Petty warfare (; ; ) is a form of
irregular warfare
Irregular warfare (IW) is defined in United States joint doctrine as "a violent struggle among state and non-state actors for legitimacy and influence over the relevant populations." Concepts associated with irregular warfare are older than the te ...
where small units attack the enemy's support operation to ensure that the main force enjoys favorable conditions for
decisive battles. Petty warfare can be used in both ground and naval combat. The term first appeared during the 18th century and was subsequently developed by Russian and Soviet tacticians.
History
The term "petty warfare" (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
: "Kleinkrieg" or "kleiner Krieg"), was first adopted in the
early modern period by German people, and was later on used in 18th- and 19th-century
Russian literature
Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia and its émigrés and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. The roots of Russian literature can be traced to the Middle Ages, when epics and chronicles in Old East Slavic were c ...
to refer to a particular form of warfare in which small units, avoiding collisions with larger military forces, attack communication and small fortified posts, enemy convoys, armories, etc.
Petty warfare is similar to the later Spanish term
''guerrilla'' (literally, "little war") but differs by using solely special military forces; guerrilla warfare includes armed civilians and the
irregular military
Irregular military is any non-standard military component that is distinct from a country's national armed forces. Being defined by exclusion, there is significant variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military orga ...
. During the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, when the use of
civilians
Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not "combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant, b ...
in military actions became widespread, the term “little war” or petty warfare in Germany was superseded by “people’s war” concept (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
: ''volkskrieg'').
It was common for 19th-century writers to write about a people’s war against Napoleon to describe the events that took place in Russia. In the early 19th century, a number of books on the theory of petty warfare were published in Russia and were later included as part of officer examinations.
The term “little war” was created at the time of a cumbersome system of arsenal supply during the early modern period, when the main means of transport were horses and carts.
The
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
was full of examples of how supply troubles often arose by the capture of transports and the destruction of stores. Such attacks led to the breakdown of planned large-scale military operations. For example, a new expedition of Russian troops to
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
in late 1761 failed after
Prussian
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
Lieutenant General von Platen on September 15, 1761 captured a Russian convoy of 5,000 wagons and burned a number of stores that had been prepared for the expedition. Similarly around the same time, a Prussian garrison surrendered because Serbian
hussar
A hussar ( , ; hu, huszár, pl, husarz, sh, husar / ) was a member of a class of light cavalry, originating in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely ...
s under the command of
Peter Tekeli
Peter Tekeli (russian: Петр Авраамович Текели, Serbian: Петар Поповић Текелија or ''Petar Popović Tekelija'',''Popović'' is often omitted. hu, Tököly-Popovics Péter) (1720–1792) was a Russian genera ...
intercepted their convoy that went from
Stettin
Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...
to
Kolberg (now
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
), which was full of gunpowder stocks and bombs.
The development of theories of
guerrilla and petty warfare continued in the 1920s and 1930s in the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
. In 1931, M. A. Drobov wrote a book, "Petty warfare: partisan and sabotage," which summarized the views of military-political leadership in the USSR on the methods of petty warfare. “Petty warfare. Organization and combat tactics of small units” book is the most recent literature in Russian dated 1998.
Ground petty warfare
Ground petty warfare includes reconnaissance,
sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
,
guerrilla, and
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
used by small combat groups. Such combat groups are usually part of
special purpose units and
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
.
Taktika malyh podrazdeleniy (Small units' tactics)
/ref>
During the early modern period, the main petty warfare forces on ground were regular and irregular parts of light cavalry
Light cavalry comprised lightly armed and armored cavalry troops mounted on fast horses, as opposed to heavy cavalry, where the mounted riders (and sometimes the warhorses) were heavily armored. The purpose of light cavalry was primarily rai ...
. In Austria, they were Croatian and Pandurs
The Pandurs were any of several light infantry
Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line i ...
