Monument in Lidice, Czech Republic: Lidice village was completely destroyed on June 10, 1942 by the Nazis after the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich by Czech resistance fighters who had parachuted in from England.
AP Photo
"Draining the Sea by Filling the Graves: Investigating the Effectiveness of Indiscriminate Violence as a Counterinsurgency Strategy"
Journal Article, Civil Wars, The Origins and Effectiveness of Insurgent and Counterinsurgent Strategies, volume 9, issue 4, pages 420-444
December 2007
Author: Alexander B. Downes, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2007–2008
Belfer Center Programs or Projects: International Security
"It is commonly believed in the literature on insurgency and counterinsurgency that to be effective in undermining civilian support for guerrillas, violence against noncombatants must be selective or risk alienating the population. Yet cases exist where governments have defeated insurgencies by wielding indiscriminate violence against noncombatants. This paper explores the conditions under which such violence can be effective through a case study of British counterinsurgency strategy in the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902)."
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