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The Italian resistance movement (in It. Resistenza italiana or simply Resistenza) is the umbrella term for the various partisan forces formed by pro-Allied Italians during World War II. They were also known as the Partisan Resistance, in Italian: Resistenza partigiana.

Origins of the movement[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Flag of Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale

The movement was initially composed of independent troops, spontaneously formed by members of political parties previously outlawed by the Fascist regime, or by former officers of the disbanded Royal Army loyal to the monarchy. Later, the Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale (CNL; Committee of National Liberation) created by the Italian Communist Party, the Italian Socialist Party, the Partito d'Azione (a republican "liberal socialist" party), Democrazia Cristiana and other minor parties took control of the movement, in accordance with King Victor Emmanuel III's ministers and the Allies. The Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale Alta Italia (CLNAI (National Liberation Committee for Northern Italy)) was setup by partisans behind German lines and enjoyed the loyalty of most groups in the region.^[1]

The formations were eventually divided between three main groups, the communist Garibaldi Brigades, Giustizia e Libertà Brigades (related to Partito d'Azione), and socialist Matteotti Brigades. Smaller groups included Catholic sympathizers and monarchists (like the Fiamme Verdi or "Green Flames", Di Dio Mauri, Franchi (founded by Edgardo Sogno), besides some anarchist and apolitical formations. Relations between the different groups were not always good. For example, in 1945 in Porzûs (in the province of Udine), Garibaldi Brigade partisans under Yugoslav command attacked and killed partisans of the Catholic and azionista Osoppo band.^{[citation needed]} The Garibaldi Brigade partisans claimed that the Catholic and azionista Osoppo band partisans had refused to accept the authority of Josip Broz Tito, the Yugoslavian partisan leader, whose project was to annex the easternmost part of Italy. They were also accused of sharing intelligence with the fascist enemy.^{[citation needed]} This famous fratricide was preceded by several instances where the reverse was true.^{[citation needed]} For example, in the Maritime Alps near Mondovì in autumn 1943 some Communists partisans, fugitive after killing German Army (Wehrmacht Heer) officers in an ambush, were traded to the Nazi-Fascists by monarchist military officers^{[2][not in citation given]} from the so called azzurri or badogliani who exerted command there in an uneasy truce with the enemy.

While the largest contingents operated in mountainous districts of the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, there were also large formations in the Po plain; in the main towns of Northern Italy, like Piacenza and surroundings valleys next to Gothic line, where in Montechino castle there was an important partisan headquarter, the Gruppi di azione patriottica (G.A.P., Patriotic Action Groups) regularly carried out acts of sabotage and guerrilla warfare, and the Squadre di azione patriottica (S.A.P., Patriotic Action Squads) arranged massive strike actions and campaigns of propaganda. Not unlike the French Resistance, women were important leaders and couriers both in the armed groups, as well as in the industrial areas^[3]

Resistance by Armed Forces[link]

The earliest acts of armed resistance must be credited to Italian soldiers, although technically they cannot be defined as "partisans", i.e. paramilitary forces, since they were part of the formal Italian Armed Forces. In the days following 8 September 1943 most servicemen, left without orders from the higher echelons were disarmed and shipped to POW camps in the Third Reich, often by much smaller German outfits. However some garrisons stationed in Greece, Albania, Yugoslavia and in Italy proper, engaged in armed fighting against the Germans. Admirals Inigo Campioni and Luigi Mascherpa led an attempt at ousting their ex-allies from Rhodes, Kos, Leros and other Dodecanese islands. With reinforcements from SAS, SBS and British Army troops under the command of Maj. Gen. F.G.R. Brittorous and Brig. Gen. Robert Tilney, the defenders held on for a month, but the Wehrmacht ultimately managed to take hold of the islands through air and sea landings performed by infantry and Fallschirmjäger supported by Luftwaffe aircraft. Both Campioni and Mascherpa were captured and later executed at Verona under the charge of high treason.

