ABSTRACT
Partisan movements can be classified by their motivation, structure or functions. There are movements which fight an independent war on their own—as they did in Malaya, Indo-China and Kenya—and others which operate in an international war, usually as auxiliaries to the Army—as most partisan movements did in World War II. Wireless communications made it possible in the last war to co-ordinate partisan with Army activities to a hitherto unknown degree. Partisans could also be supplied by air. Tremendous support was given by partisans to the Soviet Army in river crossings. The general objectives of partisan warfare are therefore threefold: to deprive the enemy of reinforcements, arms, equipment and supplies; to drain his manpower; and to give direct combat support to the front. The type of contribution which the guerrillas make depends on the area in which they operate. A partisan movement must be mainly composed of nationals of the country in which it operates.
