Militia

Afghanistan

Militias have been used throughout the history of Afghanistan. Afghan Militias and irregular forces have contributed significantly to the military history of the country and affected the process of state formation.^[9]

Andorra

Andorra has no standing or regular armed forces, although it has retained a small ceremonial military tradition associated with the Sometent, a historic popular militia used for local defence and public order.^[10][11] Historically, Andorran defence rested on the principle that able-bodied men could be summoned in time of emergency, while modern internal security is exercised by the Police Corps of Andorra.^[12] Defence of the principality is generally associated with its neighbouring states, France and Spain.^[13] As a landlocked country in the Pyrenees between France and Spain, Andorra has no navy.^[14]

Before World War I, Andorra maintained an armed militia force of about 600 part-time militiamen under the supervision of a Captain (Capità or Cap de Sometent) and a Lieutenant (Desener or Lloctinent del Capità). This body was not liable for service outside the principality and was commanded by two officials (veguers) appointed by France and the Bishop of Urgell.^[15]

In the modern era, the army has consisted of a very small body of volunteers willing to undertake ceremonial duties. Uniforms and weaponry were handed down from generation to generation within families and communities.^[16]

The army's role in internal security was largely taken over by the formation of the Police Corps of Andorra in 1931. Brief civil disorder associated with the elections of 1933 led to assistance being sought from the French National Gendarmerie,^[17] with a detachment resident in Andorra for two months under the command of René-Jules Baulard.^{[citation needed]} The Andorran Police was reformed in the following year, with eleven soldiers appointed to supervisory roles.^[18] The force consisted of six Corporals, one for each parish (although there are currently seven parishes, there were only six until 1978), plus four junior staff officers to co-ordinate action, and a commander with the rank of major. It was the responsibility of the six corporals, each in his own parish, to be able to raise a fighting force from among the able-bodied men of the parish.

Today a small, twelve-man ceremonial unit remains the only permanent section of the Sometent, but all able-bodied men remain technically available for military service,^[19] with a requirement for each family to have access to a firearm. An area weapon such as a Shotgun per household is unregulated, however ranged weapons such as Pistols and Rifles require a license.^[16] The army has not fought for more than 700 years, and its main responsibility is to present the flag of Andorra at official ceremonial functions.^[20][21] According to Marc Forné Molné, Andorra's military budget is strictly from voluntary donations, and the availability of full-time volunteers.^[22]

In more recent times there has only been a general emergency call to the popular army of Sometent during the floods of 1982 in the Catalan Pyrenees,^[23] where 12 citizens perished in Andorra, to help the population and establish a public order along with the Local Police units.^[24]

Argentina

In the early 1800s Buenos Aires, which was by then the capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, was attacked during the British invasions of the Río de la Plata. As regular military forces were insufficient to counter the British attackers, Santiago de Liniers drafted all males in the city capable of bearing arms into the military. These recruits included the criollo peoples, who ranked low down in the social hierarchy, as well as some slaves. With these reinforcements, the British armies were twice defeated.^[25] The militias became a strong factor in the politics of the city afterwards, as a springboard from which the criollos could manifest their political ambitions.^[26] They were a key element in the success of the May Revolution, which deposed the Spanish viceroy and began the Argentine War of Independence. A decree by Mariano Moreno derogated the system of promotions involving criollos,^{[clarification needed meaning unclear]} allowing instead their promotion on military merit.

The Argentine Civil War was waged by militias again, as both federalists and unitarians drafted common people into their ranks as part of ongoing conflicts. These irregular armies were organized at a provincial level, and assembled as leagues depending on political pacts.^[27] This system had declined by the 1870s, mainly due to the establishment of the modern Argentine Army, drafted for the Paraguayan War by President Bartolomé Mitre.^[28] Provincial militias were outlawed and decimated by the new army throughout the presidential terms of Mitre, Sarmiento, Avellaneda and Roca.^[29]

Armenia

Armenian fedayi and other Armenian volunteer or irregular formations played an important role in the modern Armenian national movement, particularly in armed resistance and community defence in Western Armenia and other Armenian-inhabited regions of the Ottoman Empire. During the First World War, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation organized Armenian volunteer battalions in the Russian Empire, each led by prominent fedayi figures, and the party later became the dominant political force behind the formation of the First Republic of Armenia in 1918.^[30]

Armenians in Karabakh forces also played a central military role in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, during which the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, later known as the Republic of Artsakh, emerged as a de facto Armenian polity in territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.^[31][32] After the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive, the enclave’s de facto authorities agreed to disband, and Artsakh was formally dissolved on 1 January 2024.^[33]

Ethnic Armenian armed formations also participated in the War in Abkhazia (1992–1993), most notably the Bagramyan Battalion, which was formed largely by Armenians of Abkhazia and fought on the Abkhaz side; Armenian individuals also served on the Georgian side of the conflict.^[34]

Australia

In the Colony of New South Wales, Governor Lachlan Macquarie proposed a colonial militia but the idea was rejected. Governor Ralph Darling felt a mounted police force was more efficient than a militia. A military volunteer movement attracted wide interest during the Crimean War.^[35] Following Federation, the various military reserve forces of the Commonwealth of Australia became the Citizen Military Force (CMF).

Established in 1940 as an informal civil-defense force against a potential Japanese invasion, Australia's Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) was subsequently integrated into the state military and heavily equipped before its post-World War II dissolution following the mitigation of domestic security threats.

Austria

During the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire, a National Guard was established in Vienna. A separate but related Academic Legion was composed mainly of students in the capital city.^[36][37]

After World War I, multiple militias formed as soldiers returned home to their villages, only to find many of them occupied by Slovene and Yugoslav forces. Especially in the southern province of Carinthia, the Volkswehr (Peoples Defense Force) was formed, to fight the occupant forces.^[38][39][40]

During the First Austrian Republic, similar to the development in Germany, increasing radicalization of politics led to certain paramilitary militias associating with certain political parties. The Heimwehr (German: Home Defense) became affiliated with the Christian Social Party and the Republikanischer Schutzbund (German: Republican Defense League) became affiliated with the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria. Violence increasingly escalated, breaking out during the July Revolt of 1927 and finally the Austrian Civil War, when the Schutzbund was defeated by the Heimwehr, police, Gendarmerie, and Austrian Armed Forces.^{[41][42][43][44]}