On 13 September 1943, the Acqui Division stationed in Cefalonia was ordered by Comando Supremo to attack the Germans in spite of negotiations going on between the Italian headquarters and Wehrmacht senior officers. After the battle raged for ten days, the Germans executed a great number of officers and enlisted men as a retaliation. The death toll, which was previously estimated as high as 10,000, has recently been revised and watered down to roughly 1600 KIA,^[4] including the Division commander, General Antonio Gandin.

The best known battle of those days broke out in Rome on the same day the armistice was announced. Regio Esercito units such as the Sassari Division, the Granatieri di Sardegna, the Piave Division, the Ariete II Division, the Centauro Division, the Piacenza Division, the "Lupi di Toscana" Division, besides Carabinieri, infantry and coastal artillery regiments, were deployed around the city and along the roads leading to it. Fallschirmjäger and Panzergrenadiere were initially repelled but, despite being outnumbered and enduring heavy losses, they slowly got the upper hand, aided by their experience and superior Panzer component. Moreover, the defenders were decisively hampered by the escape of King Victor Emmanuel III, Marshal Pietro Badoglio and their staff to Brindisi, which left the Generals in charge of the city without a coordinated defence plan. This also caused Allied support to be called off at the last minute, since the Fallschirmjäger were not prevented from taking the DZs where the 82nd Airborne Division was scheduled to be airdropped (Brig. Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor crossed the lines and went to Rome in person to supervise the operation himself).
The Centauro II Division not participating in the battle also contributed to the defeat: the StuG IIIs, Panzer IIIs and Panzer IVs it was equipped with could have easily turned the tables of the battle. But, given its dubious allegiance (it was mostly formed by ex-Blackshirts), it was not fielded.
By 10 September, the Germans had penetrated into downtown Rome. Granatieri, aided by civilians, made their last stand at Porta San Paolo. At 4 pm, General Carlo Calvi di Bergolo signed the surrender. The Italian Divisions were disbanded and their members captured.
Although some of the officers participating in the battle later joined the Italian Resistance, the clash was not motivated by anti-German sentiment but only by the necessity to defend the Italian capital and resist the Italian soldiers' disarmament. For instance, General Raffaele Cadorna, Jr. (commander of Ariete II) and Giuseppe Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo (later shot in the Ardeatine massacre), joined the underground; General Gioacchino Solinas (commander of the Granatieri) instead opted for the Italian Social Republic.^[5]

The Italian soldiers captured by the Germans numbered around 700,000. Most of them chose to refuse cooperation with the Third Reich, chiefly to maintain their oath of fidelity to the King, in spite of being subject to all kinds of hardships, both direct and subtle. Their former allies designated them Italienische Militär-Internierte ("Italian military internees"), to deny them POW status and the consequent benefits granted by the Geneva Convention. After decades of oblivion, theirs has been recognized as an act of unarmed resistance on a par with the armed confrontation sustained by other Italian servicemen.^[6]

More Italian forces remained stuck in Montenegro when the armistice was announced. The Taurinense Division, the Venezia Division, the Aosta artillery Group and the remains of the Emilia Division were assembled in the Italian Garibaldi partisan Division, part of the Yugoslav People's Liberation Army. When the unit finally returned to Italy, at the end of the war, half of its members had been killed or were listed as missing in action.

New territorial structures[link]

In 1944, with the Allied forces nearby, the partisan resistance in Italy staged an uprising behind German lines, led by the Committee of National Liberation of Upper Italy (CLNAI). This rebellion led to the establishment of a number of provisional partisan governments throughout the mountainous regions of northern Italy, of which Ossola was the most important and received recognition from Switzerland and from Allied consulates in Switzerland. By the end of 1944, German reinforcements and Benito Mussolini's remaining forces had crushed the uprising, and the area's liberation had to wait until the final offensives of 1945.

