A militia (/mɪˈlɪʃə/)^[1] is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional and/or part-time soldiers; citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of regular, full-time military personnel; or, historically, to members of a warrior-nobility class (e.g. knights or samurai). When acting independently militias are generally unable to hold ground against regular forces; militias commonly support regular troops by skirmishing, holding fortifications, or conducting irregular warfare, instead of undertaking offensive campaigns by themselves. Local civilian laws often limit militias to serve only in their home region, and to serve only for a limited time; this further reduces their use in long military campaigns. Militias may also, however, serve as a pool of available manpower for regular forces to draw from, particularly in emergencies.

Beginning in the late 20th century, some militias (in particular officially recognized and sanctioned militias of a government) act as professional forces, while still being "part-time" or "on-call" organizations. For instance, the members of United States National Guard units are considered professional soldiers, as they are trained to the same standards that their "full-time" (active duty) counterparts are.^[2]

Militias thus can be either military or paramilitary, depending on the instance. Some of the contexts in which the term "militia" can apply include:

• forces engaged in a defense activity or service, to protect a community, its territory, property, and laws,^[3]
• the entire able-bodied population of a community, town, county, or state available to be called to arms
  • a subset of these who may be legally penalized for failing to respond to a call-up
  • a subset of these who actually respond to a call-up regardless of legal obligation
• a private (non-governmental) force not necessarily directly supported or sanctioned by a government
• an irregular armed force that enables its leader to exercise military, economic, or political control over a subnational territory within a sovereign state
• in Russia and some countries of the former Soviet Union, an official reserve army composed of citizen soldiers known as the militsiya or militia (police)
• a select militia composed of a small, non-representative portion of the population,^[4]
• maritime militias composed of fishermen and other participants of the marine industry which are organized and sanctioned by a state to enforce its maritime boundaries.^[5]

Etymology

Militia derives from Latin roots:

• miles /miːles/ : soldier^[6]
• -itia /iːtia/ : a state, activity, quality or condition of being^[7][8]
• militia /mil:iːtia/: Military service^[6]

The word militia dates back to ancient Rome, and more recently to at least 1590 when it was recorded in a book by Sir John Smythe, Certain Discourses Military with the meanings: a military force; a body of soldiers and military affairs; a body of military discipline^[9] The word Militia comes from ancient Latin, in which it meant defense service, as distinguished from a body of (armed) defenders which would be volgus militum. The term is used by several countries with the meaning of "defense activity" indicating it is taken directly from Latin.

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.^[10]

Andorra

Andorra has a small army, which has historically been raised or reconstituted at various dates, but has never in modern times amounted to a standing army. The basic principle of Andorran defence is that all able-bodied men are available to fight if called upon by the sounding of the Sometent. Being a landlocked country, Andorra has no navy.

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.^[11]

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.^[12]

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,^[13] 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.^[14] 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,^[15] 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.^[12] 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.^[16][17] According to Marc Forné Molné, Andorra's military budget is strictly from voluntary donations, and the availability of full-time volunteers.^[18]

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,^[19] where 12 citizens perished in Andorra, to help the population and establish a public order along with the Local Police units.^[20]

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.^[21] 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.^[22] 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.^[23] 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.^[24] Provincial militias were outlawed and decimated by the new army throughout the presidential terms of Mitre, Sarmiento, Avellaneda and Roca.^[25]

Armenia

Armenian militia, or fedayi played a major role in the independence of various Armenian states, including Western Armenia, the First Republic of Armenia, and the currently de facto independent Republic of Artsakh. Armenian militia also played a role in the Georgia-Abkhazia War of 1992–1993.

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.^[26] Following Federation, the various military reserve forces of the Commonwealth of Australia became the Citizen Military Force (CMF).

A citizens' militia modeled on the British Home Guard called the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) was founded by the Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) in 1940 in response to the possibility of a Japanese invasion of Australia. In the beginning, members didn't have uniforms and often paraded in business attire. They were given instruction on guerrilla warfare, and later the private organization was taken over by the Australian Government and became part of the Australian Military Forces (AMF). The government supported the organization and equipped them with anti-aircraft artillery; however, they were disbanded by the end of World War II due to the fact that there was no longer a significant threat to national security.

Austria

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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.

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.

During the First 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.

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.

