The article tells about what a militia is, what kinds of it are and why such formations are created.
Wars
People fight their whole history. If you open a textbook of world history, you can see - rarely a century or even a decade without this or that war. Some lasted for centuries (intermittently), as was the case with the Hundred Years War, while others were relatively fleeting, but very bloody, for example, World War II.
Even in peaceful and cloudless times, 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 there, only the coast guard. But at all times, it was people who remained the most valuable resource - you can create thousands of tanks and planes, but without experienced pilots and tankers it won’t help. But sometimes there were situations when centralized or spontaneous popular militias arose. So what is a militia? This we will understand.
Definition
Regardless of the type and form, the essence of this formation is always one - protection from an external or internal enemy. Militia has never been used to wage war of aggression. This term came to us from ancient times and is currently rarely used.
A militia is an armed military formation consisting of men of military age who have already served in the army or have not completed this service. Also in such units may be included those who are recognized to be of limited fit. This is the main definition of the term; let us consider some of its other types.
Tribes
During the communal and tribal system of Russia, armed groups of men were called the militia, headed by a leader, often he was also a leader, headman or other ruler. So now we know what a militia is.
Civil uprising
A similar type of formation data was mainly collected in ancient times. It on a voluntary or compulsory basis included all adult citizens of the state, both women and men. At their head was a leader who was elected by the people, the militias themselves or another ruler - a monarch, prince, etc. Persons belonging to such a militia, depending on conditions, could receive monthly salaries and other monetary or material rewards. So we examined the question of what a militia is. Part of the meaning corresponds to the modern national guard of a number of countries.
Spontaneous
This type of militia can be formed when the attack of the enemies occurred very unexpectedly and brought a strong panic and destabilization to the authorities. And therefore, ordinary citizens independently organize such formations and fight the enemy without anyone's command. With prolonged occupation, they usually develop into partisan formations.
State
In the days of the Russian Empire, the militia was called the reserve of the armed forces, which consisted of soldiers who had already completed military service at one time, or those who were fit for limited use. For example, only in the case of a real war. Such an appointment is often only auxiliary in nature. Also, if necessary, military ranks are convened in reserve. So we made out the meaning of the word "militia".
Modernity
In the past few years, this word has again become very popular, and the reason for this is a military conflict in eastern Ukraine. Regardless of how it relates to its causes, consequences and the political situation in this country as a whole, the armed forces of the unrecognized republics of the DPR and LPR are also militias.