List of partisan governments[link]

• Alto Monferrato (Sep – 2 Dec)
• Alto Tortonese (Sep–Dec)
• Bobbio (7 Jul – 27 Aug)
• Cansiglio (Jul–Sep)
• Carnia (Jul–Oct)
• Friuli Orientale (30 Jun – Sep)
• Imperia (Aug–Oct)
• Langhe (Sep–Nov)
• Montefiorino (17 Jun – 1 Aug)
• Ossola (10 Sep – 23 Oct)
• Val Ceno (10 Jun – 11 Jul)
• Val d'Enza e Val Parma (Jun–Jul)
• Val Maira e Val Varaita (Jun – 21 Aug)
• Val Taro (15 Jun – 24 Jul)
• Valli di Lanzo (25 Jun – Sep)
• Valsesia (11 Jun – 10 Jul)
• Varzi (19/24 Sep – 29 Nov)

Field organisation[link]

The nature of the partisans meant that unit sizes varied with bands reaching 450 men and women. The size of units also depended on logistics, such as the ability to arm, cloth, an feed the members as well as the amount of local support. The basic unit was the squadria or squad with three or more, usually five, making a distaccamento or detachment. Three or more detachments made a brigata or brigade of which two or more made a divisione or division. In some places several divisions formed a gruppo divisione or divisional group. These divisional groups would be responsible for an zona d'operatione or operational group.

Weaponry[link]

Just like their European counterparts, Italian partisans seized whatever gun they could find. The first weapons were brought by ex-soldiers willing to carry on the fight against Germans and fascists, and came from the Regio Esercito inventory: Carcano rifles, Beretta M 1934/35 pistols, Bodeo M1889 revolvers, SRCM and OTO hand grenades, Fiat-Revelli Modello 1935, Breda 30 and Breda M37 machine guns. As time went by, captured K98ks, MG34s, MG42s and of course the iconic potato mashers, Lugers and Walther P38s were added to partisan kits. Submachine guns such as the MP 40 were initially scarce and, usually, reserved to squad leaders. Automatic weapons became more common as they were captured in combat, or RSI soldiers started to defect to the underground bringing in their own gear. The much beloved Beretta MABs started to appear in larger numbers since October 1943, when they were spirited away en masse from the Beretta factory which was producing them for the Wehrmacht.
Additional weapons, chiefly of British origin, were airdropped by the Allies: PIATs,^[7] Lee-Enfield rifles,^[7] Bren light machine guns,^[7] and above all Sten guns.^[7] US-made weapons were provieded in a smaller scale courtesy of the OSS: mostly Thompson submachine guns (both M1921 and M1), M3 Grease Guns, United Defense M42s, and some scarce examples of folding stock M1 Carbines. Besides this, supplies included explosives, clothing, boots, food rations and even cash that the partisans would hand over to civilians as a compensation for the confiscations they had made for their survival.

April 25[link]

On April 19, 1945, concurrent with the renewal of the Allied offensive, the CLN called out a general insurrection. Bologna was liberated on April 21 by the Italian Co-Belligerent Army and Free Polish Forces under Allied command. Parma and Reggio Emilia were liberated on April 24. Turin and Milan were liberated on April 25 when Fascists retreated. Over 14,000 German and Fascist troops were captured in Genoa on April 26 and 27, when General Meinhold surrendered to the CLN.^[8]

The toll of Nazi and Fascist retaliation[link]

The April uprising showed to the world that not all Italians agreed with the Fascist rule. It proved that Italians were prepared to fight against Fascist rule at great cost. Casualties from the uprising amounted to:

• Approximately 44,700 Italian partisans killed
• Approximately 21,200 Italian partisans wounded or disabled
• Approximately 15,000 Italian civilians killed in retaliations
• Approximately 40,000 former Italian soldiers died in concentration camps

During the war, German and Italian Fascist soldiers committed a number of other war crimes including summary executions, rape of female prisoners, ransacking, and retaliations against civilians; most of these were common practices.

