Che Guevara: Fundame

ntals of Guerrilla Warfar

eCSC 1988SUBJECT
AREA
HistoryABSTRACTAut
hor : Clark, Major Jackie
K, U.S. Marine
CorpsTitle: Che Guevara
: Fundamentals of Guerr
illa WarfareShort Title:
GuevaraThe combat
strength and
expeditionary nature of
the Marine AirGround
Task Force make it one
of the most responsive
elements ofU.S. power
projection abroad, and
the best military force
suitedfor rapid insertion
into a low-intensity
conflict. In fact,
manynotable military
and civilian authorities
see this traditionalrole of
the Corps developing
into its primary mission
as weapproach
the twenty-first
century. As
General A. M.
Gray, theCorps'
Commandant,
commented in his
October 1987 Marine
CorpsGazette article
"The Art of Command",
the Corps must be ready
andable to conduct low-
intensity warfare. He wr
ote:We need to be able
to conduct
revoluntionarywarfare a
nd to defeat it. Sure we n
eed to be preparedfor
NATO contingencies,
but we must not lose
sight ofthe kind of
conflict that's most apt
to confront us.The
ability of Marines to
defeat insurgent and
paramilitaryforces in a
low-intensity guerrilla
warfare scenario will
dependlargely on their f
ull understanding the nat
ure of such confictsand t
heir familiarity with the
battlefield strategies and
tacticscharacteristically
employed by guerrilla fi
ghters. As the notedChin
ese General Sun Tzu
stated in his treatise The
Art Of War,a leader who
does not understand his
enemy should never be
confi-dent in predicting
victory before battle
since hsi chances for
win-ning can be no
better than his chances
for
losing.The purpose of thi
s paper is to review the
writings of ErnestoChe
Guevara (1928-
1967) on the subject of r
evolutionary guerrillawa
rfare. A veteran of
the l968
Cuban Revolution
and one of thefirst
Cuban advisors in the
Congo, Guevara
spent the last decadeof
his life participating in
revolutionary struggles
throughoutthe Third Wo
rld. His book Guerrilla
Warfare is consided by
manyto be a "cookbook"
for insurgent fighters. T
he military tacticsand
strategies he presents
therein are based on his
extensivebattlefield and
political experiences as a
guerrilla leader. Assuch,
his writings provide an
excellent foundation
upon which con-
temporary military
leaders can develop a
sound understanding of
insurgent warfare.This
paper explores the
underlying
circumstances which
stimu-late populaions
to engage in revolutionar
y
guerrilla warfare, andpre
sents a brief
biographical sketch of
Guevara's development
intoa revolutionary
leader.CONTENTSI. Int
roduction 1II. The Maki
ng of A Revolutionary 5
III. Insurgent Guerrilla
Warfare: A Strategy 19I
V. The Nature of Guerril
la Warfare 23V. Conclus
ion 32Chapter I. INTRO
DUCTIONSigmund
Freud in his book
Civilization and Its
Discontentsasserts that t
he first requisite of civili
zation is justice: thatis,
assurance that laws
designed to eliminate
strife and
competitionfrom human
activity once made will
not be broken in order to
giveone individual
an advantage
over another. If this fund
amentalprinciple is
violated, the desire for
freedom, self-realization
andhappiness will cause
the disadvantaged
members of society to
rebeland direct their
agressiveness against the
institutions which
seekto regulate
their conduct.1 Although
speaking from an econo
micvice psychoanalytica
l
perspective, Karl Marx,
Friedrick Engels andV.I.
Lenin utter a similar
sentiment throughout
their writings.They
argue that societies
characterized by human
exploitation, cor-ruption,
economic inequality and
social injustice cannot
survive andare doomed
to be overthrown by the
masses they seek to
oppress. 2Indeed, this
innate need for fairness
and justice in regulating
hu-man interaction
within the social context
is also expressed in
ourown Declaration of
Independence which
contains the supposition
that
when a government fails
to secure for its citizens
their unalienableright to
life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness, or
fails toobserve the
principle that all men are
created equal and are to
betreated justly, "it is the
right of the people to
alter or abolishit."When
a significant segment
within a society desires
to reform orreplace its
government inorder to
institute political,
social,economic or
ideological changes
which are perceived as
necessary toperserve or
strengthen the body
politic, it does so
through
eitherpeaceful or violent
means. In democratic so
cieties such changes arer
outinely achieved
through acts of non-
violent disobedience,
theelectorial process or
other peaceful methods
used to pressure govern-
ments to adopt policies
reflective of the public
will and
promotiveof its welfare.
In non-
democratic societies whe
re autocratic rulersand
tyrannical oligarchies
frequently flourish, and
compassionatebenevolen
t leaders are rare,
massive violence is
normally the
onlycourse of action ava
ilable for altering the stat
us quo. In many ofthe
world's developing
nations, the most
prevalent form of
violenceused to alter or
replace political regimes
and the institutions
oftheir perpetuation is
revolutionary guerrilla
warfare.As a mechanism
for reform and a
principal tool of
insurrection-
ist, guerrilla warfare has
been with us throughout
history. It hastaken on
its greatest significance,
however, since World
War II asdisenchanted
segments within
developing nations have
struggled tofree their
societies from the
dominating influence of
the
formercolonial powers a
nd the aristocratic elites t
hat have succeededthem.