After World War II the Austrian Armed Forces (Bundesheer) were reestablished as a conscript military force. A basic part of it is the militia, which is a regular reservists force of the Bundesheer, comparable to the national guard units of the United States. The conscript soldiers of the militia have to store their military equipment at home, to be mobilized quite fast within a few days in case of emergency. The system was established during the Cold War and still exists, but the members of the militia now are volunteers only.^{[45][46][47][48]}

Bahrain

In Bahrain, emergence of a small militia group Katibat al Haydariyah was first seen in 2015. During the year, total four attacks were claimed by the group, including on August 22 and 24, 2015, in Muharraq, on September 10, 2015, in Al Khamis, and on October 9, 2015, on Bahraini forces in the Al Juffair region. Katibat al Haydariyah is its own distinct organization that decries the Bahraini government, but Canada and the United Kingdom listed it as an alias for the larger Al-Ashtar Brigades (or the Saraya al Ashtar). After four years, the militia group reemerged on social media in October 2019, to threaten new attacks on the island. It stated that they "will not retreat from our goals of the downfall of the Al Khalifa entity," and that "soon, guns will open their mouths and they will hear the whiz of bullets".^[49]

Belgium

The Garde Civique or Burgerwacht (French and Dutch; "Civic Guard") was a Belgian paramilitary militia which existed between 1830 and 1920. Created in October 1830 shortly after the Belgian Revolution, the Guard amalgamated the various militia groups which had been created by the middle classes to protect property during the political uncertainty. Its role was as a quasi-military "gendarmerie", with the primary role of maintaining social order within Belgium. Increasingly anachronistic, it was demobilised in 1914 and officially disbanded in 1920, following a disappointing performance during the German invasion of Belgium in World War I.

Brazil

In Brazil, the word milícia is heavily associated with paramilitary and drug-related criminal groups.

Canada

Historically designating Canada's regular and reserve land forces, the Canadian militia originated during the French colonial era when King Louis XIV mandated parish settler militias for defense.

Post-1760, following the British conquest of New France, local units supported British Army regiments in British America and subsequent British North America. Regular British forces were further augmented by locally recruited regulars (including the 40th and 100th Regiments of Foot) and Fencibles, raised via recruitment rather than ballot. Activated primarily for wartime service, these colonial units' battle honours are perpetuated by modern Canadian Army regiments.

While Canadian defense long relied on British troop contingents and the Royal Navy, the Crimean War precipitated British force diversions. Facing potential United States incursions, the Parliament of the Province of Canada enacted the Militia Act of 1855, establishing the Active Militia.^[50] This force split into the full-time Permanent Active Militia (PAM) and the Non-Permanent Active Militia (NPAM) military reserve force.^[51] The sedentary units became the Reserve Militia, which conducted its final enrollment in 1873 and was dissolved in 1950.

Prior to Canadian Confederation, the Maritimes and Newfoundland maintained independent militias. Bermuda, a British North American dependency militarily subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief of the Maritimes,^[52] allowed its militia to lapse post-War of 1812;^[53] however, American independence elevated Bermuda to an Imperial fortress heavily garrisoned by the regular army,^{[54][55][56][57]} excluding it from Canadian Confederation.^{[58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65]} Concurrently, the Colony of Vancouver Island and Colony of British Columbia periodically mobilized transient, threat-specific militias between 1853 and 1871.^[66]

Following the 1871 Treaty of Washington and subsequent November withdrawal of British troops, the militia became Canada's sole primary land force.^[67] In 1940, the PAM and NPAM were restructured into the Canadian Army (Active) and Canadian Army (Reserve).

In 1942, the Army's Pacific Command formed the Pacific Coast Militia Rangers. Operating like the United Kingdom's Home Guard, this secondary defense force protected British Columbia and Yukon from potential Japanese attack.^[68] Disbanded in September 1945, their legacy is perpetuated by the Canadian Rangers, a Primary Reserve component providing a military presence across remote areas of northern Canada.

The Canadian Army Reserve officially utilized the term militia until the unification of the Canadian Armed Forces in 1968. Although formally excised from military nomenclature, the reserve force is still colloquially referred to as the militia.^[69][70] Troops typically train one night a week and alternating weekends, alongside summer training courses or concentrations. Municipal units are distributed nationally, and members frequently volunteer for overseas deployments to augment regular force components during NATO or United Nations missions.

China

China's current militia is led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and forms part of the Chinese armed forces. Under the command of the military organs, it undertakes such jobs as war preparation services, security and defense operational tasks and assistance in maintaining social order and public security.^[71]

Historically, militias of varying levels of ability have existed in China, organized on a village and clan level, especially during periods of instability and in areas subject to pirate and bandit attack. When the British attempted to take control of the New Territories in 1898, they were resisted by the local militias which had been formed for mutual defence against pirate raids. Although ultimately defeated, the militias' dogged resistance convinced the British to make concessions to the indigenous inhabitants allowing them to preserve inheritance, property and marriage rights and customs throughout most of the period of the British rule.^[72][73]

Cuba

Cuba has three militia organizations: The Territorial Troops Militia (Milicias de Tropas Territoriales) of about one million people (half women),^[74] the Youth Labor Army (Ejército Juvenil del Trabajo) devoted to agricultural production, and a naval militia.^[75][76] Formerly, there existed the National Revolutionary Militias (Milicias Nacionales Revolucionarias), which was formed after the Cuban Revolution and initially consisted of 200,000 men who helped the 25,000 strong standing army defeat counter-revolutionary guerillas.^[77]

Czech Republic

In 2021, the Czech Parliament passed an Act No. 14/2021 Coll., on the handling of weapons in certain cases affecting the internal order or security of the Czech Republic. The Act's number 14/21 symbolically refers to the 600th anniversary of civilian firearms possession in the country.^[78] The legislation establishes "a system of firearms training, the purpose of which is to improve the knowledge, abilities and skills of persons authorised to handle firearms for the purpose of ensuring internal order or the security of the Czech Republic".^[79] Gun owners can join government endorsed advanced shooting training courses with their privately owned firearms and become members of the militia-style Designated Reserves.^[80]

Denmark

The Danish Home Guard (Danish: Hjemmeværnet) (HJV) is the fourth service of the Danish military. It was formerly concerned only with the defence of Danish territory but, since 2008, it has also supported Danish international military efforts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo. There are five branches: Army Home Guard, Naval Home Guard, Air Force Home Guard, Police Home Guard, and Infrastructure Home Guard.

