What is the militia? Detailed analysis

The article describes what the militia is, what kinds of it are and why such formations are created.

Wars

People are fighting their whole history. If you open a textbook of world history, you can see - rarely a century or even a decade did without a particular war. Some lasted for ages (with interruptions), as it was with the Hundred Years' War, while others were relatively fleeting, but very bloody, for example, World War II.

Even in peaceful and cloudless time, any country pays much attention to its army, its technical level and quality. It is much wiser to do this before the war, and not after it. Of course, there are exceptions, for example, Japan and some Scandinavian countries, there are no armies, only the Coast Guard. But at all times the most valuable resource was people - you can create thousands of tanks and aircraft, but without experienced pilots and tankers, this will not help the victory. But at times there were situations when there were centralized or spontaneous people's militias. So what is the militia? In this we will understand.

Definition

Regardless of the form and form, the essence of this formation is always the same - protection from an external or internal enemy. For the conduct of wars of conquest, the militia was never used. This term came to us from ancient times and is currently rarely used.

The militia are armed military formations consisting of men of draft age who have already served in the army or who did not attend this service. Also, such detachments can include those who are considered to be limitedly fit. This is the basic definition of the term, let us consider some of its other types.

Tribes

At the time of the communal and tribal system of Rus, the militia was called the armed detachments of men headed by a leader, often he was also a leader, a headman or other ruler. So now we know what militia is.

Civil uprising

A similar type of these formations was mainly collected in ancient times. In it, on a voluntary or compulsory basis, all adult citizens of the state, both women and men, were included. At the head of them was a leader who was elected by the people, the militiamen themselves or another ruler - the monarch, prince, etc. Persons entering into such a militia, depending on the conditions, could receive a monthly salary and other monetary or material rewards. So we sorted out the question of what a militia is. Partly in meaning corresponds to the modern national guard of a number of countries.

Elemental

This type of militia can be formed when the attack of the enemies occurred very unexpectedly and caused a strong panic and destabilization in the authorities. And because ordinary citizens themselves organize such formations and fight with the enemy without someone's bidding. With prolonged occupation, they usually develop into partisan units.

State

At the time of the Russian Empire, the militia was called the reserve of the armed forces, which consisted of soldiers who had already passed military service in their time, or those who are only limited. For example, only in case of a real war. Such an appointment is often only of an auxiliary nature. Also in it, if necessary, military ranks are held in reserve. So we disassembled the meaning of the word "militia".

Modernity

In the past few years, this word has again become very popular, and the reason for this - the military conflict in eastern Ukraine. Regardless of how to treat its causes, consequences and political situation in this country as a whole, the armed forces of the unrecognized republics of the People's Republic of China and the People's Republic of Germany are also militia.