Through guerrilla warfa
re numerous insurgent
groups havesought to
displace repressive
regimes inorder to
establish theeconomic,
political and social
environments they
profess are needed
Che Guevara: Fundame
ntals of Guerrilla Warfar
eCSC 1988SUBJECT
AREA
HistoryABSTRACTAut
hor : Clark, Major Jackie
K, U.S. Marine
CorpsTitle: Che Guevara
: Fundamentals of Guerr
illa WarfareShort Title:
GuevaraThe combat
strength and
expeditionary nature of
the Marine AirGround
Task Force make it one
of the most responsive
elements ofU.S. power
projection abroad, and
the best military force
suitedfor rapid insertion
into a low-intensity
conflict. In fact,
manynotable military
and civilian authorities
see this traditionalrole of
the Corps developing
into its primary mission
as weapproach
the twenty-first
century. As
General A. M.
Gray, theCorps'
Commandant,
commented in his
October 1987 Marine
CorpsGazette article
"The Art of Command",
the Corps must be ready
andable to conduct low-
intensity warfare. He wr
ote:We need to be able
to conduct
revoluntionarywarfare a
nd to defeat it. Sure we n
eed to be preparedfor
NATO contingencies,
but we must not lose
sight ofthe kind of
conflict that's most apt
to confront us.The
ability of Marines to
defeat insurgent and
paramilitaryforces in a
low-intensity guerrilla
warfare scenario will
dependlargely on their f
ull understanding the nat
ure of such confictsand t
heir familiarity with the
battlefield strategies and
tacticscharacteristically
employed by guerrilla fi
ghters. As the notedChin
ese General Sun Tzu
stated in his treatise The
Art Of War,a leader who
does not understand his
enemy should never be
confi-dent in predicting
victory before battle
since hsi chances for
win-ning can be no
better than his chances
for
losing.The purpose of thi
s paper is to review the
writings of ErnestoChe
Guevara (1928-
1967) on the subject of r
evolutionary guerrillawa
rfare. A veteran of
the l968
Cuban Revolution
and one of thefirst
Cuban advisors in the
Congo, Guevara
spent the last decadeof
his life participating in
revolutionary struggles
throughoutthe Third Wo
rld. His book Guerrilla
Warfare is consided by
manyto be a "cookbook"
 for insurgent fighters. T
he military tacticsand
strategies he presents
therein are based on his
extensivebattlefield and
political experiences as a
guerrilla leader. Assuch,
his writings provide an
excellent foundation
upon which con-
temporary military
leaders can develop a
sound understanding of
insurgent warfare.This
paper explores the
underlying
circumstances which
stimu-late populaions
to engage in revolutionar
y
guerrilla warfare, andpre
sents a brief
biographical sketch of
Guevara's development
intoa revolutionary
leader.CONTENTSI. Int
roduction 1II. The Maki
ng of A Revolutionary 5
III. Insurgent Guerrilla
Warfare: A Strategy 19I
V. The Nature of Guerril
la Warfare 23V. Conclus
ion 32Chapter I. INTRO
DUCTIONSigmund
Freud in his book
Civilization and Its
Discontentsasserts that t
he first requisite of civili
zation is justice: thatis,
assurance that laws
designed to eliminate
strife and
competitionfrom human
activity once made will
not be broken in order to
giveone individual
an advantage
over another. If this fund
amentalprinciple is
violated, the desire for
freedom, self-realization
andhappiness will cause
the disadvantaged
members of society to
rebeland direct their
agressiveness against the
institutions which
seekto regulate
their conduct.1 Although
speaking from an econo
micvice psychoanalytica
l
perspective, Karl Marx,
Friedrick Engels andV.I.
Lenin utter a similar
sentiment throughout
their writings.They
argue that societies
characterized by human
exploitation, cor-ruption,
economic inequality and
social injustice cannot
survive andare doomed
to be overthrown by the
masses they seek to
oppress. 2Indeed, this
innate need for fairness
and justice in regulating
hu-man interaction
within the social context
is also expressed in
ourown Declaration of
Independence which
contains the supposition
that
when a government fails
to secure for its citizens
their unalienableright to
life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness, or
fails toobserve the
principle that all men are
created equal and are to
betreated justly, "it is the
right of the people to
alter or abolishit."When
a significant segment
within a society desires
to reform orreplace its
government inorder to
institute political,
social,economic or
ideological changes
which are perceived as
necessary toperserve or
strengthen the body
politic, it does so
through
eitherpeaceful or violent
means. In democratic so
cieties such changes arer
outinely achieved
through acts of non-
violent disobedience,
theelectorial process or
other peaceful methods
used to pressure govern-
ments to adopt policies
reflective of the public
will and
promotiveof its welfare.
In non-
democratic societies whe
re autocratic rulersand
tyrannical oligarchies
frequently flourish, and
compassionatebenevolen
t leaders are rare,
massive violence is
normally the
onlycourse of action ava
ilable for altering the stat
us quo. In many ofthe
world's developing
nations, the most
prevalent form of
violenceused to alter or
replace political regimes
and the institutions
oftheir perpetuation is
revolutionary guerrilla
warfare.As a mechanism
for reform and a
principal tool of
insurrection-
ist, guerrilla warfare has
been with us throughout
history. It hastaken on
its greatest significance,
however, since World
War II asdisenchanted
segments within
developing nations have
struggled tofree their
societies from the
dominating influence of
the
formercolonial powers a
nd the aristocratic elites t
hat have succeededthem.
Through guerrilla warfa
re numerous insurgent
groups havesought to
displace repressive
regimes inorder to
establish theeconomic,
political and social
environments they
profess are needed