Estonia

The Omakaitse (Home Guard) was an organisation formed by the local population of Estonia on the basis of the Estonian Defence League and the forest brothers resistance movement active on the Eastern Front between 3 July 1941 and 17 September 1944.^[81] This arrangement was unique in the context of the war as in Latvia, which otherwise shared a common fate with Estonia, there was no organisation of this kind.^[82]

Ethiopia

The People's Militia was established in 1975 under the Derg regime's Proclamation No 71, used to assist police forces and protect farms and property. The militia did operations in Eritrea during the Ogaden War, while Mengistu Haile Mariam reconstituted as the "Red Army". The Derg government conscripted about 30,000 to 40,000 civilians into the militia from Shewa, Wollo, and Gojam provinces in May 1976.^[83][84]

The Fano militia is an ethno-nationalist Amhara militia and former protest movement that emerged during the premiership of Abiy Ahmed. Fano intervened armed conflicts in the post-2018 regime, including Benishangul-Gumuz's Metekel conflict, Tigray War and recently War in Amhara. They have been accused of ethnic massacres against other ethnic groups, such as the Qemant and other minorities.^[85]

Finland

While Finland employs conscription, they do not have separate militia units: all units are organized by and under the command of the Finnish Defence Forces. All men belong to the reserve until age 50 or 60 depending on rank, and may be called up in case of mobilization. Each reservist is assigned a position in a unit to be activated. However, since 2004, the FDF does have territorial forces, organized along the lines of regular infantry formations, which are composed of volunteers. Furthermore, long-range patrol units (sissi troops, a type of special forces) are assigned to local troops.

In history, before Finland became independent, two types of local militias existed: the White Guards and Red Guards, which were non-socialists and socialists, respectively. In the Finnish Civil War (1918) the White Guards founded the White Army, which was victorious over the Red Guards. White Guards continued their existence as a volunteer militia until the Second World War. In some cases their activity found overt political expression as in the Mäntsälä rebellion. However, in 1934 separate wartime White Guard units were dissolved and in the Second World War they served at the front, dispersed in regular units. They were dissolved as a condition of peace after the Continuation War.

France

The first notable militia in French history was the resistance of the Gauls to invasion by the Romans until they were defeated by Julius Caesar.^[86] Centuries later, Joan of Arc organized and led a militia until her capture and execution in 1431. This settled the succession to the French crown and laid the basis for the formation of the modern nation of France.^[87]

During the French Revolution the National Guard was a political home defense militia. The levée en masse was a conscription army used during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

At the time of the Franco-Prussian War, the Parisian National Guard engaged the Prussian Army and later rebelled against the Versailles Army under Marshal McMahon.

Under German occupation during World War II, a militia usually called the French Resistance emerged to conduct a guerrilla war of attrition against German forces and prepare the way for the D-Day Allied Invasion of France.^[88] The Resistance militia were opposed by the collaborationist French Militia—the paramilitary police force of the German puppet state of Vichy.

Although defunct from 1871 until 2016, the French National Guard has now been reestablished for homeland security purposes.^[89]

Germany

The evolution of Germanic militias spans from antiquity to the mid-twentieth century, originating with Tacitus's AD 98 description of the centeni—a system of hundreds analogous to the Anglo-Saxon fyrd.

During the Seven Years' War, Frederick II of Prussia raised the first Freikorps for auxiliary duties. During the Napoleonic occupation, formations like the Lutzow Free Corps engaged in partisan warfare before integrating into the allied regular forces.

Post-1918, the term Freikorps designated nationalist paramilitary organizations of returning servicemen. These Weimar paramilitary groups were deployed by Defence Minister Gustav Noske to suppress leftist uprisings, including the Bavarian Soviet Republic and the Spartakist League—culminating in the assassinations of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg on January 15, 1919. Official dissolution in 1920 precipitated the Kapp Putsch. Simultaneously, the Prussian Ministry of the Interior's Einwohnerwehr (1919–1921) operated under Reichswehr command until its 1921 dissolution, after which numerous members integrated into the Nazi Party.^[90][91]

In 1921, the Nazi Party established the Sturmabteilung (SA) as a party militia for rally security, anti-Semitic violence, and street combat. The Schutzstaffel (SS) emerged from the SA under Heinrich Himmler into a dominant state organ whose combat wing, the Waffen-SS, became a de facto fourth branch of the Wehrmacht.^[92]

During the collapse of Nazi Germany (1944–1945), the German high command mobilized the Volkssturm, a civilian militia unfit for regular service.^[93] Initially relegated to constructing fortifications and digging anti-tank ditches, manpower deficits forced their deployment as frontline urban infantry, where deficient training and severe weapon shortages reduced them to defensive shields for regular army units.

Great Britain and Ireland

The British militia system transformed from an Anglo-Saxon common law obligation into a key constitutional check on peacetime standing armies. Spanning the empire from Bermuda to India, it shifted from county ballot-conscripted regiments to professionalized statutory reserves, structurally defining British domestic and imperial defense.

Imperial Expansion

Main article: Militia (British Dominions and Crown Colonies)

English colonization in 1607 necessitated immediate colonial militias to counter Spanish and native forces, leading to continuous action in Jamestown against the Powhatan Federation. Concurrently, settlement of Bermuda (1612) led to immediate fortification; the Bermuda Militia repulsed a 1614 Spanish attack via coastal artillery from the Castle Islands Fortifications.

During the seventeenth century, Bermuda's defense relied on its compulsory civilian militia, alongside volunteer or penal artillery units garrisoning St. George's. Integrated into the British military framework by the Acts of Union 1707, these forces—comprising infantry, mounted units, and volunteers—lapsed post-War of 1812 when the Parliament of Bermuda dissolved the local militia system due to the expansion of the regular Bermuda Garrison and the imperial naval headquarters. Although extensive nineteenth-century imperial expenditures developed the colony into the "Gibraltar of the West," the local legislature resisted British pressure for eighty years before finally establishing the volunteer Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps and the Bermuda Militia Artillery in 1894.^{[58][97][60][98][99][100][101][102]} Following British domestic trends, the BMA wore Royal Artillery uniforms to man coastal batteries.

Until 1953, the BVRC was segregated for white citizens, while the BMA recruited colored ranks under white officers. Both units bypassed the 1908 Territorial amalgamation, converting later (BVRC in 1921; BMA in 1926). The BVRC became the Bermuda Rifles in 1951, merging with the BMA and the 1939-formed Bermuda Militia Infantry in 1965 to create the modern Bermuda Regiment.

In British India, the 1907-established Frontier Corps formed full-time indigenous auxiliary militias under British officers, combining tribal policing and border patrol along the North-West Frontier (including the Zhob Militia, Kurram Militia, and Chagai Militia), later integrating into the post-1946 Pakistan Army.