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”.^[27]

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

In Canada the title "Militia" historically referred to the land component of the armed forces, both regular (full-time) and reserve. The earliest Canadian militias date from the beginning of the French colonial period. In New France, King Louis XIV created a compulsory militia of settlers in every parish that supported French authorities in the defence and expansion of the colony.

Following the British conquest of New France in 1760, local militia units supported British Army regiments stationed in British America, and, after the secession of thirteen continental colonies in the American War of Independence, British North America. In addition to the Canadian militia, British regiments were also supported by locally raised regulars (including the 40th Regiment of Foot, and the 100th (Prince of Wales's Royal Canadian) Regiment of Foot) and Fencibles regiments. These regiments were raised through ordinary modes of recruiting, as opposed to being raised by ballot like the militia. Most militia units were only activated in time of war, but remained inactive in between. The battle honours awarded to these colonial militia regiments are perpetuated by modern regiments within the Canadian Army.

Defence of the Canadas long relied on a contingent of British soldiers, as well as support from the Royal Navy. However, the Crimean War saw the diversion of a significant number of British soldiers from British North America. Fearing possible incursions from the United States, the Parliament of the Province of Canada passed the Militia Act of 1855, creating the Active Militia.^[28] The Active Militia, later splitting into the Permanent Active Militia (PAM), a full-time professional army component (although it continued to use the label militia), and Non-Permanent Active Militia (NPAM), a military reserve force for the Canadian militia.^[29] Following 1855, the traditional sedentary militia was reorganized into the Reserve Militia, with its last enrolment taking place in 1873, and was formally abolished in 1950.

Prior to Canadian Confederation, the colonies that made up the Maritimes, and Newfoundland maintained their own militias independent of the Canadian Militia. Bermuda, part of British North America and militarily subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief of the Maritimes,^[30] allowed its militia to lapse following the American War of 1812.^[31] United states Independence, however, elevated Bermuda to the status of an Imperial fortress and it would be strongly defended by the regular army,^{[32][33][34][35]} and left out of the confederation of Canada.^{[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]} From 1853 to 1871, the Colony of Vancouver Island (and the succeeding Colony of British Columbia) periodically raised and disbanded militia units. These units were raised for specific purposes, or in response to a specific threat, real or perceived.^[44]

After the Treaty of Washington was signed between the Americans and British, nearly all remaining British soldiers were withdrawn from Canada in November 1871.^[45] The departure of the majority of British forces in Canada made the Canadian militia the only major land forces available in Canada. In 1940, both components of the militia, PAM and NPAM were reorganized, the former into Canadian Army (Active), the latter into the Canadian Army (Reserve)

In addition to the various colonial militia units, and the regiments of the Canadian militia, in 1942, the Army's Pacific Command created the Pacific Coast Militia Rangers. Intended to function similarly to the United Kingdom's Home Guard, the Rangers were a secondary defence force, defending the coast of British Columbia and Yukon from potential Japanese attack.^[46] The Rangers were disbanded in September 1945, shortly after the conclusion of World War II. The legacy of the Pacific Coast Militia Rangers is perpetuated by the Canadian Rangers, a component of the Primary Reserve that provides a military presence in areas where it would not be economically or practically viable to have conventional Army units – most notably northern Canada.

The Canadian Army Reserve continued to use the term militia in reference to itself until the unification of the Canadian Armed Forces in 1968. Since unification, no Canadian military force has formally used militia in its name. However, the Canadian Army Reserve is still colloquially referred to as the militia.^[47][48] Members of the Canadian Army Reserve troops typically train one night a week and every other weekend of the month, except in the summer. Summertime training may consist of courses, individual call-outs, or concentrations (unit and formation training of one to two weeks' duration). Most Canadian cities and counties have one or more militia units. Primary Reserve members may volunteer for overseas service, to augment their regular force counterparts—usually during NATO or United Nations missions.

China

China's current militia falls under the leadership of 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.^[49]

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.^[50][51]

Cuba

Cuba has three militia organizations: The Territorial Troops Militia (Milicias de Tropas Territoriales) of about one million people (half women),^[52] the Youth Labor Army (Ejército Juvenil del Trabajo) devoted to agricultural production, and a naval militia.^[53] 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.^[54]

Denmark

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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.

The Danish Militia played a major role in repelling the Swedish attackers during the assault on Copenhagen in 1659.

