Small, Forgotten Small Wars

[davidbfpo]

Found via the Finnish leisure thread the Wikipedia entry:http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mets%C3%A4veljet

[Stan]

Found via the Finnish leisure thread the Wikipedia entry:http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mets%C3%A4veljet

Hello David,
I had no idea you were scanning the Finnish language sites. For that matter, I had no idea you spoke Finnish

The thing about this info that bugs me are the estimated numbers of Estonian Forest Brothers as they don't jibe with most historical documents (unless you happen to be a former Estonian Prime Minister being cited as a source - which there just so happens to be ). This would have a one-50th of the population hiding in the woods the size of Rhode Island

I did enjoy the short brief on "Scary Ants" being a bandit, hero and legend.

[carl]

The Caste War in Yucatan lasted from 1847 to 1901, with the Mayans in rebellion. The Mayans gave the Conquistodores a lot of trouble also. The Cristero Rebellion lasted from 1926 to 1929. There are probably a lot of small wars in Mexican history, or at least a lot us Gringos don't know about.

[davidbfpo]

A colonial era COIN war 1952-1960 that the UK would probably prefer to overlook and due to a current legal case has re-appeared. What is astonishing is that the civil disclosure requirements led to the discovery of colonial records "lost" in a store. This short BBC report is summary:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13044974

The use of torture in the 'Emergency' was well known at the time, there was a public airing of one case of abuse and killings at the Hola Camp.

A "taster" on the 'Emergency':http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mau_Mau_Uprising

[slapout9]

Link to articles on the 50 year anniversary of the Bay Of Pigs.


http://specials.msn.com/A-List/Lifes...ex=1&gt1=36010

[davidbfpo]

Via the BSAP History group having circulated an article on an episode in the WW1 campaign in German East Africa, the author Harry Fecitt has responded and so drawn my attention to a fascinating website:

This site serves as a monument to all soldiers who fought and all casualties of World War 1 and the Colonial Wars in the period leading up to World War 2. It intends to honor soldiers of all nationalities and all races..

Link:http://www.kaiserscross.com/40020.html

It is full of Small Wars materiel, pre-WW1 to pre-WW2, notably in Africa; have a peek at those listed here, including service with the inter-war Iraqi Levies or the '1st Chinese Regiment':http://www.kaiserscross.com/304501/home.html

The link to the African articles:http://www.kaiserscross.com/188001/home.html

Plenty to read this weekend, first The 24th Punjabis at Ismid, Turkey, 15 June 1920; an incident I've never heard of.

[davidbfpo]

methinks these themes have been re-learnt more recently:

-The ferocity of the fight – killing is the only thing that counts.

-Administrative problems, particularly the provision of water and the vulnerability of lines of communication, often determine tactics.

-Much of the terrain dictates that infantrymen do the fighting – armour, field artillery and aircraft may be useful but their presence involves costly technical support.

-Tribal custom and belief can win or lose the day.

-The local enemy leader does not burden his mind with complications such as taking prisoners or evacuating casualties.

-Africa always wins – the invaders or colonizers in the end acquiesce.

Link:http://www.kaiserscross.com/188001/home.html

[TDB]

A colonial era COIN war 1952-1960 that the UK would probably prefer to overlook and due to a current legal case has re-appeared. What is astonishing is that the civil disclosure requirements led to the discovery of colonial records "lost" in a store. This short BBC report is summary:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13044974

The use of torture in the 'Emergency' was well known at the time, there was a public airing of one case of abuse and killings at the Hola Camp.

A "taster" on the 'Emergency':http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mau_Mau_Uprising

Looks like Cameron will have to issue another apology on behalf of the British people. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...sation-torture

I think it'll be his third.

[davidbfpo]

The Mau-Mau Emergency in pre-independence Kenya appears on a few threads and has not been forgotten by academics. The journal 'Intelligence and National Security' has a review by Professor Richard English, of St Andrews University, which is complimentary and written in light of the revelations about treatment of civilians - as shown here in a couple of posts.

The book was published in 2013 and is 'Fighting the Mau Mau: The British Army and Counter-Insurgency in the Kenya Emergency' by Huw Bennett. The publisher's summary:

British Army counterinsurgency campaigns were supposedly waged within the bounds of international law, overcoming insurgents with the minimum force necessary. This revealing study questions what this meant for the civilian population during the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya in the 1950s, one of Britain's most violent decolonisation wars. For the first time Huw Bennett examines the conduct of soldiers in detail, uncovering the uneasy relationship between notions of minimum force and the colonial tradition of exemplary force where harsh repression was frequently employed as a valid means of quickly crushing rebellion. Although a range of restrained policies such as special forces methods, restrictive rules of engagement and surrender schemes prevented the campaign from degenerating into genocide, the army simultaneously coerced the population to drop their support for the rebels, imposing collective fines, mass detentions and frequent interrogations, often tolerating rape, indiscriminate killing and torture to terrorise the population into submission.

Link:http://www.cambridge.org/bo/academic...enya-emergency

Link to Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Mau-C...ds=huw+bennett

[davidbfpo]

Hat tip to WoTR for an excellent article today, combining history and its application today - not just for Finland, the Baltic States come to mind. Added here as there is no thread for the Winter War:http://warontherocks.com/2016/07/les...abian-defense/