Largely due to its use by leaders like mao zedong in china and ho chi minh in north vietnam, guerrilla warfare is generally thought of in the west only as a tactic of communism. Che guevara marxist revolutionary famous for helping the plight of the oppressed, guevara wrote this book guerilla warfare as an instruction manual of revolt for those trapped in a totalitarian regime. Guerrilla tactics were presumably employed by prehistoric tribal warriors against enemy tribes. We reject this implication, for guerrilla warfare is a peoples warfare. Ernesto che guevara remains one of the worlds most iconic political and revolutionary figures. First, peoples forces can win a war against the army. The book consists of three chapters, with several numbered subsections in each. The guerrilla force is largely or entirely organized in small units that are dependent on the support of the local population. Che guevara addressing the united nations in new york city as we have. Guevara intended it to be a manual on guerrilla warfare, as inspiration for revolutionary movements in latin america, africa and asia, stressing the need for an underpinning political motivation. Convinced that revolution was the only remedy for latin americas social inequities, in 1954 he wentto mexico, where he joined exiled cuban revolutionaries under fidel castro he was captured by the bolivian army and shot near vallegrande on.
Che guevara was an inspiration to insurgents all over latin america. Guerrilla warfare by ernesto che guevara goodreads. A method 1963 and message to the tricontinental 1967, guevara modified some of his earlier tenets. It should be expanded to provide more balanced coverage that includes realworld context. Guerrilla warfare should not be confused with gorilla warfare disambiguation guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hitandrun tactics, and mobility, to fight a larger and less. Che guevaras legacy still contentious 50 years after his death in bolivia in a picture taken on 10 october 1967 by afp journalist marc hutten, the body of ernesto che guevara is exposed on. Guerrilla warfare by che guevara it makes the political case for the guerrillas militancy, and explains stepbestep how an insurgency can be grown in strength and number, taking advantage of local and regional conditions, relations with sympathetic inhabitants and psychological warfare. The bottom line of this book is that che has some very interesting toughts on revolution and guerrilla warfare. Che guevara has explained guerrilla warfare in such a lucid and explicit manner that even an ordinary person can understand it clearly. His romantic portrait of the guerrilla fighter as social reformer, written in terse and graceful prose in his 1960 manual, guerrilla warfare, represented an attempt to elaborate upon lenins concept of the professional revolutionary. In both cases there is a framework of patriotic war against the japanese invader.
Guerrilla warfare by ernesto che guevara, paperback. Guerrilla warfare project gutenberg selfpublishing. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. More recently, guerrilla fighters led by che guevara assisted fidel castro in overthrowing cuban dictator fulgencio batista during the cuban revolution of 1952. List of books and articles about guerrilla warfare. Che discusses all of the main aspects of guerilla warfare in this text and tries to take his experience in cuba and then to generalize from that experience to gather general principles. Fidel castro and ernesto che guevara in 1956 launched a guerrilla war in cuba against the government of fulgencio batista.
Guerrilla warfare is a military handbook written by marxist revolutionary che guevara. Published in 1961 following the cuban revolution, it became a reference for thousands of guerrilla fighters in various countries around the world. The book draws upon guevara s personal experience as a guerrilla soldier during the cuban revolution, generalizing for readers. Fascinating to admirers and adversaries alike, he capture the minds of millions with his leadership and his belief in guerrilla warfare as the only effective agent to achieve. Che guevaras legacy still contentious 50 years after his. Guerrilla warfare marxism socialism anti imperialism anti capitalism che guevara and race books the motorcycle diaries guerrilla warfare episodes of the cuban revolutionary war films and documentaries che che. Essence of guerrilla warfare the armed victory of the cuban people over the batista dictatorship was not only the triumph of heroism as reported by the newspapers of the world. Guerrilla warfare by che guevara che guevaras guerrilla warfare is a practical manual for how a small band of guerrilla fighters might use specific strategies and tactics to resist and defeat an oppressive state enemy in asymmetrical warfare. These two popular titles will surely attract a whole new generation of readers. Recall that you can search for text strings in a long document like this.
