Partisan ( military ) A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity . The term can apply to the field element of resistance movement s , an example of which are the civilians that opposed Nazi German rule in several countries during World War II . History . The French term " " partisan " " , derived from the Latin , was first used in the 17th century to describe the leader of a war - party . Techniques of partisan warfare were described in detail in Johann von Ewald ' s " Abhandlung über den kleinen Krieg " ( 1789 ) . The initial concept of partisan warfare involved the use of troops raised from the local population in a war zone ( or in some cases regular forces ) who would operate behind enemy lines to disrupt communications , seize posts or villages as forward - operating bases , ambush convoys , impose war taxes or contributions , raid logistical stockpiles , and compel enemy forces to disperse and protect their base of operations . This concept of partisan warfare would later form the basis of the " Partisan Rangers " of the American Civil War . In that war , Confederate States Army Partisan leaders , such as John S . Mosby , operated along the lines described by von Ewald ( and later by both Jomini and Clausewitz ) . In essence , 19th - century American partisans were closer to commando or ranger forces raised during World War II than to the " partisan " forces operating in occupied Europe . Such fighters would have been legally considered uniformed members of their state ' s armed forces . One of the first manuals of partisans ' tactics in the 18th century was " The Partisan , or the Art of Making War in Detachment . . . " by de Jeney , a Hungarian military officer who served in the Prussian Army as captain of military engineer s during the Seven Years ' War – published in London in 1760 . Partisans in the mid - 19th century were substantially different from raiding cavalry , or from unorganized / semi - organized guerrilla forces . Russia n partisans played a crucial part in the downfall of Napoleon . Their fierce resistance and persistent inroads helped compel the French emperor to flee Russia in 1812 . During World War II the current definition of " partisan " became the dominant one — focusing on irregular forces in opposition to an attacking or occupying power . Soviet partisans , especially those active in Belarus , effectively harassed German troops and significantly hampered their operations in the region . As a result , Soviet authority was re - established deep inside the German - held territories . There were even partisan kolkhoz es that raised crops and livestock to produce food for the partisans . The communist Yugoslav partisans were a leading force in the liberation of their country during the People ' s Liberation War of Yugoslavia . Soviet partisans attacked villages and indiscriminately massacred everyone , including children and babies . Since they would be no match for effective anti - partisan military patrols , the victims were targeted because they were easy targets in remote villages , rather than being militarily significant . The murders were reported to higher command as attacks on enemy military . For instance , the Seitajärvi massacre where 15 civilians were brutally murdered , was falsely reported as a raid on a German officers ' sanatorium , and the 33 civilians murdered in Malahvia were reported as 93 enemy soldiers . The murderers have never been prosecuted . Furthermore , disclosure has been hampered by wartime and post - war censorship on part of the victims ' government , and suppression on part of the Soviets .