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Wars of national liberation

Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) to establish separate sovereign states for the rebelling nationality. From a different point of view, such wars are called insurgencies, rebellions.[1] Guerrilla warfare or asymmetric warfare is often utilized by groups labeled as national liberation movements, often with support from other states.

"National liberation", "Liberation struggle", "War of independence", and "War of Liberation" redirect here. For the concept in Marxist thought, see National liberation (Marxism). For the anticommunist campaign in Kerala, see Liberation Struggle (Kerala). For other uses, see List of wars of independence.

The term "wars of national liberation" is most commonly used for those fought during the decolonization movement. Since these were primarily in the third world against Western powers and their economic influence and a major aspect of the Cold War, the phrase itself has often been viewed as biased or pejorative.[2] Some of these wars were either vocally or materially supported by the Soviet Union, which stated itself to be an anti-imperialist power, supporting the replacement of western-backed governments with local communist or other non pro-western parties.[1][3] However, this did not always guarantee Soviet influence in those countries. In addition to and increasingly in competition to the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China presented themselves as models of independent nationalist development outside of Western influence, particularly as such posturing and other longterm hostility meant they were regarded as a threat to Western power and regarded themselves as such, using their resources to politically, economically and militarily assist movements such as in Vietnam. In January 1961 Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev pledged support for "wars of national liberation" throughout the world.[4]


When the nation is defined in ethnic terms, wars fought to liberate it have often entailed ethnic cleansing or genocide in order to rid the claimed territory of other population groups.[5][6][7]

Legal issues[edit]

International law generally holds that a people with a legal right to self-determination are entitled to wage wars of national liberation.[8][9] While Western states tend to view these wars as civil wars, Third World and communist states tend to view them as international wars.[8] This difference in classification leads to varying perceptions of which laws of war apply in such situations.[8] However, there is general agreement among all states today in principle that the use of force to frustrate a people's legal right to self-determination is unlawful.[8]

Strategies and tactics[edit]

Wars of national liberation are usually fought using guerrilla warfare. The main purpose of these tactics is to increase the cost of the anti-guerrilla forces past the point where such forces are willing to bear. Wars of national liberation generally depend on widespread public support, with ordinary civilians providing crucial support. Finally, wars of national liberation are often embedded in a larger context of great power politics and are often proxy wars.


These strategies explain why they are quite successful against foreign regimes and quite unsuccessful against indigenous regimes. Foreign regimes usually have a threshold beyond which they would prefer to go home rather than to fight the war. By contrast, an indigenous regime has no place to which they can retreat, and will fight much harder because of the lack of alternatives. Moreover, foreign regimes usually have fewer active supporters in the theater, and those that exist can often be easily identified, making it possible for guerrilla armies to identify their targets. By contrast, indigenous regimes often have much more popular support, and their supporters are often not easily recognized as such, making it much harder to conduct operations against them without also causing harm to neutral parties.

Many and foreign observers consider the First and Second Chechen Wars to be wars of national liberation against Russia.[14][15][16]

Chechens

Some Iraqi insurgent groups, and certain political groups believe that the was a war of national liberation against the US-led coalition.

Iraq War

Many Kurds believe the to be a war of national liberation of Kurdish people in Turkey.

Kurdish–Turkish conflict

The has sought the independence of Western Sahara since 1975 and considered its guerrilla war against Morocco as national liberation war (like many foreign observers, countries and the African Union), while Morocco considered it a secessionist movement. Polisario had been recognized by many countries, the African Union and the United Nations as the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people. The hostilities are frozen since the 1991 cease-fire following the settlement plan agreement.

Polisario Front

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is a national liberation movement, meaning that it holds official recognition of its legal status as such. Other national liberation movements in the OAU at that time included the African National Congress (ANC) and Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC). It is the only non-African national liberation movement to hold observer status in the OAU, and was one of the first national liberation movements granted permanent observer status by the United Nations General Assembly pursuant to a 1974 resolution.[11][12] The PLO also participates in UN Security Council debates; since 1988, it has represented the Palestinian people at the UN under the name "Palestine".[13]


The following current conflicts have sometimes also been characterized as wars or struggles of national liberation (such a designation is often subject to controversy):

The (1521–23).

Swedish War of Liberation

The .

Eighty Years' War

The .

Khmelnytsky Uprising

The .

American Revolutionary War

The .

Irish Rebellion of 1798

The .

Irish Rebellion of 1803

The against Napoleon's occupation of Spain and Portugal during the Napoleonic Wars.

Peninsular War

The .

Haitian Revolution

The against Napoleon's occupation of German lands during the Napoleonic Wars.

German Wars of Liberation

The .

Spanish American wars of independence

The .

Norwegian War of Independence

The (1821).

Greek War of Independence

The .

Serbian Revolution

The (1844–1856).

Dominican War of Independence

The (1848-1866)

Italian Wars of Independence

The (1863–1865).

Dominican Restoration War

The .

Serbian–Turkish Wars (1876–1878)

The armed insurrection in the Palestine Mandate, involving the Lehi and Irgun, and later the Haganah. Also the Israeli Independence War against various Arab states.

Zionist

Philippine Revolution

The .

Estonian War of Independence

The .

Latvian War of Independence

The .

Lithuanian Wars of Independence

The .

Ukrainian War of Independence

The .

Turkish War of Independence

The of Yugoslavia within World War II, by the Yugoslav Partisans (National Liberation Army) against Axis occupators and their collaborators.

National Liberation War

The Italian War of Liberation of 1943–1945 in which forces of the and the Italian resistance movement fought against occupying forces of Nazi Germany and forces of the Italian Social Republic during the Italian campaign of World War II and the simultaneous Italian Civil War

Kingdom of Italy

In , the Korean War against South Korea.

North Korea

The , with South Vietnam and the United States against North Vietnam, China, Soviet Union and communist bloc.

Vietnam War

The against Ethiopia.

Eritrean War of Independence

The against West Pakistan.

Bangladesh Liberation War

In , against the occupying Soviet Army.

Afghanistan

In , the Irish War of Independence and The Troubles in Northern Ireland; also, the Provisional IRA insurgency against the United Kingdom, aimed at creating a socialist republic within a united Ireland, from 1969 until 1998.

Ireland

In , against the occupying Vietnamese Army and People's Republic of Kampuchea during the Cambodian–Vietnamese War.

Cambodia

The of 1977 with Somalia against Ethiopia

Ogaden War

In , by Augusto Sandino's forces against the occupying U.S. Marines.

Nicaragua

In , by FROLINAT against the Tombalbaye dictatorship

Chad

In , against the apartheid regime by Umkhonto we Sizwe and Azanian People's Liberation Army.

South Africa

The and Second Chechen Wars, by the Chechen peoples against Russia

First

In , by the Bougainville Revolutionary Army against Papua New Guinea

Bougainville

The by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation against Mexico has been considered a national liberation movement.

Chiapas conflict

The

Croatian War of Independence

The

Slovenian War of Independence

The

Bosnian War of Independence

Conflicts which have been described as national liberation struggles:

Edre U. Olalia, Vice President of International Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL) THE STATUS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW OF NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENTS AND THEIR USE OF ARMED FORCE

Edre U. Olalia, Vice President of International Association of People’s Lawyers - The status in International Law of National Liberation Movements

A reversal of International Law