19th-Century Evolution to Special Reserve

The Militia Act 1852 abandoned compulsory balloting, transforming the militia into a voluntary, working-class force that drew casual labor from agricultural and mining sectors for annual paid training. It added coastal artillery units after 1852 and engineers in Anglesey and Monmouthshire by 1877.

Under the 1881 Childers reforms, Secretary for War Hugh Childers integrated the militia into regular line regiments as numbered reserve battalions. This working-class composition distinguished the militia from the socially prestigious Volunteer Force and Yeomanry Cavalry.

The Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 converted the militia into the Special Reserve, supplying replacement drafts for regular units during the First World War, while volunteers formed the Territorial Force.Units of the Militia to be transferred to the Special Reserve, published as a schedule to an Order in Council made 9 April 1908, The London Gazette, 10 April 1908.^[104]. It became the Supplementary Reserve in 1924 and was disbanded in 1953.

The Military Training Act 1939 briefly revived "militiamen" for peacetime conscription of 20-year-olds, which was permanently superseded on 3 September 1939 by general wartime conscription.

Modern Survivals and Paramilitary Formations

Three British Army units preserve militia designations: the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (1539), the Jersey Field Squadron (1337), and the Royal Alderney Militia (1984), alongside the ceremonial Atholl Highlanders private army. Historic variants included the Yeomanry and Home Guard.

During 20th-century Irish conflicts, clandestine IRA and loyalist paramilitaries acted as de facto militias. The state-sanctioned Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was raised in 1970 to counter sabotage. Peaking at 7,559 personnel, it suffered 197 active-duty deaths, mostly by the Provisional Irish Republican Army, before its 1992 amalgamation into the Royal Irish Regiment.

India

Salwa Judum (meaning "Peace March"^[105] or "Purification Hunt" in Gondi language) was a militia active in the Chhattisgarh state of India.

Village Defence Guards, formerly known as Village Defence Committees, were first set up in 1995.^[106] The idea of the VDCs was to arm ex-service personnel to check Pakistani infiltration and espionage. The VDCs were formed in Jammu region of J&K to offer self-defence capabilities to villagers in the face of looming terrorist threats. Under the scheme, each VDC used to have a Special Police Officer (SPO) as its in-charge and there were 10-15 other volunteer members, mostly ex-service personnel. They were given .303 rifles and ammunition. The SPO in charge of the VDC was paid whereas the rest were volunteers. In 2020, the policy of Village Defence Committees was revamped and Village Defence Groups were introduced, members of whom are called Village Defence Guards. It was not just a change of name as the very structure of committees was changed. Unlike VDCs where only SPOs were paid, all VDGs are paid.^[106]

A total of 4,153 Village Defence Groups (VDG) and 32,355 Special Police Officers were engaged in Jammu and Kashmir in different responsibilities for the protection of civilians and anti-terrorists operations.^[107][108]

Iran

The Basij militia founded by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in November 1979,^[109] is composed of 90,000 men, with an active and reserve strength up to 300,000 men. It ultimately draws from about 1 million members, and is subordinate to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran.^[110]

Iraq

Since the rise of ISIL in 2014 and their conquest of many predominantly-Sunni areas in Iraq, the Shiite militias became even more prominent in the country by joining the Iraqi Army in many major battles against ISIL.^[111]

Israel

In 1908 a Jewish underground organisation, Bar Giora, re-invented itself as an armed militia – Hashomer. It was established to provide Jewish guards for the Zionist colonies being established in Ottoman Palestine. The group existed for 10 years. At its height it had around 100 members, including 23 women.^[112]

In modern times, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is often described as a heavily armed militia, not a full-fledged army, since it is legally and publicly viewed as a defensive force only, and since it relies heavily on the reserve duty of Israeli citizens who are annually called to service for set periods of time, rather than on professional, full-time soldiers.^[113] Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories rely on armed militia teams for their security.^[114] National service conscripts can also serve in the Israel Border Police (commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav which means border guard in Hebrew), which is a paramilitary branch of the Israel Police rather than the IDF.

Latvia

Libya

Since the fall of Gaddafi's rule of Libya in the aftermath of the Libyan Civil War, rebel groups that have contributed to the revolution splintered into self-organized militia movements and have been involved in a feud for control of each city.^[115] Since the revolution, reports of clashes and violence by militia groups have been increasing.^[116]

Mexico

Mexico has a history of various activities and insurrection by militia and paramilitary groups dating back several hundred years that include the exploits of historical figures such as Captain Manuel Pineda Munoz and Francisco "Pancho" Villa. This also includes groups such as the Free-Colored Militia (the interracial militias of New Spain, Colonial Mexico),^[117] the Camisas Doradas, and the contemporary Self Defense Council of Michoacan.^[118]

Free-colored militias were an important and at times critical organization in Colonial Mexico. Prior to the eighteenth century, Spain's territories in the Americas were mainly defended through a series of Spanish military units being based in strategic coastal port cities and important economic centers.^{[117]: 8–10} But as European rivals began to challenge the Spanish crown and their dominance in the new world, the Bourbon dynasty initiated a series of reforms, allowing people from their colonies to serve in the regular armies, as well as permitting local militias in their territories.^{[117]: 14–16}

While these groups began to integrate themselves into the official Spanish colonial militaries, free-colored militias have been reluctantly used since the-mid sixteenth century. Palenques, or run away slave communities, would often initiate slavery uprising in various cities and towns in New Spain, which made the colonial Spanish authorities uneasy about arming any free colored individuals.^{[117]: 14–16} Free colored rebellions and violence in Mexico City impacted regional policy of New Spain towards blacks. Given this social context, the racial climate in which these free-colored militias first appeared was a hostile one, and the first militias often had conflicts within them between their free-colored and white commanders.^{[117]: 20–23} The first large scale recruitment of fee-colored militias was in response to the attack on Veracruz port in 1683 by Dutch pirateer Lorenzo de Graff, with free-colored soldiers being called in from Mexico City, Puebla, Orizaba and other large colonial cities.^{[117]: 30–32} Militias increasingly began to take shape and develop over the course of the 17th and 18th centuries, but it's critical to understand that their development was not a linear progressive one. The experiences of militias in urban areas was vastly different from those in rural communities, and the role, influence, and duties of militias in the early 17th century were not the same as those of a century later. The critical stage for militia growth was during 1670–1762, where there was an increase of the militias responsibilities and they gained a considerable amount of autonomy over their own affairs.^{[117]: 30–32} The social impact of these free-colored militias added complexity to the race-based caste system that dominated the social landscape.

