Week 10 Guerilla Warfare Timeline

 The idea of Guerilla Warfare was first proposed in the 6th Century BCE by the legendary Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu in his work titled, The Art of War. However, Sun Tzu was not the only person whom saw the appeal of the employment of these revolutionary tactics. Guerrilla warfare was not unique to China; nomadic and migratory tribes such as the Scythians, Goths, Vandals, and Huns used elements of guerrilla warfare to fight the Persian Empire, the Roman Empire, and Alexander the Great. In fact, many small revolts, and indigenous tribal peoples used guerilla warfare tactics specifically against the Roman Empire with varying degrees of success. (Giles. (2013). Sun Tzu On The Art Of War. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.)

During the Mongol invasion of Europe, guerrilla warfare and stiff resistance helped many Europeans, particularly those at Croatia and Dzurdzuketia in the 13th Century. (Anchalabze, George. The Vainakhs. Page 24)

In 1462, the Ottomans were driven back by Wallachian prince Vlad III, whom would later be the inspiration for the Graham Stoker character, Dracula, due to his cannibalistic tendencies. Vlad was unable to stop the Turks from entering Wallachia, so he resorted to guerrilla war, constantly organizing small attacks and ambushes on the Turks, eventually defeating arguably the most powerful empire over the course of human history. (Dr. Elizabeth Miller. "Vlad The Impaler")

In North America, one of the earliest recorded instances of guerrilla warfare was Apalachee resistance to the Spanish during the Narváez expedition in 1528 in present-day Florida which was intended to colonize and provide a garrison for the Spanish in the area.

Many clandestine organizations, also known as resistance movements, operated in the countries occupied by German Reich during the Second World War. These organizations began forming as early as 1939 when, after the defeat of Poland, the members of what would become the Polish Home Army began to gather. In March 1940, a partisan unit of the first guerrilla commanders in the Second World War in Europe under Major Henryk Dobrzański, annihilated a battalion of German infantry in a skirmish near the village of Huciska. (Marek Szymanski: Oddzial Majora Hubala, Warszawa 1999)

Guerilla warfare tactics have been used to great effect by both Coalition forces as well as insurgent groups in the Global War on Terrorism.