Others formed guerrilla units of their own. To make up for the lack of regular forces, many took command of guerrilla units. Former officers of the defeated Spanish army no longer had their regular unites to command. Bandits throughout the peninsula seized opportunities to raid French supply lines in the hopes of gaining valuable war material and food supplies. French occupation of cities resulted in urban populations of varying social status to provide aid and recruits for guerrilla fighters.įor others, unconventional warfare provided opportunity. The French brutality motivated many peasants throughout the countryside to join guerrilla units. Mountaineers, who held suspicion and hate of anyone from outside the mountain areas, made up some guerrilla unites. Guerrilla fighters varied in their composition and motivation. One observer remarked, “…the priest girded up his black robe, and stuck a pistol in his belt the student threw aside his books, and grasped the sword the shepherd forsook his flock the husbandman his home.” Such efforts resulted in guerrilla bands gaining fresh recruits and increased support from the population. In an effort to quell resistance, the French intensified their efforts at retaliation. Shortly after Napoleon’s invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, organized, regional guerrilla bands emerged. Peasants and Guerrilla Warfare During the Napoleonic Wars Guerrilla tactics employed by ordinary peasants resulted in French forces precariously controlling only the ground they physically occupied. In response to the demands of unconventional warfare, Napoleon’s initial invasion force of 50,000 swelled to 80,000 by 1808. Shortly after his successful invasion and defeat of conventional forces, guerrilla warfare ensued. Napoleon did not anticipate the will of the people to resist a foreign invader. If successful, Napoleon could exploit Spain’s resources and expand his Continental System, denying the British another important trading partner. Napoleon calculated that such a military operation would be be relatively easy due to perceived Spanish weakness and inept leadership. In July 1807, Napoleon invaded the Iberian Peninsula. Send us feedback.During the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon’s occupation of the Iberian Peninsula prompted one of the greatest outbreaks of unconventional warfare in military history. These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'guerrilla.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. 2018 Her interviews were guerrilla achievements and global events.ĭwight Garner, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2019 Paolo Luers, a journalist and former guerrilla press officer who became part of Mijango’s team, told me.ĭaniel Castro, Harper's magazine, 10 June 2019 Maybe a little too guerrilla style for some of the crews. 2020 That was the year that social media really started to take off, which gave restaurants and bars this megaphone to kind of guerrilla market on their own.ī, 11 Sep. Lindsey Mcginnis, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Aug. 2022 Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective Experts say ex- guerrilla fighters, who once occupied the most remote parts of Colombia’s jungles, forests, mountains, and savannas, are uniquely prepared to aid scientists with ongoing conservation efforts. 2021 Torres was a guerrilla commander who fought alongside Ortega during Nicaragua’s civil war and later a general with the Nicaraguan army. 2021 Citizen journalists and amateur storytellers, empowered like never before by technological and social shifts, had become soldiers in a guerrilla war over facts and fantasy. 2021 Queen Nzinga will be the legendary tale of her transformation from an innocent princess into a fearless warrior queen, raging a ferocious 40-year guerrilla war against the subjugation of her people by Portuguese slavers. 2022 Third, another Russian invasion of Ukraine, even if militarily successful in the short run, is likely to spawn a guerrilla war in those areas of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces. 2022 The fighting could last weeks, officials were told, before settling into a guerrilla war.ĭavid E. 2022 In a statement Monday, Colombia’s army said that the latest outbreak of violence was caused by fighting between the National Liberation Army guerrilla group, and former members of the FARC, who refused to join the peace deal. 2022 In Colombia, where a presidential election is set for May, Gustavo Petro, a leftist former mayor of Bogotá who once belonged to an urban guerrilla group, has held a consistent lead in polls. Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Petro is himself a former member of a guerrilla group known as M-19, which demobilized decades ago.