Some of the most notorious events were the Ardeatine massacre, the Marzabotto massacre, and the Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre. Captured partisans or civilians were often tortured. The Decima Flottiglia MAS, an Italian unit under German command, the Black Brigades and the Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana are especially remembered as the most ruthless military formations of the war.

The Germans profited greatly from the weakness of the Fascist puppet state in Northern Italy. The Germans determined that they would annex Italian territories into the Third Reich. Two new German regions were to be established. One was the Alpenvorland, to comprise the region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and the Province of Belluno. The other was Adriatisches Küstenland, to comprise Istria, Quarnero, and most of today's region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. In the valley of Carnia, the Germans used anti-communist forces from the Soviet Union under the command of ataman Timofey Ivanovich Domanov; they were promised a Cossack republic to be established in Northeastern Italy, to be called Kosakenland.^[9]

Capture and execution of Mussolini[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

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On the morning of 27 April 1945 Umberto (nom de guerre "Partisan Bill") a Partisan of the 52nd Garibaldi Brigade (Communists) was checking lorries at Dongo on Lake Como carrying retreating German Troops to the Swiss border. He became suspicious of a man in the fifth truck. His unit had been warned that Mussolini was attempting to flee the country. There was an agreement with the Partisans the convoy would be given safe passage providing no Italians were being concealed among the retreating German soldiers. A German soldier explained the man was a drunken colleague, but Lazzaro remained unconvinced.

Lazzaro called out to the man, who twice ignored his shouts. Climbing into the truck he went up to the man and said "Cavaliere Benito Mussolini"—the man's reaction was a physical jolt. The man was Benito Mussolini (Il Duce). The political commissar of the unit was called in—the official partisan version of events thereafter is the decision to have Mussolini executed was taken by a small group including the leaders of the three main 'branches' of the Resistance. One of the representatives of the Communist Garibaldi Brigade was its Commander, Luigi Longo,(born Fubine 1900, died Rome 1980) who would later become a Member of the Italian Parliament and Leader (Secretary) of the Italian Communist Party from 1964 to 1972. Earlier in the Spanish Civil War, Longo as Inspector General of the International Brigade had fought against Franco.

The task of carrying out the execution of Mussolini was given to 'Colonel Valerio', conventionally identified as a Garibaldi Communist, Walter Audisio. However, Lazzaro in his 1962 book about the incident clearly states that the 'Colonel Valerio' the one he saw in Dongo was not Walter Audisio, but Luigi Longo. The identification of such a senior figure personally organising a summary execution was politically explosive. This didn't later stop Lazzaro from further contradicting the official partisan version that Mussolini and his mistress (Clara Petacci) had been killed the following day the 28th at 4.10pm at the gates of a villa at Giulino di Mezzegra overlooking the lake. He stated they were killed the same day the 27th at 12.30pm when Petacci tried to grab a gun from one of the resistance fighters who were escorting them to Milan for a public execution. Shots were fired and Mussolini was hit "they finished him off on the spot and then shot Clara Petacci for causing the accident".

Many of the corpses, including those of Mussolini and Petacci, were later taken to Milan and hung up-side down in Piazzale Loreto, a square not far from the Milano Centrale railway station; the square was chosen because it had been the site of a massacre of anti-Fascists by Fascist militia under German orders the previous year. Fifteen Fascists were exhibited in the square; this number had significance seeing as 15 anti-Fascists had been displayed in the square in 1944.