Guerrilla warfare by ernesto guevara this indispensable book includes three of che guevara s most influential essays describing his tactical philosophy of fighting a guerrilla war in latin america. This book is his 1960 detailing of how to fight a populist guerrilla war against a powerful. However, for the student of guerrilla warfare, ches words must ultimately be taken with a big grain of salt. Part 1 i introductionguerrilla warfare, revolutionary theory, and revolutionary movements in latin america part 2 ii che on guerrilla warfare chapter 3 guerrilla warfare 1960 chapter 4 guerrilla warfare. Fidel castro on guerrilla warfare and fighting imperialism. Guerrilla warfare the authorised edition guevara ernesto. Real name ernesto guevara 192867, latin american guerrilla leader and revolutionary theorist, who became a hero to the new left radicals of the 1960s. This volume is an invaluable addition to courses in latin american studies and political science. This book is a series of documents the first written in 1960, the last a pamphlet published in english a few months before che guevara was killed, a south american revolutionary and hero. Tactically, the guerrilla army makes the repetitive attacks far from the opponents center of gravity with a view to keeping. But ernesto understood it is not enough to be against something. Guerilla warfare is a manual written by ernesto che guevara to instruct the reader in the proper method to wage a guerilla war against a noncommunist regime. The weapon guevara and his men called the m16 was a sawedoff 16guage breakbreach shotgun modified into a makeshift mortar for launching molotov cocktails. Che guevara, the largerthanlife hero of the 1959 revolutionary.
Che guevara was really into shotguns and molotov cocktails. Guerrilla warfare by ernesto che guevara 9781494847159. Both mao tsetung and che guevara had outsized impacts on the social, political and cultural landscape of the 20 th century. The book looks at guerrilla warfare in particular fighting in places of a similar landscape to south america and elsewhere. Those texts characterized the tactic of guerrilla warfare as, according to che guevaras text, being used by the side which is supported by a majority but which possesses a much smaller number of arms for use in defense against oppression. Guerrilla warfare, written in 1960, outlines guevara s doctrine for guerrilla fighters, especially against caribbeanstyle dictatorships. This article consists almost entirely of a plot summary. Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hitandrun tactics, and mobility, to fight a larger and lessmobile traditional military. A method by che guevara and special war an outgrowth of neocolonialism by n. The book covers broad topicsguerrilla strategy and tactics.
Terms of use our privacy policy copyright 2015present all rights reserved. The main strategy and tactics of guerrilla warfare tend to involve the use of a small attacking, mobile force against a large, unwieldy force. The guerrilla is the combat vanguard of the people, situated in a specified place in a certain region, armed and willing to carry out a series of warlike actions. It has become a guidebook for thousands around the world, not only those living in an oppressive state. The corruption and incompetentence of the batista regime and its ragtag army made ches war in cuba a little too easy. Guerrilla warfare by ernesto che guevara written in 1961 table of contents click on a title to move to that section of the book. In his manual guerrilla warfare che had made it clear that to succeed the insur gent needed a complete command of his operating area, the support of the local population, and the element of surprise. The authorised edition with corrections made by ernesto che guevara. The manual is based on lessons learned from his part in the successful anti batista revolution in cuba in 1959. Published in 1961 following the cuban revolution, it became a reference. Guerrilla warfare by the revolutionary che guevara has become the guidebook for thousands of guerrilla fighters in various countries around the world. The legacy of che guevara by norman gall, commentary. Fidel castro comments on guerrilla warfare and the conditions that make it necessary. Guevara intended it to be a manual on guerrilla warfare, as inspiration for revolutionary movements in latin america, africa and asia, stressing the need for an underpinning political.
The hands of che guevara the motorcycle diaries books about che guevara bibliography of che guevara tania, the woman. A method 1963 chapter 5 message to the tricontinental 1967 part 6 iii case studies of guerrilla movements and political change chapter 7 guatemala chapter 8. For the 1961 book by che guevara, see guerrilla warfare book. Greek nationalists in cyprus carried on guerrilla warfare against the british from 1954 until that country gained independence in 1959. Guerrilla warfare ernesto che guevara, ernesto guevara. Guevara intended it to be a manual on guerrilla warfare, as inspiration for revolutionary movements in latin america, africa and asia, stressing the need for an underpinning political motivation to guerrilla methods, organisation and supply. Guerrilla groups are a type of violent nonstate actor. Che guevara was a prominent communist figure in the cuban revolution who went on to become a guerrilla leader in south america. Strategy and tactics of guerrilla warfare wikipedia.