Free-colored militias were structured to follow the tercio organizational model that was used by Spanish Habsburg and Bourbon dynasties.^{[117]: 47–50} Tercios compromised 2,500 soldiers distributed among ten companies, each under the leadership of a captain. Free-colored militias under the tercio system were headed by a sargento mayor (major) who became the senior operating officer in militias. Under the sargento mayor were the junior officers, which included one captain and alferez (lieutenant) per company, who were also aided by an ayudante (adjutant) and subteniente (second lieutenant) after they were incorporated into the system after 1767. The captain had supreme authority within their company, only reporting to the sargento mayor when he could not control matters of the company. The alferez coordinated affairs with his captain and was next in line in command in his absence. Below the junior officers were ranking NCO's and up to four sergeants served per company. A cabo (corporal) was assigned to lead each squad of 25 soldiers. These NCO's were responsible for discipline of the soldiers and maintaining a limited record of individuals.^{[117]: 47–50} Officers and first sergeants were the only soldiers in the free-colored militias to receive a monthly salary with lower ranked soldiers only receiving pay when on campaigns. Their salaries came from the royal treasuries, alongside occasional supplementation by private contributions of prominent individuals.^{[117]: 83–84}

Who exactly constitutes as a "free-colored person" is subject to much debate and discussion. While the terms pardos, mulatos, negros and morenos were commonly used under the caste system that was in place during this era, their use in this context is much more complex and who exactly qualified as who was a very fluid process, dependent on the social context of the time and place.^{[117]: 200–201} Despite the lack of universal understanding of racial identification across New Spain, when they were faced with external threats to their organizations, free-colored militias showed great racial unity in these times, such as in the case of Huajolotitlan, a small town of Oaxaca in southern Mexico.^{[117]: 207–211} After a decree was passed in 1784 calling for the retirement of every free-colored officer and the disbandment of their militia, the tows free-coloreds fiercely resisted. Free-colored soldiers refused to leave their posts and they dispatched to the capital in protests to defend their racially integrated organizations. This later inspired the communities other free-colored people to protests what they saw as other aggressions by the government, such as increasing tribute burdens.^{[117]: 207–211}

While some of the previous examples are historical, the current official view on the existence of such militias in Mexico, when they are not backed by the government,^[119] has been to always label them as illegal and to combat them in a military and a political way.^[120]

Modern examples on the Mexican view on militias are the Chiapas conflict against the EZLN^[121] and against the EPR in Guerrero,^[122] where the government forces combated the upraised militias. And in a more recent case when civilian self-defence militias appeared during the Mexican war on drugs,^[123] the government regulated them and transformed the militias in to Rural federal forces,^[124] and those who resisted were combated and imprisoned.^[125]

Montenegro

In 1910, King Nicholas I of Montenegro proclaimed that all male citizens were members of a national militia and had both a right and a duty to own at least one Gasser Pattern revolver under penalty of law.

The official reason for the King's decree was to create an armed populace that would deter neighbouring countries from attacking Montenegro, which was unable to field a large army. However, it was widely believed in Montenegro that this decision was actually taken because the King owned shares in Leopold Gasser Waffenfabrik in Vienna – the patent holder and sole manufacturer of the pistol at that time.^{[126][127][128]} Despite this, the decree actually obliged Montenegrin adult males to own a Gasser Pattern revolver, not necessarily one made by Gasser itself. In fact Leopold Gasser was faced with such heavy demand for the pistol internationally, that it could not fulfil all of the orders placed for it. This led the revolver's manufacturer to license out production to other companies and many Gasser Pattern pistols were then manufactured and sold by other European firms, most notably based out of Belgium and Spain. Even these licensed models did not satiate demand for the pistol and this, alongside a lax enforcement of intellectual property rights in Montenegro, led to many unlicensed local models of the pistol also being produced, with quality ranging from very good to outright dangerous to its user.

Subsequently, the weapon quickly became a status symbol for Montenegrin men and was commonly worn alongside traditional attire. Many Montenegrin immigrants that travelled to North America brought their Gasser pattern revolvers with them and at least two batches of several thousand pistols were smuggled into Mexico during the Mexican Revolution, leading to the Gasser revolver becoming widespread in the Americas. However, as the original reason for their mass production and the generation that grew around it faded, the pistol eventually lost its place as a status symbol and many were either given away or sold in the secondhand market.

Netherlands

Schutterij refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. Their training grounds were often on open spaces within the city, near the city walls, but, when the weather did not allow, inside a church. They are mostly grouped according to their district and to the weapon that they used: bow, crossbow or gun. Together, its members are called a Schuttersgilde, which could be roughly translated as a "shooter's guild". It is now a title applied to ceremonial shooting clubs and to the country's Olympic rifle team.

New Zealand

From the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 until 1844 small detachments of British Imperial troops based in New Zealand were the only military. This changed as a result of the Flagstaff War,^[129] with the colonial government passing a Militia Act on 25 March 1845.^[130] Militia units were formed in Auckland, Wellington, New Plymouth, and Nelson. Service in the militia was compulsory.

Many localized militia saw service, together with British Imperial troops, during the New Zealand Wars. In the late nineteenth century a system of local Volunteer militias evolved throughout the country. These were semi-trained but uniformed and administered by a small number of regular "Imperial" officers.^[131] The militia units were disbanded and reformed as the Territorial Army in 1911.

North Korea

The Worker-Peasant Red Guards is a North Korean paramilitary organization organized on a provincial/town/city/village level.

Norway

Pakistan

Militias have played an important role supporting Pakistan's Military since the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 when Pakistan, with the support of militias, was able to gain control of parts of the region of Kashmir.^[132] Pakistan found the militias volunteering to participate in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 and the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 quite useful as well.

Currently Pakistani citizens forming militias from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province are participating in the 'war on terror'.^[133][134]

Philippines

In the eighteenth century, the Philippines was a Spanish colony and the Spanish authorities sought to augment the strength of the regular military force of their colony by forming a number of militias. The most notable of these was the Luzon Grenadiers, which was of such exceptional quality that it was converted into a regular unit. Another noteworthy militia was the Royal University Militias, which was the forerunner of the University of Santo Tomas ROTC unit. The University of Santo Tomas along with the University of the Philippines Diliman and the University of the East have the best Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs in the country.

After the outbreak of the Revolution, Spain's governor-general in the Philippines authorized the formation of the Manila Loyal Volunteers Battalion.

During the Philippine-American War, the Sandatahan was the militia of the First Republic, and it distinguished itself in the Battle of Manila and the Second Battle of Caloocan.

