Patterns of Subversion by Violence

One of the aspects of unconventional warfare is the use of violence applied concurrently to the weakening of the state and to the corruption of its social bases. Two streams of historical development are discernible. The first of these involves the tactics of guerrilla war; it is illustrated by the pattern of opposition to Napoleon's armies by Spanish irregulars. The second is that of revolution utilizing violence as a principal tool for altering society; it is illustrated by the Arab revolt during World War I and by the Nazi take-over in Germany, which was one of the few examples of the suc cessful subversion of an economically developed country. The union of these two streams is accomplished in the modern synthesis of Mao Tse-tung. That synthesis, applicable chiefly to nascent, underdeveloped nations with relatively open societies, uses violence in such a way as to make society sick before the state is overthrown, letting the proposed Communist alternative shine by comparison. This pattern achieves a remarkable internal harmony, employing the same violent means to weaken the state, to subvert it by corroding the habits essential in an open society, and to train the members of the authoritarian administration to be established after victory.