The Malayan Emergency (1948-1960) was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA), the Malayan Communist Party's (MCP) armed wing, against the armed forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth. The war was fought over attempts by communist forces to gain independence for Malaya from the British Empire and to establish a socialist economy. The fighting spanned both the colonial period and the creation of an independent Malaya in 1957. Although colonial authorities called the war "The Emergency", the MNLA used the term "Anti-British National Liberation War". The conflict was called an "Emergency" by the British for insurance purposes, as London-based insurers would not have paid out in instances of civil wars.