When the Philippines Islands was an American colony, the Philippine National Guard was formed to fight in France during World War I as a unit of the American Expeditionary Force, but it never served overseas. The most famous Philippine guardsman was the first Filipino military pilot Leoncio R. Malinao, a 1920 U.P. graduate, who held the ranks of aviation cadet and lieutenant.

At the time when the Philippines was under Japanese military administration during the Pacific War, the Palaak was formed by the Japanese army. Also known as the Bamboo Army, because it was armed with bamboo spears, this militia existed even before the inauguration of the Second Republic. It was composed of all able-bodied men of District and Neighborhood Associations (Danas), from teenagers to sexagenarians. They were organized into platoons, companies, and battalions, and drilled along Japanese army lines. They served as spies and informers of the Japanese, they helped arrest guerrillas and performed guard duties. The Danas was created in August 1942 and when fully established, the government claimed that there were 124,000 Danas encompassing more than 1,500,000 Filipinos.

The Cold War caused the formation of various militias such as the Integrated Civilian Home Defense Forces, Bantáy Bayan (Civilian Volunteer Organization), and Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit. There was also the Manila Crusaders for Peace and Democracy, and in Mindanao there were the Alamara, Alsa Masa, Davao Death Squad, Kuratong Baleleng, Lost Command, Magahat Bagani, Nakasaka, and Tagum Death Squad.

Portugal

Portugal has a long tradition in the use of militias for national defense. Between the 12th and 16th centuries, the municipal militias – composed of spearmen, pikemen, horsemen, slingers, javelineers, archers, crossbowmen and later arquebusiers – constituted the main component of the Portuguese Royal Army, together with smaller military forces from the King, the military orders and the feudal lords.

After some failed previous attempts, in 1570 King Sebastian of Portugal created the Ordenanças, a centrally managed military territorial organization that would replace the municipal militias and became the basis of a national army. After 60 years of foreign domination (1580–1640), the Ordenanças were reorganized for the Portuguese Restoration War. The Portuguese Army was then organized in three lines, with the 2nd and 3rd being militia forces. The Ordenanças became the 3rd line and acted both as a territorial draft organization for the 1st and 2nd line troops and as a kind of home guard for local defense. The 2nd line was made of the auxiliary troops, also militia units with the role of regional defense. In the end of the 18th century, the auxiliary troops were renamed "Militias".

In the Peninsular War, the Militia regiments and the Ordenanças units had an important role in the defense of the country against the Napoleonic invader army. Still in the 19th century, the Militia units also had an important role in the Liberal Wars, with the majority of those troops fighting on the side of King Miguel. Besides the regular militias, a number of volunteer militia units were formed to fight on both sides of the war.

With the establishment of the constitutional regime, the old Militias and Ordenanças were replaced by a single national militia force, the National Guard. However, the National Guard revealed itself an ineffective and undisciplined force. Their units became highly politicized, being involved in a number of conspiracies and coups. The National Guard having less and less confidence from the authorities, became extinct in 1847, terminating a long tradition of national militias in Portugal.

During the 20th century, some experiments with militia type forces were made. From 1911 to 1926, the Portuguese Army was organized as a militia army. Also, in 1936, the Estado Novo regime created the Portuguese Legion as a political volunteer militia, dedicated to the fight against the enemies of country and of the social order. From World War II, the Portuguese Legion assumed the responsibility for civil defense, this becoming its main role during the Cold War, until its extinction in 1974.

Russia and the Soviet Union

Neither the Russian Empire, nor the Soviet Union ever had an organised force that could be equated to a militia. Instead a form of organisation that predated the Russian state was used during national emergencies called Narodnoe Opolcheniye (People's Regimentation). More comparable to the English Fyrd, it was a popular voluntary joining of the local полк polk, or a regiment, though it had no regular established strength or officers, these usually elected from prominent local citizens. The Tsarist regime was particularly reluctant to arm and organise militia forces because of concern over a repetition of the Pugachev Serf Revolt of the late 18th century. Only in the face of the national emergency of 1812 was the raising of opolcheniye "cohorts" permitted. Numbering over 223,000, loosely trained and barely equipped, these enthusiastic volunteers nevertheless provided a useful reserve for the regular army.^[135]

Although these spontaneously created popular forces had participated in several major wars of the Russian Empire, including in combat, they were not obligated to serve for more than one year, and notably departed for home during the 1813 campaign in Germany. On only one occasion, during the military history of the Soviet Union, the Narodnoe Opolcheniye was incorporated into the regular forces of the Red Army, notably in Leningrad and Moscow.

The term Militsiya in Russia and former Communist Bloc nations was specifically used to refer to the civilian police force, and should not be confused with the conventional western definition of militia. The term, as used in this context, dated from post-revolutionary Russia in late 1917 and was intended to draw a distinction between the new Soviet law enforcement agencies and the disbanded Tsarist police. In some of these states, such as Ukraine, the "militia" were renamed as "police" while in other states (e.g. Belarus) the title remains unchanged. In Russia itself the "militia' became "police" (in Russian: Полиция, Politsiya) in March 2011.^[136]

Spain

Spain had the National Militia, Provincial Militia, Urban Militia, and University Militias.

Sri Lanka

The first militias formed in Sri Lanka were by Lankan Kings, who raised militia armies for their military campaigns both within and outside the island. This was due to the reason that the Kings never maintained a standing army instead had a Royal Guard during peacetime and formed a militia in wartime.

When the Portuguese who were the first colonial power to dominate the island raised local militias under the command of local leaders known as Mudaliyars. These militias took part in the many Portuguese campaigns against the Lankan Kings. The Dutch continued to employ these militias but due to their unreliability tended to favor employing Swiss and Malay mercenaries in their campaigns in the island.

The British Empire then ousted the Dutch from the coastal areas of the country, and sought to conquer the independent Kandyan Kingdom. In 1802, the British became the first foreign power to raise a regular unit of Sinhalese with British officers, which was named the 2nd Ceylon Regiment, also known as the Sepoy Corps. It fought alongside British troops in the Kandyan wars. After the Matale Rebellion led by Puran Appu in 1848, in which a number of Sinhalese recruits defected to the side of the rebels, the recruitment of Sinhalese to the British forces was temporarily halted and the Ceylon Regiments disbanded.

In 1861, the Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers were raised as a militia, but soon became a military reserve force. This became the Ceylon Defence Force in 1910 and consisted of militia units. These were the Colombo Town Guard and the Town Guard Artillery formed during the two world wars.

