|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Mao Zedong (left), leader of the Communists in China, waged a long and successful war against both Chinese Nationalist forces and the Japanese army during the 1930s and 1940s. He eventually succeeded in wresting China from Nationalist forces in 1949 and ruled the country until his death in 1976. He was one of the first thinkers who systematically tackled the problems associated with people's war and guerrilla conflict in the modern age. He exerted enormous influence on other Marxist revolutionaries, including Che Guevara. This photograph shows him in the late 1930s, at about the time he wrote his most important works on people's war.
A highly decorated French parachute officer, Roger Trinquier attempted to learn the lessons of counter-insurgency as the French army battled the Viet Minh, a Marxist-influenced guerrilla force, for control of the French colony of Vietnam (1945-1954). Later, he sought to apply those lessons in Algeria, where the French army faced a war of national liberation (1954-1962) waged by the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN)—a guerrilla organization influenced by Arab nationalism, Marxism, and Islam. Although in some ways successful, his methods proved very controversial. His work, Modern War (1961), became a classic of counter-insurgency.
In 1928, Che Guevara was born to middle-class parents in Argentina. After attending medical school, he devoted himself to Marxist revolution as a means of achieving social justice in South America. Traveling to Mexico, he joined Fidel Castro, who was then plotting to overthrow the Cuban regime of Fulgencio Batista. Guevara played an important role in the ensuing insurrection which began in 1956. Against what seemed all odds, Castro eventually succeeded in overthrowing Batitsta in 1959 and becoming the ruler of Cuba. Guevara became a prominent Marxist revolutionary leader (very chic with celebrities and leftist intellectuals), writing a number of works about guerrilla warfare. His famous Guerrilla Warfare appeared in 1961, the same year as Trinquier wrote his classic work. In 1967, his attempt to start a peasant-based revolutionary movement in Bolivia failed disastrously, and Guevara was killed by the Bolivian army.
Back to Web Gallery Index | Back to Class Schedule
For
questions, comments, or suggestions about this website, please contact the webmaster.
Copyrighted by Hugh Dubrulle, 2003.