Resistance movement  

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A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to fighting an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign nation through either the use of physical force, or nonviolence. The term resistance has political overtones, as people have used it, along with sililar terms, to bring support to opposition groups.

Organizations and individuals critical of foreign intervention and supporting forms of organized movement (particularly where citizens are affected) tend to favor the term. When such a resistance movement uses violence, those favorably disposed to it may also speak of freedom fighters. Both phrases -- resistance movement and freedom fighters -- can become contentious terms for what other observers might describe as terrorists.

Freedom fighter

Freedom fighter is a relativistic term for those engaged in rebellion against an established government or regime that they consider to be oppressive. The terms "freedom" and "rebellion" are often confusing, as often both sides in armed conflict claim to represent the popular cause of "freedom". While external intervening parties, even oppressors, almost always claim to be "liberators", 'freedom fighters' can become oppressors in the eyes of civilians.

Though the literal meaning of the words could include anyone who fights for the cause of freedom, common use is restricted to those who are actively involved in an armed rebellion, rather than those who campaign for freedom by peaceful non-disruptive means (though they may use the title in its literal sense).

Usage of the terms "terrorists" and "freedom fighters" is almost always controversial and reflective of opposing points of view. There is no universally agreed-upon definition for either term and many organizations that have been accused of committing acts of terrorism lay claim to being freedom fighters. In other cases, states have given the title "freedom fighter" to insurgent organisations in another state, even when their activities have the characteristics of terrorism. Others maintain that "freedom fighter" is a whitewashed term for "terrorist" or (conversely) that "terrorist" is simply a negative propagandistic term that is applied to freedom fighters.

See also




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Resistance movement" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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