The Fascists executed in Dongo included: Benito Mussolini (Il Duce), Francesco Barracu (Undersecretary in cabinet office), Fernando Mezzasoma (Ministry of Popular Culture – Propaganda), Nicola Bombacci (a personal friend of Mussolini), Luigi Gatti (Mussolini's private secretary), Augusto Liverani (Minister of Communications), Alessandro Pavolini (ex-Ministry of Popular Culture), Paolo Zerbino (Minister of Interior), Ruggero Romano (Minister of Public Works), Paolo Porta (Head of Fascist Party in Lombardy), Goffredo Coppola (Rector of the Bologna University), Ernesto Daquanno (Director of Stefani press agency), Mario Nudi (President of Fascist Agriculture Association), Colonel Vito Casalinuovo (Mussolini's adjutant), Pietro Calistri (Air Force pilot), Idreno Utimperghe (a participant in the March on Rome and leader of a Black Brigade, and Clara Petacci (Mussolini's mistress).

Achille Starace (Secretary of Fascist Party 1931–1939) was arrested and executed earlier in Milan. He was one of the fifteen Fascists exhibited in the square.

Marcello Petacci (Clara Petacci's brother) was captured with the others. But, rather than being executed in Dongo, he was shot trying to escape.

Shortly after World War II it was said the modern Republic of Italy was founded on the collective achievements of the Partisan leaders, whose political allegiance was mixed and sometimes caused friction. It shouldn't therefore be surprising that credible differing versions of these events were widely promoted then for politically expedient reasons.

Foreign contribution[link]

Not all members of the Italian resistance were of Italian nationality. There were also many foreign soldiers who had escaped POW camps or had joined guerrilla bands as leaders of the so-called "military missions". Among them Yugoslavs, Russians, Ukrainians,^[10] Dutch,^[10] Spanish anti-fascists,^[10] Greeks,^[10] Poles,^[10] as well as some Germans disillusioned by national socialism.^[10] And of course British and Americans, either ex-prisoners or advisors deployed by SOE, SAS and OSS. Some of them later became well-known to the public, such as climber and explorer Bill Tilman, reporter and historian Peter Tompkins, former Royal Air Force pilot Manfred Czernin, and architect Oliver Churchill.

Collateral activities[link]

Another task carried out by the Italian resistance was the assistance of escaping POWs (an estimated 80,000 were interned in Italy up until 8 September 1943^[11]): they were helped reach Allied lines or were escorted to Switzerland through paths previously used by smugglers. Jews were aided by DELASEM, a secret network which extended throughout occupied Italy and included Jews and non-Jews alike, Roman Catholic bishops, clerics, laity, policemen and even some German soldiers. Since Jews were considered "enemy aliens" by the fascist government, they were left with little or nothing to live on, DELASEM contributed to their survival by offering food, shelter, and even money, of which vast amounts were donated. Many of its members would be later designated Righteous among the Nations. Sometimes fugitives were hidden in safe houses, usually by women (the less likely to arise suspicion), even several at a time. After the war, Field Marshal Harold Alexander issued a diploma to those who did this at the risk of their lives.

See also[link]

• ANPI
• Anti-fascism
• Arditi del Popolo
• Giustizia e Libertà
• Italian Partisan Republics

References[link]

External links[link]

• (Italian) ANPI – Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d'Italia
  • La mappa delle Repubbliche partigiane provides a source for the List of partisan governments
  • ANPI Section of Rimini
    • Interviews with Italian partisans
  • ANPI Section of Pesaro-Urbino
    • The photographies of the resistance
• (Italian) ANCFARGL – Associazione Nazionale Combattenti Forze Armate Regolari Guerra di Liberazione
• (Italian) INSMLI – Istituto Nazionale per la Storia del Movimento di Liberazione in Italia
• (Italian) Il portale della guerra di Liberazione
• Articles on Anarchist resistance to Italian Fascism
• 1943–1945: Anarchist partisans in the Italian Resistance
• European Resistance Archive
• Book: War In Italy: By Richard Lamb
• E-Book: Il Partigiano D’Artagnan: By Alberto Cotti
• The Life of Basil Davidson by James Currey

Watched by two small boys, a member of the FFI (French Forces of the Interior) poses with his Bren gun at Châteaudun, 1944

A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state^{[citation needed]}. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance (sometimes called civil resistance) or the use of armed force. In many cases, as for example in Norway in the Second World War, a resistance movement may employ both violent and non-violent methods, usually operating under different organizations and acting in different phases or geographical areas within a country.^[1]

The term resistance is generally used to designate a movement considered legitimate (from the speaker's point of view). Organizations and individuals critical of foreign intervention and supporting forms of organized movement (particularly where citizens are affected) tend to favor the term. When such a resistance movement uses violence, those favorably disposed to it may also speak of freedom fighters.