, and in Russia, they were Cossacks
The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
, Kalmyks
The Kalmyks ( Kalmyk: Хальмгуд, ''Xaľmgud'', Mongolian: Халимагууд, ''Halimaguud''; russian: Калмыки, translit=Kalmyki, archaically anglicised as ''Calmucks'') are a Mongolic ethnic group living mainly in Russia, w ...
and Bashkirs
, native_name_lang = bak
, flag = File:Bashkirs of Baymak rayon.jpg
, flag_caption = Bashkirs of Baymak in traditional dress
, image =
, caption =
, population = approx. 2 million
, popplace ...
. King Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
considered those ground forces to be one of the main advantages of Russian army during the early modern period.
Naval petty warfare
In 1920s, petty warfare theories were part of the official concepts of the Soviet Navy. Naval petty warfare tactics included rapid surprise attacks on ground enemy units from shores with the support of the air forces and the coastal artillery
Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications.
From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of c ...
.
See also
* Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...
* ''Small Wars Journal
The ''Small Wars Journal'' (''SWJ'') is an online magazine focusing on intrastate conflict. Aside from its online magazine, ''SWJ'' hosts an accompanying blog and the Small Wars Council discussion board. Other site features include an online refer ...
''
References
Literature
* Groznoe oruzhie. Malaya voina, partizanstvo i drugie vidy asimitrichnogo voevaniya v svete naslediya russkih voennyh myslitiley. Sostaviteli Aleksandr Savinkin, Igor Domnin, Izdatelstvo: Voennyi universitet, Russkiy put, Seriya: Rossiiskiy voennyi sbornik, 2007 g.
* M. A. Drobov. Malaya voina: partizanstvo i diversii.
* Taras A. E. "Malaya voina" (Organizaciya i taktika boevyh deistviy malyh podrazdeleniy)
* Kvachkov V. V. Chast vtoraya. Specyalnye deistviya v voennom iskusstve sovetskogo vremeni 2.1. Teoriya i praktika spevyalnyh deistviy.
* Taktika malyh podrazdeleniy (iz polegogo ustava SSO armii UAR).
* Strachan Hew European Armies and the Conduct of War — New York: Routledge, 1983. — {{ISBN, 0415078636.
* Pravila maloi voiny i upotrebleniya voisk. Obyasnennye primerami iz francuzkoi voiny maiorom Valentini.
* Engelgardt A.E. Kratkoe nachertanie maloi voiny dlya vseh rodov orujiya SPB. 1850. 112 str.
* Vuich I.V. Malaya voina S.-Peterburg 1850.(Ch1 Ohranenie voisk ot vnezapnogo napadeniya, Ch2 O deistviyah otryadami)
* Liprandi И. П. Некоторые замечания по поводу двух сочинений, вышедших под заглавием <малая война>. СПб., 1851. 75 стр.
* Srazheniya. Malaya voyna. Kurs po voyennomu delu. B.m.: Lit. Il'ina, 1855. 76 s.
* Novitskiy N. D. Lektsii maloy voyny, chitanyye v Yelisavetgr. ofits. kav. uch. Odessa. 1865
* Peritsonius G. Prikladnaya taktika. Razdel D- Malaya voyna. Voyennaya biblioteka. 1872. str. 544—563.
* Teoriya bol'shoy voyny pri pomoshchi maloy ili partizanskoy i s uchastiyem Landvera. Per. s nem. V serii: Voyennaya biblioteka. Tom 4. 1872. str. 493—607.
* Rodzishevskiy. Kurs taktiki. M. 1877. Otdel IX. Deystviya maloy voyny. str. 359—390.
* Gershel'man F. K. Partizanskaya voyna (issledovaniye). S.-Peterburg, 1885. 423 str.
* Fiedler, Siegfried: Taktik und Strategie der Kabinettskriege. 1650—1792, Bechtermünz-Verlag, Augsburg 2002
* Groehler, Olaf: Die Kriege Friedrichs II.,Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, Berlin 1990
External links
Vnimanie partizany! Taktika maloi voiny
Warfare by type