The reason the guerillas managed to stay in business for so long was because of the ever so generous Kaiser Wilhelm II. Germany saw the uprising as a most excellent oppurtunity to upset its primary rival, Britain. Hence, the Germans covertly supplied the guerillas with weapons and ammunition. While this helped the guerillas, it wasn't enough, and as the war neared the end, the Germans began supporting the guerillas increasingly, in hope of turning the tables. It still didn't help, and the Germans were caught supplying the weapons, where it had been unknown before. This flared up tensions between Britain and Germany, and was a major factor in the outbreak of World War I.