TOWARD A THEORY OF GUERRILLA WARFARE: A CASE STUDY OF THE UKRAINIAN NATIONALIST UNDERGROUND IN THE SOVIET UNION AND COMMUNIST POLAND.
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Title
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TOWARD A THEORY OF GUERRILLA WARFARE: A CASE STUDY OF THE UKRAINIAN NATIONALIST UNDERGROUND IN THE SOVIET UNION AND COMMUNIST POLAND.
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Identifier
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AAI8409385
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identifier
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8409385
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Creator
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BUCHSBAJEW, ALEXANDER.
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Contributor
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I. L. Markowitz
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Date
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1984
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Political Science, General
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Abstract
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The purpose of this dissertation is to determine under which circumstances the guerrilla movements fail or emerge victorious. The armed struggle of the Ukrainian Nationalists against the Soviet and Polish Communist regimes, between 1944 and 1948, was chosen as a case-study. Three levels of analysis were conducted. The first one deals with the insurgent structure itself: its leadership, equipment, training, morale and so forth. The second set of factors concerns the incumbent regime, particularly the cohesion and determination of its rulers as well as the size and quality of its coercive apparatus. Finally, the international environment in which both protagonists operate and its influence on the outcome is examined. It appears that the most important factor in the struggle is the state itself. We conclude that contrary to widely held belief, even the popularly backed, well-armed or highly motivated insurgents cannot succeed against a modern totalitarian state. Their greatest chance of success is against weak liberal democracies or anachronistic authoritarian regimes. They cannot defeat a modern Soviet-style government; a government whose rulers can insulate them effectively from international or domestic public opinion, who firmly control mass media and means of coercion and who are willing and able to employ terror on a wide scale, without being hindered by legal, diplomatic or moral considerations. Their only chance to win is when such a state disintegrates due to a catastrophic international or domestic crisis. However, this seems unlikely in peacetime.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Political Science
