Revolutionary base area

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In Mao Zedong's original formulation of the military strategy of people's war, a revolutionary base area (Chinese :革命根据地gémìng gēnjùdì), or simply base area, is a local stronghold that the revolutionary force conducting the people's war should attempt to establish, starting from a remote area with mountainous or forested terrain in which its enemy is weak.

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This kind of base helps the revolutionary conducting force to exploit the few advantages that a small revolutionary movement hasbroad-based popular support, especially in a localized area, can be one of themagainst a state power with a large and well-equipped army. [1] [2] To overcome a lack of supplies, revolutionaries in a base area may storm isolated outposts or other vulnerable supply caches controlled by the forces of an opponent. [3]

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References

  1. Chakrabarti, Ashis (September 10, 2016). "Outside China, these places are where Maoism is alive and kicking". South China Morning Post . Retrieved April 26, 2021. And, the Maoists' "base areas" and core support groups are mostly in forested outbacks where tribal people, the poorest of the poor in India, live away from the reach of the government and its laws.
  2. Goodman, David S. G. (2000). "Revolutionary Women and Women in the Revolution: The Chinese Communist Party and Women in the War of Resistance to Japan, 1937-1945". The China Quarterly . 164 (164): 915–942. doi:10.1017/S0305741000019238. ISSN   0305-7410. JSTOR   655920. S2CID   154996195 via JSTOR. Wuxiang, Licheng and Liaoxian counties were at the heart of the Taihang Base Area both physically and organizationally. The high mountain area... was one of the most secure parts of any base area during the war... There were no Japanese or allied forces based here, and it was difficult for them to operate so far from their usual lines of communication and supply.
  3. "The People's War". LIFE - Black Models Take Center Stage. Vol. 67. Time Inc. October 17, 1969. pp. 58–80. With their base areas now solidly organized, the guerrillas can now carry war to the enemy... The rebels' most pressing need is for arms, ammunition, and equipment. These they may get from the enemy by lightning assaults on police stations or isolated military outposts.