paramilitaries in some authoritarian regimes exist to keep the military in check. or basically attempts to "Coup proof" the regime by splitting power amongst various groups. Generally, you will see communist regimes employ commissars in the military while fascist ones tend to employ paramilitary groups
Law enforcement, or at least as Robert Peel originally envisioned law enforcement, are explicitly organized along civilian lines, rather than military. They answer to the civilian government, which has ultimate authority over them, have very specific powers that are clearly spelled out, and they are subject to public inquiry as a means of maintaining accountability. Peel was so concerned about the Metropolitan Police being perceived as an occupying army that he designed their uniforms to be blue (in stark contrast to the red that was the standard in the British Army at the time) and omitted most military ranks apart from Sergeant, hence by police are known as "officers" and not as "privates".
Law enforcement, or at least as Robert Peel originally envisioned law enforcement, are explicitly organized along civilian lines, rather than military. They answer to the civilian government, which has ultimate authority over them, have very specific powers that are clearly spelled out, and they are subject to public inquiry as a means of maintaining accountability. Peel was so concerned about the Metropolitan Police being perceived as an occupying army that he designed their uniforms to be blue (in stark contrast to the red that was the standard in the British Army at the time) and omitted most military ranks apart from Sergeant, hence by police are known as "officers" and not as "privates".
The Waffen SS started as trying to be the “best of the best” with strict requirements differing from the army. However as soon as the war started they dropped all those requirements. A majority of the foreign volunteers for the Nazis enlisted in the SS. The Muslims even had their own SS divisions
Imam from Palestine giving prayer to the 13th SS Division "Handschar" which consisted of Bosnians. The SS general at the end was a Islamophile who later moved to Egypt and converted to Islam
I do not know shit so yeah. But the way i see it paramilitary groups are meant to be a fall back plan for authoritarians when things start to get to hot for them. If the common mans starts rising up and the normal military starts feeling how the wind is starting to blow. Then the tyrants of the world need to fall back on there groups of armed and dangerous degenerate sociopath that love to gun down protesters in mass so they can start to feel in control again.
as an authoritairian leader you do not want to have the power to remove you all in one place.
So the army while keeping them in power now is also a cop waiting to happen. So you start building barriers to that. A gaurd unit loyal to you from the army, moving army barracks around, competing intelegence agencies to spy on the army ect ect. And then the paramilitary groups, armed men that aren't in the army, aren't in the police but belong to your party and thus you. They don't have to be good, they don't have to be nice; they just have to be loyal and a deter people couping/rising up against you
You generally want the general populace to be in the army and streamline it for military tasks.
More ideological tasks like shooting defectors and mowing down protesters goes smoother with people who deliberately joines the political army.
Like others already mentioned, the primary purpose is to have a separate entity to ensure loyalty. That way the party/dictator/etc. has an organization with capabilites similar to the military but solely devoted to them.
Syrian Ba’ath paramilitary
paramilitaries in some authoritarian regimes exist to keep the military in check. or basically attempts to "Coup proof" the regime by splitting power amongst various groups. Generally, you will see communist regimes employ commissars in the military while fascist ones tend to employ paramilitary groups
Does NKVD count as paramilitary? Because of its purposes was to slow down a coup.
They were secret police/intelligence, which often works with paramilitary groups but is not the same.
To terrorize the population
Internal security force or plausible deniability.
A means for which dictatorships can check the power of the Army in lieu of you know, constitutional restraint.
Also a good place to keep cronies and ideologically-attuned useful idiots.
y delet
Janny is gay
So how are paramilitaries different then cops?
Paramilitary generally means an armed group with military style structure/ranks outside of the military. So the police would fit that definition
Law enforcement, or at least as Robert Peel originally envisioned law enforcement, are explicitly organized along civilian lines, rather than military. They answer to the civilian government, which has ultimate authority over them, have very specific powers that are clearly spelled out, and they are subject to public inquiry as a means of maintaining accountability. Peel was so concerned about the Metropolitan Police being perceived as an occupying army that he designed their uniforms to be blue (in stark contrast to the red that was the standard in the British Army at the time) and omitted most military ranks apart from Sergeant, hence by police are known as "officers" and not as "privates".
lmao PrepHole janny hates PrepHole posters
Paramilitaries are more like NW police or Swat.
The Waffen SS started as trying to be the “best of the best” with strict requirements differing from the army. However as soon as the war started they dropped all those requirements. A majority of the foreign volunteers for the Nazis enlisted in the SS. The Muslims even had their own SS divisions
What’s the context of this
Third Reich was very close with some muslims paramilitary and even leaders, as long as they stayed in their country and not in Europe.
Imam from Palestine giving prayer to the 13th SS Division "Handschar" which consisted of Bosnians. The SS general at the end was a Islamophile who later moved to Egypt and converted to Islam
I do not know shit so yeah. But the way i see it paramilitary groups are meant to be a fall back plan for authoritarians when things start to get to hot for them. If the common mans starts rising up and the normal military starts feeling how the wind is starting to blow. Then the tyrants of the world need to fall back on there groups of armed and dangerous degenerate sociopath that love to gun down protesters in mass so they can start to feel in control again.
Sometimes the paramilitaries are made up of different ethnic groups or even are the common man in countries such as Venezuela
as an authoritairian leader you do not want to have the power to remove you all in one place.
So the army while keeping them in power now is also a cop waiting to happen. So you start building barriers to that. A gaurd unit loyal to you from the army, moving army barracks around, competing intelegence agencies to spy on the army ect ect. And then the paramilitary groups, armed men that aren't in the army, aren't in the police but belong to your party and thus you. They don't have to be good, they don't have to be nice; they just have to be loyal and a deter people couping/rising up against you
You generally want the general populace to be in the army and streamline it for military tasks.
More ideological tasks like shooting defectors and mowing down protesters goes smoother with people who deliberately joines the political army.
I love the East German look
Like others already mentioned, the primary purpose is to have a separate entity to ensure loyalty. That way the party/dictator/etc. has an organization with capabilites similar to the military but solely devoted to them.
Loyalty is to the party/leader, not the state.
The entire Chinese military is structured this way, they have no national military.
I would not say the Chinese military is paramilitary.