With the escalation of the Sri Lankan Civil War, local villagers under threat of attack were formed into localized militia to protect their families and homes.^[137] According to the Sri Lankan Military these militias were formed after "massacres done by the LTTE" and in the early 1990s they were reformed as the Sri Lankan Home Guard. In 2007 the Home Guard became the Sri Lanka Civil Security Force.^[138] In 2008, the government called for the formation of nearly 15,000 civil defence committees at the village level for additional protection.^[139]

In 2004, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam claimed have establish a voluntary "Tamil Eelam auxiliary force". According to the LTTE's then head of police, the force was to be assigned to tasks such as rehabilitation, construction, forest conservation and agriculture, but would also be used to battle the Sri Lankan military if the need arose.^{[140][141][142]} In early 2009 it ceased to exist with the military defeat of the LTTE at the hands of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces.

Sudan

Main articles: Sudanese Armed Forces, War in Darfur, Rapid Support Forces, Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, and Anyanya

In Sudan, militia warfare developed from colonial auxiliary recruitment. The modern Sudanese Armed Forces originated from the Sudan Defence Force, created in 1925 as a locally recruited colonial auxiliary force under British command, before being replaced by the national army in 1956.^[143][144]

Anyanya guerrilla movement from Madi, Latuka, Acholi, and Dinka during the First Sudanese Civil War. During the Second Sudanese Civil War, Khartoum armed local auxiliaries to compensate for its overstretched regular army. These forces included the Muraheleen, drawn primarily from Baggara Arab groups.^[145]

Following the 1989 coup, this proxy system was formalized via the paramilitary Popular Defence Forces (PDF) under the Popular Defence Forces Act of 1989. The PDF legally integrated tribal groups alongside urban volunteers.^[146][147]

The War in Darfur intensified this ethnicized militia pattern. The state-backed Janjaweed recruited primarily from Arab pastoralist communities to fight the Sudan Liberation Movement and Justice and Equality Movement, which non-Arab Fur, Zaghawa, and Masalit milita groups.^[148][149]In 2013, Janjaweed elements were reorganized into the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) under Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, recruiting heavily from Rizeigat networks. The Rapid Support Forces Act of 2017 preserved its command autonomy.^[150]

In the Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, the state and state-aligned militas operated against milita from Ingessana and Uduk communities.^[151] The Sudanese civil war (2023–present) features a network of ethno-regional and political paramilitaries. The SAF-aligned coalition of auxiliaries included the Central Reserve Forces, Border Guards, the PDF, the Popular Resistance, the Islamist Al-Bara' ibn Malik Battalion, and the Darfuri Justice and Equality Movement and SLM factions. Conversely, the RSF combat infrastructure relies on Arab Darfuri communal militias, Tamazuj units, and cross-border tribal networks.^[152]

Sweden

As of 2012, the Swedish Home Guard consists of 22,000 organized into 40 light infantry battalions of 300–700 Guardsmen. These battalions are then organised into companies, usually one for every municipality. The main task of the battalions is to guard vital military and civilian installations throughout the country.^{[citation needed]}

In 2001, the Rapid Response units numbered around 5,000 soldiers of the total of 42,000. As of 2014, the majority of the force, 17,000 out of 22,000 soldiers will be in Rapid Response units. The decrease in number of troops comes with an equal increase in quality and modern equipment. These units are motorized and are ready to be mobilized more often, than other Home Guard units. Rapid response units have more combat tasks compared to the rest of the Home Guard, including escort duties. Some battalions located near the coast also have marine companies equipped with Combat Boat 90. A few battalions have recently set up 'specialized' companies to evaluate the possibility to add new abilities to the Home Guard. These are at the time of writing eight reconnaissance/intelligence companies, four CBRN-platoons, a movcon platoon, an engineer platoon, and a military police unit.

Switzerland

One of the best known and ancient militias is the Swiss Armed Forces. Switzerland has long maintained, proportionally, the second largest military force in the world, with about half the proportional amount of reserve forces of the Israeli Defense Forces, a militia of some 33% of the total population. The "militia principle" of public duties is central to Swiss political culture and not limited to military issues. For example, in most municipalities it is common to serve as a conscript fire fighter in the Compulsory Fire Department.

Article 58.1 of the April 18, 1999, Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation (official, French version) provides that "Switzerland has an army. It is primarily organised according to the principle of a militia." However, under the country's militia system, professional soldiers constitute about 5 percent of military personnel. In 1995, the number of soldiers was reduced to 400,000 (including reservists, amounting to some 5.6% of the population) in 2004, to 200,000 (including 80,000 reservists, or 2.5% of the population) and again in 2022, to 150,000 (including 50,000 reservists). However, the Swiss Militia continues to consist of most of the adult male population (with voluntary participation by women) who are usually issued an assault rifle which they can keep at home or store in a central arsenal and most of them have to periodically engage in combat and marksmanship training.^[153] The militia clauses of the Swiss Federal Constitution are contained in Art. 59, where it is referred to as "military service" (German: Militärdienst; French: service militaire; Italian: servizio militare; Romansh: servetsch militar).

Syria

The Syrian National Defense Force was formed out of pro-government militias. They receive their salaries and their military equipment from the government^[154][155] and as of 2013 numbers around 100,000.^[156][157] The force acts in an infantry role, directly fighting against rebels on the ground and running counter-insurgency operations in coordination with the army which provides them with logistical and artillery support. Unlike the Syrian Army, NDF soldiers are allowed to take loot from battlefields, which can then be sold on for extra money.^[154]

Turkey

United States

The history of militia in the United States dates from the colonial era, such as in the American Revolutionary War.^[158] Based on the English system, colonial militias were drawn from the body of adult male citizens of a community, town, or local region. Because there was no standing English Army before the English Civil War, and subsequently the English Army and later the British Army had few regulars garrisoning North America, colonial militia served a vital role in local conflicts, particularly in the French and Indian Wars. Before shooting began in the American War of Independence, American revolutionaries took control of the militia system, reinvigorating training and excluding men with Loyalist inclinations.^[159] Regulation of the militia was codified by the Second Continental Congress with the Articles of Confederation. The revolutionaries also created a full-time regular army—the Continental Army—but, because of manpower shortages, the militia provided short-term support to the regulars in the field throughout the war.

