How Rebellion Begins

How do armed rebellions begin? Scholars often probe the "origins" and "onset" of internal conflict, but rarely scrutinize how violence initially emerges. This study does so by examining the inception of all rebel groups that formed in Uganda since 1986. It focuses in particular on understanding why only some nascent groups become viable, while others fail too early to make an imprint on the historical record and thus remain omitted from scholarly analyses. By comparing the initial stages of rebellion for groups that become viable with those of groups that fail early, this project offers a rare opportunity to examine how armed conflict begins and how it sometimes ends before large-scale violence occurs.