Militia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
A militia is a group of citizens organized to provide paramilitary service. The word can have four slightly different meanings:
* an official reserve army, composed of non-professional soldiers;
* the police in Russia or East European countries under communist rule;
* the entire able-bodied population of a state, which can be called to arms against an invading enemy, or;
* a private, non-government force, not necessarily directly supported or sanctioned by the government.
In any of these cases, a militia is distinct from a national regular army. It can serve to supplement the regular military, or it can oppose it, for example to resist a military coup. In some circumstances, the "enemies" against which a militia is mobilised are domestic political opponents of the government, such as strikers. In many cases the role, or even the existence of a militia, is controversial. For these reasons legal restrictions may be placed on the mobilisation or use of militia.
<more>
en.wikipedia.org |
