mao perhaps says it best when he claims that unconventional tactics are used as a prelude to open battles for dominance. It is only when the opponents feel they can win a pitched battle that one is fought. The 100 years war was mostly fought as a series of raids as well.
I think your classic wars, Alexander, Rome, Napoleon, Hundred Years War, American Civil War, etc were standard warfare. Though I'm sure some form of guerilla tactics did occur. Now the Welsh against Edward I used guerilla warfare and prevented the English from moving into the interior of Wales for some time. My question would be who has used guerilla warfare most successfully and when was the earliest use of it?
I'd have to say the Native North Amerian against European invaders. Earlier examples might include Native Africans defending their families from slavers. But I am certain history will demonstrate earlier examples of so called "guerrilla" tactics, which is the only tactically intelligent way to go against superior arms/numbers.Native Americans may have been outnumbered locally, but they certainly were not stupid.
If I remember right there were a lot of African tribes that sold their enemies to the slavers. The Europeans didnt have to hunt slaves down, they were brought right to the coast for sale. If you think about it, it is a great way to get rid of enemies and make a profit while doing so.Early examples of guerrilla warfare could be some of the Greek methods employed to fight the Persians. I would call crop devastation a guerrilla tactic.
