Editing Malayan Emergency (section)

=== Origin and formation of the MNLA (1949) ===
Although the Malayan communists had begun preparations for a guerrilla war against the British, the emergency measures and mass arrest of communists and left-wing activists in 1948 took them by surprise.{{sfn|Newsinger|2015|p=44}} Led by [[Chin Peng]] the remaining Malayan communists retreated to rural areas and formed the [[Malayan National Liberation Army]] (MNLA) on 1 February 1949.<ref name="Postgate69">{{cite book |last1=Postgate |first1=Malcolm |last2=Air Historical Branch |first2=Ministry of Defence |title=Operation Firedog : air support in the Malayan emergency, 1948-1960 |date=1992 |publisher=H.M.S.O |location=London |isbn=9780117727243 |pages=4–14}}</ref>

The MNLA was partly a re-formation of the [[Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army]] (MPAJA), the communist guerrilla force which had been the principal resistance in Malaya against the [[Japanese occupation of Malaya|Japanese occupation]] during WWII. The British had secretly helped form the MPAJA in 1942 and trained them in the use of explosives, firearms and radios.<ref name="book_the_malayan_emergency_2008_jackson">{{cite book|last=Jackson|first=Robert|title=The Malayan Emergency|year=2008|publisher=Pen & Sword Aviation|location=London|page=10}}</ref> Chin Peng was a veteran anti-fascist and trade unionist who had played an integral role in the MPAJA's resistance.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bayly |first1=Christopher |last2=Harper |first2=Tim |title=Forgotten Armies: Britain's Asian Empire and the War with Japan |location=New York, NY |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NWURxfct6SgC&pg=PA1929 |date= 2005 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=978-0-14-192719-0 |pages=344–345, 347–348, 350–351}}
</ref> Disbanded in December 1945, the MPAJA officially turned in its weapons to the [[British Military Administration (Malaya)|British Military Administration]], although many MPAJA soldiers secretly hid stockpiles of weapons in jungle hideouts. Members who agreed to disband were offered economic incentives. Around 4,000 members rejected these incentives and went underground.<ref name="book_the_malayan_emergency_2008_jackson" />

The MNLA began their war for Malayan independence from the British Empire by targeting the colonial [[natural resource|resource]] extraction industries, namely the tin mines and rubber plantations which were the main sources of income for the British occupation of Malaya. The MNLA attacked these industries in the hopes of bankrupting the British and winning independence by making the colonial administration too expensive to maintain.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

[[File:Malayan Emergency Bren Gun.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Commonwealth propaganda leaflet dropped across Malaya, urging people to come forward with a [[Bren light machine gun|Bren]] gun and receive a [[Malayan dollar|$]]1,000 reward]]{{History of Malaysia}}