We explain what the militia is and the types of militia that exist according to what they do. In addition, the titles offered by the military.
What is militia?
The militia is a concept used to designate those groups or military forces that are composed only of citizens who have no prior preparation and who do not receive a salary in exchange for this task. These are united and organized for a certain purpose, they do it by their own decision and are not obliged to remain in that group during a specified period of weather.
The military refers to both the profession and the military service itself, to the official reserve army of the Condition. Those who make up a militia are called militiamen and they are dedicated to tasks such as defense of a region or nation, application of the laws emergency or paramilitary services at times when necessary.
There are some militias that are born as a form of endurance to, for example, a military coup. Also called militia is the military preparation that takes place before a war and the act of discipline of the soldiers that the soldiers must have for it.
The militia can also be a guerrilla or an irregular army, or a set from persons that are available to be called to arms. In the second case, there are places where people can be legally penalized for refusing the call.
What is generally normal is that the militia is not accepted by the State, since they normally act outside the framework of the law and often commit abuses, for example, against the human rights. As we have said before, who occupies the place of the militia in the State is the army.
The word that comes from Latin military, although it is also said to have Latin origins, miles means soldier, -itia is a state or condition, the sum of both terms, therefore militia it would be military service.
* Militia is also the genus of a plant, which has four species of flowering plants belonging to the Moraceae family. They are native to Asia.
Types of militias
There are several types of militias depending on what they do, throughout history there have been several, but we will only name the most prominent.
- Auxiliary militia. Created during the existence of the Roman Empire, which formerly came to the aid of the Romans.
- Stationary militia. It was destined to take care of the military points.
- National militia. Created by the Spanish monarchy in the 19th century to defend the constitutional system, made up of civilian citizens. For a time it was called the urban militia.
- Provincial militia. It is a reserve infantry corps that was organized with citizens who were drawn.
- Riot militia. It corresponds to the time of the Roman Empire, where it served as a reserve army.
- Confederal militia. Created in Spain, it was also called the people's militia and fought in the civil war of the 20th century.
- Provincial militias. The group of reserve soldiers who had finished active service and stayed in their homes as long as they were not called was called this way. In some countries they were called territorial militias, because they protected the territory.
Other examples of militias have been in countries like the United States, where the National Guard existed, the so-called Black Shirts in Italy or the German national militia called Volkssturm.
Titles provided by the military
Many years ago members of the militias were awarded various titles. These were as follows:
- Earl of the militia. Awarded to the officer of the emperors of Greece and the Latin ministers of war.
- Master of the militia. In Venice it was carried by the magistrates from the year 737 to 741, then they began to be called doge.
- Master General of the militia. It was a military position created by Constantine, there were only two people with this position and each one was in charge of two cavalry masters and two corresponding to the infantry.