A
military or
miltary force (
n., from Latin
militarius,
miles "soldier") is a collective of men, machines and equipment that form an
army. While it can refer to any armed force, it generally refers to a permanent, professional force of soldiers or
guerrillas—trained exclusively for the purpose of warfare. The doctrine that asserts the
primacy of a military within a society is called
militarism.
While "military" concerns all related armed forces, is has often been distinct from a
militia or a
levy, which are temporary forces—citizen soldiers with less training, who may be
called up from the population when a nation mobilizes for
total war, or to defend against
invasion. As an
adjective, "military" is a descriptive property of things related to a military—
soldiers and warfare. In formal
British English, "military" as an adjective refers more particularly to matters relating to an army, as opposed to the naval and air force matters of the other two services: an example of this usage is here:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2003/20030636.htm.
Military "
strength" is a term that describes a
quantification or reference to a nation's standing military forces or the capacity for fulfillment of that military's role. For example, the military strength of a given country could be interpreted as the number of individuals in its
armed forces, the destructive potential of its arsenal, or both.
Early militaries
United States military services
Main article:
Military of the United States.
Military of the United Kingdom
See also
Category:War
Category:National security
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