Vincent J. Curtis
7 July 24
What is a militia? What was the
militia? Though a term now somewhat
archaic, the Canadian Army Reserve is still sometimes referred to colloquially
as “the militia.” The word militia appears in the Second Amendment to the
United States Constitution.
To offer the broadest definition, a militia
is the set of military aged males capable of bearing arms. In Canadian history, the militia was often divided
into the sedentary militia and the active militia. The active militia referred to formed
military units under the command, and, usually, though not always, in the pay,
of the colonial or Dominion government, and to the membership of those
units. The sedentary militia referred to
those males of military age capable of bearing arms who were not members of any
organized military unit under the command of a colonial or of the Dominion
government. The sedentary militia were often,
though not always, the largest component of the militia in Canada, and
were looked upon as potential conscripts for a defense force of the colony or
of the Dominion. (Potential conscription for defense was not abolished in Canadian
law until 1950).
In modern Canadian history, the first
Militia Act was passed in 1855 by the colonial government of the Province of
Canada, and was occasioned by the departure of most British regular army units
for the Crimean War. The Act created a
Non-Permanent Active Militia (NPAM) and a Permanent Active Militia (PAM),
sometimes called the Permanent Force, which today would be regarded as s cadre
Regular Force. There was no life like
it: volunteers were paid 5 shillings a day for ten days training per year,
while artillery units were paid for an outrageous twenty days per year. However, the men had to provide their own
uniforms. The Active Militia was called out during the Fenian Raids of
1866. The Act also created the office of
Minister of Militia and Defense, which title existed until 1923, when it
changed to its current Minister of National Defence.
The Militia Act of 1868 continued the
colonial arrangements of pre-confederation.
In 1869, there were 37,170 volunteers serving in the Active Militia, and
618,896 in the Sedentary Militia. The
Militia was mobilized for the Fenian Raids of 1870, the Red River Expedition of
1870, and the North West Rebellion of 1885.
The Second Boer War saw Canada send over
8,000 volunteers overseas for service in South Africa, and for this purpose Canada
created a Special Service force. The Militia was expected to defend Canada, but
service overseas was another matter; and for organizational and legal purposes
the Special Service Force was established.
A separate, legally distinct entity for
overseas service was continued in World War I. Sam Hughes threw the entire
mobilization plan overboard and into confusion by organizing the Canadian
Expeditionary Force along numbered battalion lines instead of on existing
militia battalions. The CEF was managed by the Minister of Overseas Military
Forces
On the advice of CGS Harry Crerar, the term
militia was, on November 19, 1940, abolished and replaced by army:
thus, the Canadian Army (Overseas), Canadian Army (Active) and Canadian Army
(Reserve). The term militia was briefly revived in the 1950s when the reserves
were renamed Canadian Army (Militia), which, in turn, was abolished and renamed
(Reserve).
Following WWII the successors to the PAM
and NPAM became, respectively, the Canadian Army Active Force and Canadian Army
Reserve Force. Korea again saw the
creation of an Army Special Force comprised of many volunteers with WWII
experience. In 1954, the reserve was
renamed the Canadian Army (Militia).
After unification in 1968, the Army was renamed Mobile Command, and the
Militia was redesigned Mobile Command (Reserve). In 1993, it was renamed Land
Force Command (Reserve), and finally, in 2011, was renamed Canadian Army
(Reserve).
“The Militia” in Canada is not some hoary
anachronism; though obsolete today, the term is properly expressive of the
historical development of today’s Canadian Army, both Regular and Reserve.
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