On the lawfulness of armed resistance movements in international law, there has been a dispute between states since at least 1899, when the first major codification of the laws of war in the form of a series of international treaties took place. In the Preamble to the 1899 Hague Convention II on Land War, the Martens Clause was introduced as a compromise wording for the dispute between the Great Powers who considered francs-tireurs to be unlawful combatants subject to execution on capture and smaller states who maintained that they should be considered lawful combatants.^[2][3] More recently the 1977 Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, referred in Article 1. Paragraph 4 to armed conflicts "... in which peoples are fighting against colonial domination and alien occupation and against racist regimes..." This phraseology contains many ambiguities that cloud the issue of who is or is not a legitimate combatant.^[4] Hence depending on the perspective of a state's government, a resistance movement may or may not be labelled a terrorist group based on whether the members of a resistance movement are considered lawful or unlawful combatants and their right to resist occupation is recognized.^[5] Ultimately, the distinction is a political judgment.

Etymology[link]

The modern usage of the term "Resistance" originates from the self-designation of many movements during World War II, especially the French Resistance. The term is still strongly linked to the context of the events of 1939–45, and particularly to opposition movements in Axis-occupied countries. Using the term "resistance" to designate a movement meeting the definition prior to World War II might be considered by some to be an anachronism. However, such movements existed prior to World War II (albeit often called by different names), and there have been many subsequent to it – for example in struggles against colonialism and foreign military occupations. "Resistance" has become a generic term that has been used to designate underground resistance movements in any country.

Background[link]

Resistance movements can include any irregular armed force that rises up against an enforced or established authority, government, or administration. This frequently includes groups that consider themselves to be resisting tyranny. Some resistance movements are underground organizations engaged in a struggle for national liberation in a country under military occupation or totalitarian domination. Tactics of resistance movements against a constituted authority range from nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience, to industrial sabotage and guerrilla warfare, or even conventional warfare if the resistance movement is strong enough. Any government facing violent acts from a resistance movement usually condemns such acts as terrorism, even when such attacks target only the military or security forces. Resistance during World War II was mainly dedicated to fighting the Axis occupiers. Germany itself also had an anti-Nazi German resistance movement in this period. Although the United Kingdom did not suffer invasion in World War II, preparations were made for a British resistance movement in the event of a German invasion (see Auxiliary Units).

Controversy regarding definition[link]

Some definitions of resistance movement have proved controversial. According to Joint Publication 1-02, the United States Department of Defense defines a resistance movement as "an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to resist the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability". In strict military terminology, a resistance movement is simply that; it seeks to resist (change) the policies of a government or occupying power. This may be accomplished through violent or non-violent means. In this view, a resistance movement is specifically limited to changing the nature of current power, not to overthrow it; and the correct^{[according to whom?]} military term for removing or overthrowing a government is an insurgency. However, in reality many resistance movements have aimed to displace a particular ruler, especially if that ruler has gained or retained power illegally.

Freedom fighter[link]

"Freedom Fighter" redirects here. For the aircraft, see Northrop F-5.

Mujahideen loyal to Yunus Khalis, in October 1987

Freedom fighter is another term for those engaged in a struggle to achieve political freedom for themselves or obtain freedom for others.^[6] Though the literal meaning of the words could include anyone who fights for the cause of freedom, in common use it may be restricted to those who are actively involved in an armed rebellion, rather than those who campaign for freedom by peaceful means (though they may use the title in its literal sense).

