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Protracted people's war
Protracted people's war (PPW), also known simply as people's war, is a military strategy developed by Mao Zedong, chairman of the Communist Party of China. Its initial implementation in China in the early-to-mid 20th century saw the mobilization of the peasantry to encircle the cities from the countryside in a protracted guerilla struggle. It has been applied by various Maoist parties outside of China, notably the Communist Party of Peru (Shining Path).
Theory
People's war contains three stages: the strategic defensive, stalemate, and offensive.
- Strategic defensive: the revolutionary forces are weaker than the bourgeois forces
- Strategic stalemate: the revolutionary forces are comparable in strength to the bourgeois forces
- Strategic offensive: the revolutionary forces are stronger than the bourgeois forces
Internal debate
Maoists debate the universality and applicability of protracted people's war. Supporters of the line of the Communist Party of the Philippines are generally opposed to its universality and view it as restricted in scope to agrarian and semi-feudal conditions. However, "Gonzaloists" and other followers of the PCP-SL believe it is universally applicable. Chairman Gonzalo himself held this position.[1]
Criticism
People's war has been critiqued as adventurist and terroristic. Others support its implementation in 20th century China but are skeptical of its potential outside of the country. Albanian leader Enver Hoxha, in his criticism of Mao, attacked people's war as a theory which "absolutizes" the role of the peasantry and undermines the proletariat's role as the vanguard. He was also critical of the thesis that the peasants should encircle the cities from the countryside.[2]
Further reading
- On Practiced War (1938) by Mao Zedong. Available on the Marxists Internet Archive
See also
References
- ↑ Interview with Chairman Gonzalo (1988). Available on Red Library.
"People’s War is universally applicable, in accordance with the character of the revolution and adapted to the specific conditions of each country."
- ↑ Enver Hoxha (1978). Imperialism and the Revolution, Part II. Ch. III, "Mao Tsetung Thought — An Anti-Marxist Theory". Available on the Marxists Internet Archive.