18 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About Nelson Mandela

10. He Started Off As A Pacifist... But Changed His Stance In The 1960s And Co-Founded The "Spear Of The Nation" Militant Wing Of The ANC

Before the late-1980s, Western leaders - including Margaret Thatcher - regularly labelled Mandela and the ANC as a "terrorist" organisation. However, Mandela was initially committed to non-violent protest during his youth. Originally following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Mandela became disillusioned with the lack of success in protesting against apartheid South Africa by the early-1960s and instead resorted to a sabotage regime in opposition to the government. In 1961, Mandela helped to co-found the militant wing of the ANC - the so-called "Umkhonto we Sizwe" ("MK") or "Spear of the Nation" - and starting using ideas of guerilla warfare inspired by the likes of Che Guevara and Mao Zedong. The group bombed military installations and power plants, cut telephone wires, destroyed transport links and attempted to cripple the country's infrastructure with minimal harm to civilians. As Mandela explained, he chose this sort of sabotage: "Because it did not involve loss of life (and) it offered the best hope for reconciliation among the races afterward. Strict instructions were given to members of MK that we would countenance no loss of life, (but if these tactics should fail they would resort to) guerilla warfare and terrorism."