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Guerrilla warfare vs. Superpowers

Guerrilla warfare vs. Superpowers

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I have just realized that the two big guerrilla wars which defeated superpowers in the modern world - Vietnam vs. the USA and Afghanistan vs. the USSR - required that the guerrillas have the support of the other superpower. Does anyone want to defend the claim that guerrillas do not need superpower support to defeat another superpower?

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Originally posted by AThousandYoung
I have just realized that the two big guerrilla wars which defeated superpowers in the modern world - Vietnam vs. the USA and Afghanistan vs. the USSR - required that the guerrillas have the support of the other superpower. Does anyone want to defend the claim that guerrillas do not need superpower support to defeat another superpower?
Nah, makes sense. You need unlimited capital and hardware, not to mention personnel and training.

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Originally posted by AThousandYoung
I have just realized that the two big guerrilla wars which defeated superpowers in the modern world - Vietnam vs. the USA and Afghanistan vs. the USSR - required that the guerrillas have the support of the other superpower. Does anyone want to defend the claim that guerrillas do not need superpower support to defeat another superpower?
Guerrilla movements don't defeat superpowers; they avoid defeat until the superpower eventually realizes that the cost of their occupying the guerillas' country is not worth the price. Many local insurgencies have "defeated" occupying powers in this way without any substantial support from the outside i.e. the French in Morocco being an example. Of course, if you rigidly define "superpower" to mean only the US and the Soviets there isn't a historical precedent, but there soon will be (i.e. Iraq).

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It depends - technically-speaking, "superpower" wouldn't cover the league of nations that ultimately defeated Paraguay in the War of the Triple Alliance, but when you look at their strength versus that of Paraguay even before the war, there isn't an awful lot of difference...and you can't help but draw the conclusion that autonomous guerrilla warfare has enormously untapped possibilities.

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Originally posted by AThousandYoung
I have just realized that the two big guerrilla wars which defeated superpowers in the modern world - Vietnam vs. the USA and Afghanistan vs. the USSR - required that the guerrillas have the support of the other superpower. Does anyone want to defend the claim that guerrillas do not need superpower support to defeat another superpower?
The Yugoslav resistience during WWII nearly removed the Germans...on their own.

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Originally posted by shavixmir
The Yugoslav resistience during WWII nearly removed the Germans...on their own.
Three Roman legions were annihilated over three days by German tribesmen using hit-and-run tactics in the Teutoburger Wald, 9 AD.

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The Scots defeated the English and cunningly led them to believe they had won...

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And of course let's not forget Wimbledon versus Liverpool in the FA Cup Final in 1988.

"In the hole! In the hole!"