The Danish Home guard are the most highly trained militia men in the world as of 2012 as the receive about 90 hours of training a year in many yearly exercises. These include many exercises such as repelling assaults and RPG fire from Afghan irregulars.

These yearly exercises include marksman training, and desert training for future possible deployment in afghan, as well as CQB training with the Danish special forces Frogman Corps (frømandskorpset).

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.^[55] 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.^[56]

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.^[57] 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.^[58]

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.^[59] 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.^[60]

Germany

The earliest reports of Germanic militias was the system of hundreds described in AD 98 by the Roman historian Tacitus as the centeni. They were similar in nature to the Anglo-Saxon fyrd.

Freikorps (German for "Free Corps") was originally applied to voluntary armies. The first Freikorps were recruited by Frederick II of Prussia during the Seven Years' War. These troops were regarded as unreliable by regular armies, so they were mainly used as sentries and for minor duties. During the Napoleonic occupation, organizations such as the Lutzow Free Corps fought against the occupiers and later joined the allied forces as regular soldiers.

However, after 1918, the term was used for nationalist paramilitary organizations that sprang up around Germany as soldiers returned in defeat from World War I. They were one of the many Weimar paramilitary groups active during that time. They received considerable support from Gustav Noske, the German Defence Minister who used them to crush the Spartakist League with enormous violence, including the murders of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg on January 15, 1919. Militia were also used to put down the Bavarian Soviet Republic in 1919. They were officially "disbanded" in 1920, resulting in the ill-fated Kapp Putsch in March 1920. The Einwohnerwehr, active in Germany from 1919 to 1921 was a paramilitary citizens' militia consisting of hundreds of thousands of mostly former servicemen.^[61] Formed by the Prussian Ministry of the Interior on April 15, 1919, to allow citizens to protect themselves from looters, armed gangs, and revolutionaries, the Einwohnerwehr was under the command of the local Reichswehr regiments, which supplied its guns. In 1921, the Berlin government dissolved the Einwohnerwehr. Many of its members went on to join the Nazi Party.^[62]

In 1921 the Nazi Party created the Sturmabteilung (SA; Storm Detachment; Brownshirts), which was the first paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party and served as a Nazi militia whose initial assignment was to protect Nazi leaders at rallies and assemblies. The SA also took part in street battles against the forces of rival political parties and violent actions against Jews. From the SA sprung the Schutzstaffel (SS; Protective Squadron) which grew to become one of the largest and most powerful groups in Nazi Germany, which Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler (the leader of the SS from 1929) envisioned as an elite group of guards. The Waffen-SS, the military branch of the SS, became a de facto fourth branch of the Wehrmacht.^[63]

In 1944–1945, as World War II came to a close in Europe, the German high command deployed increasing numbers of Volkssturm units to combat duties. These regiments were composed of men, women and children too old, young or otherwise unfit for service in the Wehrmacht (German Regular Army).^[64] Their primary role was assisting the army with fortification duties and digging anti-tank ditches. As the shortage of manpower became severe, they were used as front line infantry, most often in urban settings. Due to the physical state of members, almost non-existent training and shortage of weapons, there was not much the Volkssturm could do except act like shields for regular army units.

India

Salwa Judum (meaning "Peace March"^[65] or "Purification Hunt" in Gondi language) was a militia active in the Chhattisgarh state of India.

Iran

The Basij militia founded by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in November 1980^[66] is composed of 10,000 regular soldiers. It ultimately draws from about 11 million members, and is subordinate to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran.

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.^[67]

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.^[68]

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.^[69] Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories rely on armed militia teams for their security.^[70] 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.^[71] Since the revolution, reports of clashes and violence by militia groups have been increasing.^[72]

Mexicoedit

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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),^[73] the Camisas Doradas, and the contemporary Self Defense Council of Michoacan.^[74]

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.^[75] 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.^[76]

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.^[76] 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.^[77] 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.^[78] 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.^[78] 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.^[79] 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.^[79] 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.^[80]

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.^[81] 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.^[82] 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.^[82]

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,^[83] has been to always label them as illegal and to combat them in a military and a political way.^[84]

Modern examples on the Mexican view on militias are the Chiapas conflict against the EZLN^[85] and against the EPR in Guerrero,^[86] 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,^[87] the government regulated them and transformed the militias in to Rural federal forces,^[88] and those who resisted were combated and imprisoned.^[89]

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