United States invasion of Grenada in the context of "M60 Patton"

The People's Revolutionary Government (PRG) was proclaimed on 13 March 1979 after the New JEWEL Movement overthrew the government of Grenada in a revolution, making Grenada the only Marxist-Leninist state within the Commonwealth. In Grenada, the revolution is referred to as the "March 13th Revolution of 1979" or simply as "The Revolution". The government suspended the constitution and ruled by decree until a factional conflict broke out, culminating in an invasion by the United States on 25 October 1983.

In political science, rollback is the strategy of forcing a change in the major policies of a state, usually by replacing its ruling regime. It contrasts with containment, which means preventing the expansion of that state; and with détente, which means developing a working relationship with that state. Most of the discussions of rollback in the scholarly literature deal with United States foreign policy toward communist countries during the Cold War. The rollback strategy was tried and was not successful in Korea in 1950 and in Cuba in 1961, but it was successful in Grenada in 1983. The United States discussed the use of rollback during the East German uprising of 1953 and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, which were ultimately crushed by the Soviet Army, but decided against it to avoid the risk of a major war.

Rollback of governments hostile to the U.S. took place during World War II (against Fascist Italy in 1943, Nazi Germany in 1945, and Imperial Japan in 1945), Afghanistan (against the Taliban in 2001, though this would fail in the long term with the Taliban returning to power in 2021), and Iraq (against Saddam Hussein in 2003). When directed against an established government, rollback is sometimes called "regime change".

Left-wing terrorism is a form of terrorist political violence motivated by far-left ideologies, committed with the aim of overthrowing current capitalist systems and replacing them with communist, Marxist, anarchist or socialist societies. Left-wing terrorism can also occur within already socialist states as criminal action against the current ruling government.

The majority of left-wing terrorist groups originated in the aftermath of World War II and they were predominantly active during the Cold War. Most left-wing terrorist groups that had operated in the 1970s and 1980s disappeared by the mid-1990s.

The New Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation, or New JEWEL Movement (NJM), was a Marxist–Leninist vanguard party in the Caribbean island nation of Grenada that was led by Maurice Bishop.

Established in 1973, the NJM issued its manifesto prior to Grenada being granted independence from the United Kingdom in 1974. The NJM took control of Grenada with a bloodless coup in 1979 and ruled by decree as the People's Revolutionary Government until 1983. In October of that year, Bishop and seven of his associates were killed by paramilitaries affiliated with hard-line elements in his own party. Those elements formed a military government, which was quickly deposed by a U.S. invasion later in October.

Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. KCB (/ˈʃwɔːrtskɒf/ SHWORTS-kof; 22 August 1934 – 27 December 2012) was a United States Army general. While serving as the commander of United States Central Command, he led all coalition forces in the Gulf War against Ba'athist Iraq.

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Schwarzkopf grew up in the United States and later in Iran. He was accepted by the United States Military Academy and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army in 1956. After a number of initial training programs, Schwarzkopf interrupted a stint as an academy teacher and served in the Vietnam War, first as an adviser to the South Vietnamese Army and then as a battalion commander. Schwarzkopf was highly decorated in Vietnam and was awarded three Silver Stars, two Purple Hearts, and the Legion of Merit. Rising through the ranks after the Vietnam war, he later commanded the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division and was one of the commanders of the invasion of Grenada.

The M60 is an American second-generation main battle tank (MBT). It was officially standardized as the Tank, Combat, Full Tracked: 105-mm Gun, M60 in March 1959. Although developed from the M48 Patton, the M60 tank series was never officially christened as a Patton tank. It has been called a "product-improved descendant" of the Patton tank's design. The design similarities are evident comparing the original version of the M60 and the M48A2. The United States fully committed to the MBT doctrine in 1963, when the Marine Corps retired the last (M103) heavy tank battalion. The M60 tank series became the American primary main battle tank during the Cold War, reaching a production total of 15,000 M60s. Hull production ended in 1983, but 5,400 older models were converted to the M60A3 variant ending in 1990.

The M60 reached operational capability upon fielding to US Army European units beginning in December 1960. The first combat use of the M60 was by Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, where it saw service under the "Magach 6" designation, performing well in combat against comparable tanks such as the T-62. The Israelis again used the M60 during the 1982 Lebanon War, equipped with upgrades such as explosive reactive armor to defend against guided missiles that proved very effective at destroying tanks. The M60 also saw use in 1983 during Operation Urgent Fury, supporting US Marines in an amphibious assault on Grenada. M60s delivered to Iran also served in the Iran–Iraq War.