In colonial era Anglo-American usage, militia service was distinguished from military service in that the latter was normally a commitment for a fixed period of time of at least a year, for a salary, whereas militia was only to meet a threat, or prepare to meet a threat, for periods of time expected to be short. Militia persons were normally expected to provide their own weapons, equipment, or supplies, although they may later be compensated for losses or expenditures.^[160] A related concept is the jury, which can be regarded as a specialized form of militia convened to render a verdict in a court proceeding (known as a petit jury or trial jury) or to investigate a public matter and render a presentment or indictment (grand jury).^[161]

With the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and Article 1 Section 8 of the United States Constitution, control of the army and the power to direct the militia of the states was concurrently delegated to the federal Congress.^[162] The Militia Clauses gave Congress authority for "organizing, arming, and disciplining" the militia, and "governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States", and the States retained authority to appoint officers and to impose the training specified by Congress. Proponents describe a key element in the concept of "militia" was that to be "genuine" it not be a "select militia", composed of an unrepresentative subset of the population. This was an argument presented in the ratification debates.^[163]

The first legislation on the subject was the Militia Act of 1792 which provided, in part:

That each and every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective States, resident therein, who is or shall be of age of eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years (except as is herein after excepted) shall severally and respectively be enrolled in the militia,... every citizen, so enrolled and notified, shall, within six months thereafter, provide himself with a good musket or firelock.

Prior to the War of Independence, the officers of militia units were commissioned by the royal governors. During the war, they were commissioned either by the legislature or the chief executive of the state. After the war, commissions were typically granted by the state's chief executive. Militias did not operate independently of the state governments but were under the command of the civil government just like the regular military forces.^[164] Twenty-four of the current US states maintain state defense forces in the form of a constitutional militia in addition to the National Guard which is shared with the US government. These states include Alabama, Alaska, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Vermont, and Virginia. In addition, the Territory of Puerto Rico has a defense force.

19th century

During the nineteenth century, each of the states maintained its militia differently, some more than others. American militia saw action in the various Indian Wars, the War of 1812, the American Civil War, and the Spanish–American War. Sometimes militia units were found to be unprepared, ill-supplied, and unwilling.^{[162][165][166]} Prior to the Civil War, militia units were sometimes used by southern states for slave control. Formed in 1860, Republican Party-affiliated Wide Awakes clubs were quick to take action to defend persons against southern slave-hunters.^[167] In California, the militia carried out campaigns against bandits and against the Indians at the direction of its Governor between 1850 and 1866. During Reconstruction after the Civil War, Republican state governments had militias composed almost entirely of freed slaves and populist whites. Their deployment to maintain order in the former Confederate states caused increased resentment among many Southern whites.^[168]

After the American Civil War, secret groups like the Ku Klux Klan and Knights of the White Camellia arose quickly across the South, reaching a peak in the late 1860s. Even more significant in terms of effect were private militias: paramilitary organizations that formed starting in 1874, including the White League in Louisiana, which quickly formed chapters in other states; the Red Shirts in Mississippi in 1875, and with force in^{[clarification needed]} South Carolina and North Carolina; and other "white line" militias and rifle clubs.

In contrast to the KKK, these paramilitary organizations were open; members were often well known in their communities. Nevertheless, they used force, intimidation, and violence, including murder, to push out Republican officeholders, break up organizing, and suppress freedmen's voting and civil rights.^[169] The paramilitary groups were described as "the military arm of the Democratic Party" and were instrumental in helping secure Democratic victories in the South in the elections of 1876.^[170]

20th century

Further information: Militia organizations in the United States

The Militia Act of 1903 divided what had been the militia into what it termed the "organized" militia, created from portions of the former state guards to become state National Guard units, and the "unorganized" militia consisting of all males from ages 17 to 45, with the exception of certain officials and others, which is codified in 10 U.S.C. § 311. Some states, such as Texas, California, and Ohio, created separate state defense forces for assistance in local emergencies. Congress later established^[171] a system of "dual enlistment" for the National Guard, so that anyone who enlisted in the National Guard also enlisted in the U.S. Army.^[172] When the U.S. Air Force was established as an independent service in 1947, the National Guard was further divided into the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard. Under this construct, the 1933 defense act's "dual enlistment" facet was further amended so that enlisted soldiers and commissioned officers in the Army National Guard were also enlisted or commissioned in the Reserve Component of the U.S. Army. Enlisted airmen and commissioned officers in the Air National Guard were also enlisted or commissioned in the Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force.^{[citation needed]}

The 20th century saw the rise of militia organizations in the United States, these private militias often have an anti-government outlook and are not under the civil authority of the states. Privately organized citizen militia-related groups blossomed in the mid-1990s. Many militia groups are based on religious or political extremism and some are regarded as hate groups.^[173]

Texas

The most important previous activity of the Texas Militia was the Texas Revolution in 1836. Texans declared independence from Mexico while they were defeated during the Battle of the Alamo, in March 1836. On April 21, 1836, led by Sam Houston, the Militia attacked the Mexican Army at their camp, in the Battle of San Jacinto near the present city of Houston. Following the war, some militia units reorganized into what was later to be known as the Texas Rangers, which was a private, volunteer effort for several years before becoming an official organization. After Texas joined the Union of the United States in 1845, Texas militia units participated in the Mexican–American War.

In 1861 Texas joined the other Confederate States in seceding from the Union, and Texas militias played a role in the American Civil War until it ended in 1865. Texas militiamen joined Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders, a volunteer militia, and fought with him during the Spanish–American War in 1898. Some of the training of the Rough Riders took place in San Pedro Park, in the north-central part of San Antonio near the present site of San Antonio College. When a muster of the Militia proposed to train there on April 19, 1994, they were threatened with arrest, even though the charter of San Pedro Park forbids exclusion of activities of that kind. This threat led to a change in the meeting site. Like many other American states, Texas maintains a recognized State Militia, the Texas State Guard.

Vietnam

The Militia and Self-Defence Force is a part of Vietnam People's Armed Forces. The militia organized in communes, wards and townships and is put under commune-level military commands.

The Self-Defence Militia has two branches: Dân quân tự vệ nòng cốt (Core Self-Defence Militia) and Dân quân tự vệ rộng rãi (General Self-Defence Militia). The term of service in the Core Militia is 4 years.^[175]

SFR Yugoslavia

Beside the federal Yugoslav People's Army, each constituent republic of the former SFR Yugoslavia had its own Territorial Defense Forces. The Non-Aligned Yugoslavia was concerned about eventual aggression from any of the superpowers, especially by the Warsaw Pact after the Prague Spring, so the Territorial Defense Forces were formed as an integral part of the total war military doctrine called Total National Defense. Those forces corresponded to military reserve forces, paramilitary or militia, the latter, in the military meaning of the term (like military formation). It should not be confused with the Yugoslav Militia – Milicija which was a term for a police.