A Case study of Soviet counterinsurgency, the guerrilla wars in Lithuania and Western Ukraine, 1944-1953 : disertacija

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Sovietų Sąjunga (SSRS; Soviet Union; USSR); Posovietinės šalys; Soviet Union; Former Soviet Republics; Rusija (Russia).

ENThis thesis aims to analyze Soviet counterinsurgency practice by examining the anti-guerrilla tactics employed against the nationalist resistance govements in the newly incorporated western republics of the USSR atter WW II. Almost allot the new territories exhibited some resistance to their inclusion in the Soviet Union. The best organized resistance was in Lithuania and Western Ukraine. In those two areas the Soviets had to launch an anti-guerrilla, and later anti-terrorist campaign, which was to last well into the 1950's. In order to deal with the rebels in the western republics the Soviets employed a classic two-pronged counterinsurgency strategy. On the one hand, they employed military forces to liquidate the opposition forces. On the other, they at tempted to integrate the restive areas into the rest of the Soviet Union. Integration was meant to undermine the opposition by making the interests ot the western areas coincide with those ot the USSR. Militarily the Soviets were successtul in their counterinsurgency effort. Although emigres' otten point to the tact that Lithuanian and Ukrainian guerrillas remained active into the mid-1950's as a sign ot nationalist determination, this does not indicate any failure on the part ot the Soviets. When looking at twentieth century guerrilla and terrorist movements, a decade long conflict is by no means excessive. On the contrary, it is a relatively short anti-terrorist effort.The Soviets were less successful in integrating the restive republics. While they were integrated economically, a large proportion of the native inhabitants continued regarding Soviet domination as a foreign occupation. As a result, the authorities had to continue to rely on police repression to prevent rebellions from arising. Had the Soviets succeeded in this second part ot counterinsurgency strategy, the Soviet Union may still be a union ot fifteen republics today. [From the publication]