Generally speaking, freedom fighters are seen as people who are using physical force in order to cause a change in the political and or social order. Notable examples include the South African Umkhonto we Sizwe and the Irish Republican Army (IRA), both of which were considered freedom fighters by supporters. However, a person who is campaigning for freedom through peaceful means may still be classed as a freedom fighter, though in common usage they are called political activists, as in the case of the Black Consciousness Movement.

People who are described as "freedom fighters" are often also called assassins, rebels, insurgents, or terrorists. This leads to the aphorism "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter".^[7] The degree to which this occurs depends on a variety of factors specific to the struggle in which a given freedom fighter group in engaged. During the Cold War, under Ronald Reagan's Reagan Doctrine, the term freedom fighter was used by the United States and other Western Bloc countries to describe rebels in countries controlled by communist states or otherwise under the influence of the Soviet Union, including rebels in Hungary, the anti-communist Contras in Nicaragua, UNITA in Angola and the multi-factional mujahideen in Afghanistan.^{[citation needed]} In the media, an effort has been made by the BBC to avoid the phrases "terrorist" or "freedom fighter", except in attributed quotes, in favor of neutral terms such as "militant", "guerrilla", "assassin", "insurgent", "paramilitary" or "militia".^[8]

Common weapons[link]

Partisans often use captured weapons taken from their enemies, or weapons that have been stolen or smuggled in. During the Cold War, partisans often received arms from either the Free World countries or the Communist bloc. Free World backed forces would receive weapons such as the American M-16 assault rifle and the FIM-92 Stinger missile launcher. Communist backed forces would receive the Soviet AK-47 assault rifle (and its variants) and RPG-7s. They also may use improvised weapons such as Molotov cocktails^{[citation needed]} or IEDs and maybe even their own weapons such as the Sten.

Examples of resistance movements[link]

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The following examples are of groups that have been considered or would identify themselves as resistance groups, the Governments they oppose would more likely define them as terrorists or criminals. These are mostly, but not exclusively, of armed resistance movements. For movements and phases of activity involving non-violent methods, see civil resistance and nonviolent resistance.

Pre-20th century[link]

• The Sicarii were a first century Jewish movement opposing Roman occupation of the so-called Promised Land. ^[9]

• Carbonari – 19th century Italian movement resisting Austrian or Bourbon rule.

• The Polish National Government- Underground Polish supreme authority during the January Uprising against Russian occupation of Poland. During 1863–1864 it was a real shadow government supported by majority of Poles, who even paid taxes for it, and was a significant problem for Russian secret police (Okhrana).

• Andrés Avelino Cáceres' Resistance – Andean resistance movement against invading Chilean forces during the War of the Pacific.

Pre–World War II[link]

• Filipino guerilla units after official end of Philippine-American War (1902–1913)
• Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine (1918–1921)
• Forest Guerrillas (1921–1922)
• Augusto César Sandino led a rebellion against the United States occupation of Nicaragua
• Lwów Eaglets
• Black Lions (1936)

World War II[link]

Planned resistance movements

• The Auxiliary Units, organized by Colonel Colin Gubbins as a potential British resistance movement against a possible invasion of the British Isles by Nazi forces, note that it was the only resistance movement established prior to invasion, albeit the invasion never came.
• Volunteer Fighting Corps (Japan)

Post–World War II[link]

Notable individuals in resistance movements[link]

World War II (anti-Nazi, anti-Fascist etc)[link]

Other resistance movements[link]

See also[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Resistance movement

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Gardam, Judith Gail (1993). Non-combatant Immunity as a Norm of International Humanitarian,Martinus Nijhoff ISBN 0-7923-2245-2.
• Ticehurst, Rupert. The Martens Clause and the Laws of Armed Conflict 30 April 1997, International Review of the Red Cross no 317, p. 125-134 ISSN 1560-7755