Resistance movement
Organized effort to withstand a government or an occupying power
Summary
A resistance movement is an organized effort by a group of people to oppose or challenge an established authority, such as a government or an occupying power. Such movements may seek to change, reform, or overthrow existing power structures and can employ a range of methods, including nonviolent resistance and violent or armed struggle. In practice, resistance movements often combine multiple strategies and may operate through different organizations or across distinct phases or geographical areas.
Originally created by 213.253.40.173
9/11/2002, 11:28:17 AM
Modified
5/17/2026, 10:23:09 PM
Recent revisions
changed wording to better reflect what it's talking about, mirroring earlier version of article.
added sourced historical example of South Africa on anti-Apartheid labor resistance
changed the wording of a sentence
added Salt March as example of nonviolent protest
added sourced section on labor-based resistance with historical example of palestinian labor resistance; South Africa example will be added in a follow-up edit
i restructured "geographies of resistance" into "forms of resistance", added "nonviolent resistance" and "violent resistance" as subsections with sources to address the personal essay/original research concerns. remaining relevant material from "geographies of resistance section" will be reintegrated later
removed the very brief and unsourced "common weapons" section to improve the structure. Topic is too brief her and better addressed under violent resistance or related tactics pages
added sources
removed standalone "freedom fighter" section, terminology is summarized and sourced in classifcation section
I rewrote the background as "definition and classification", improved sourcing and structure
/* Etymology */ updated etymology section with OED definition and scholarly source on contemporary meaning
trimmed the "See also" section to directly relevant related concepts and removed loosely related or overly specific entries
I am a student from the Netherlands and I am editing this Wikipedia page as part of my final assignment for a seminar on "Power and Resistance in the Modern Middle East." I removed the indiscriminate list of "notable individuals" because many of the entries lacked relevance to resistance movements and inclusion criteria. It was a list that mixed historical, political, mythological, fictional and other loosely related figuers without sufficient context or relevance (e.g. Robin Hood).
replaced Cross of Lorraine image with broader representation of resistance movements beyond WWII context
Undid revision [[Special:Diff/1351054265|1351054265]] by [[Special:Contributions/~2026-57753-6|~2026-57753-6]] ([[User talk:~2026-57753-6|talk]]) status as an extendedconfirmed account is required to make that edit because it is within scope of [[WP:ARBECR]]
