NCJ Number
63406
Date Published
1978
Length
156 pages
Annotation
REVOLUTIONARY PHILOSOPHIES AND THEORIES OF VIOLENCE ARE DESCRIBED AND EVALUATED IN A PRESENTATION WHICH INCLUDES BOTH THE COMMUNIST CONCEPTS OF LENIN AND MAO AND THE FASCIST THEORIES OF HITLER AND GOEBBELS.
Abstract
AN EXAMINATION OF THE HISTORY OF REVOLUTIONARY WARFARE INDICATES THAT FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF THE PERSON SEEKING POLITICAL CHANGE WITHIN A COUNTRY, REVOLUTION IS NOT ENTIRELY PRODUCTIVE. RATHER, REVOLUTION IS MORE LIKELY TO PRODUCE WIDESPREAD WARS OF MERE SURVIVAL. GUERRILLA TACTICS ARE ANACHRONISTIC FOR OVERTHROWING POWERFUL GOVERNMENTS, BUT THEY MAY HAVE SOME USEFULNESS IN FIGHTING INVADERS OR IN GAINING SUPPORT FOR POLITICAL PRESSURE GROUPS. ALTHOUGH THE MOTIVES FOR REVOLUTIONARY VIOLENCE MAY DIFFER, RANGING FROM INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS TO POLITICAL LOGIC, THE VARIOUS GROUPS OF NAZIS, COMMUNISTS, AND GUEVARISTS SHARE A COMMON BELIEF IN THE EFFICACY OF THE DISCIPLINED BAND OF PROFESSIONALS CREATING REVOLUTION THROUGH ACTION. ADEQUATE GOVERNMENT RESPONSES TO SUCH VIOLENCE INVOLVES BOTH POLITICAL JUDGMENT AND SENSITIVITY TO SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS. THE PHILOSOPHIES OF LENIN AND HITLER ARE SHOWN TO HAVE ORIGINATED BOTH IN ACADEMIC THEORIES CONCERNING SOCIAL CHANGE AND IN THE APPLICATION OF STREET VIOLENCE, ROBBERIES, AND ASSAULTS TO POLITICAL PURPOSES. VIOLENCE CONDUCTED BY IRREGULAR SOLDIERS ALSO SERVED THE MILITARY PURPOSES OF MAO TSE-TUNG AND T. E. LAWRENCE. LAWRENCE AND MANY OF THE 20TH CENTURY'S GUERRILLA LEADERS UNDERSTOOD THE PSYCHOLOGICAL DIMENSION OF WAR AND UNDERTOOK TO AFFECT THEIR OPPONENTS' WILL RATHER THAN SLAUGHTER THEIR ENEMIES IN OPEN COMBAT. THE MODERN STRATEGIES OF GRIVAS AND TORRES INDICATE THAT URBAN GUERRILLA CAN EFFECTIVELY HARASS OCCUPYING ARMIES AND PROVOKE POPULAR UPRISINGS. FOOTNOTES ARE PROVIDED. (TWK)