Militia

{{war}}
'''Militia''' (from Latin ''militia'', meaning ''military service'') refers to a paramilitary group that is separate from the country's actual armed forces and acts as an organization that either complements or challenges them.

The term is usually applied to groups of civilians, created to maintain order, particularly in the event of civil unrest, or to fight. It can also refer to a private army or even the entire armed population or military of a state, which is in service for only a short time in peacetime and which can be called up to defend the homeland, such as in the American colonies before independence.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/militia|title= Militia|author=<!--Not stated--> |date= Militia|website=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date= November 11, 2024}}</ref> Of course, militias can often go astray and become full-on ([[far-right]]) [[terrorist]] groups.<ref name="Cooter"/> 

In the [[Soviet Union|former Soviet bloc]] and other [[Cold War]] [[communist]] countries, the militia (or {{wpl|militsiya}}) were the law enforcement organizations responsible for maintaining public order, the equivalent of the police.<ref>Galeotti, M. (2013). ''Russian Security and Paramilitary Forces Since 1991.'' Bloomsbury Publishing. Page 8. ISBN: 9781780961064</ref><ref>''Measuring Police Integrity Across the World: Studies from Established Democracies and Countries in Transition.'' (2015). Springer New York. Chapter 8: "Police Integrity in Russia" .ISBN: 9781493922796</ref> Militia can also be used to refer an official army reserve, such as such as in [[Switzerland]] and [[Canada]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Milice, système de |url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/articles/043694/2009-11-10/ |access-date=2021-02-07 |website=hls-dhs-dss.ch |language=fr}}</ref><ref>Markus Freitag, Pirmin Bundi, Martina Flick Witzig: ''Milizarbeit in der Schweiz. Zahlen und Fakten zum politischen Leben in der Gemeinde.'' NZZ Libro, Zürich 2019, ISBN: 978-3-03810-400-1.</ref>

===Notable militia groups===
* [[Minutemen]]
* {{wpl|Freikorps}} of the German [[Völkisch movement]].<ref>Clifford, A. (2021). Hindenburg, Ludendorff and Hitler: Germany's Generals and the Rise of the Nazis. Pen & Sword Books. Chapter 2: "Conspirator: Lundendorff as Public Enemy Number One". ISBN: 9781526783349</ref>
* Nationalist {{wpl|Heimwehr}} of [[Austria]].<ref>Jelavich, Barbara (1987). Modern Austria : Empire & Republic 1815-1986. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 182. ISBN 0-521-31625-1.</ref>
* [[Schutzstaffel]]<ref>Paterson, L. (2018). ''Hitler's Brandenburgers: The Third Reich Elite Special Forces.'' Pen & Sword Books Limited. Page XX. ISBN: 9781784382315</ref>
* {{wpl|Milice}}, an [[Vichy France]] collaborationist paramilitary that were opposed to French Resistance.<ref>Curtis, Michael (6 June 2003) [2002]. Verdict on Vichy: Power and Prejudice in the Vichy France Regime. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. ISBN 9781628720631.</ref>
* {{wpl|Brazilian militias}}, which emerged in the early 80s and who are illegal mafia-like paramilitary groups, that have their roots in the death squads of the [[Brazil#Brazilian_military_dictatorship|Brazilian military dictatorship]] in 1964.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/against-the-current-brazils-dangerous-militias/a-50288049|title = Against the current: Brazil's dangerous militias &#124; DW &#124; 04.09.2019|website = [[Deutsche Welle]]}}</ref> 
* [[American militia movement]]<ref name="Cooter">Cooter, A. (2024). ''Nostalgia, Nationalism, and the US Militia Movement.'' Taylor & Francis. ISBN: 9781003844518
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==References==
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[[Category:Nationalism]]
[[Category:Militia movement]]
[[Category:Pseudolaw]]
[[Category:Vigilantes]]

Categories: Nationalism, Militia movement, Pseudolaw, Vigilantes