Journal:Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis
Volume 28 (2014): Paramilitarism in the Eastern Baltics, 1918–1940: Cases Studies and Comparisons = Paramilitarizmas Rytų Baltijos regione 1918–1940: atvejo studijos ir lyginimai, pp. 181–220
Abstract
The paper deals with the role of the Kaitseliit (Defence League) voluntary defence organisation in Estonia’s defence in the years of the Estonian War of Independence (also known as the Liberation War) and in peacetime until 1940, with attention focused mainly on the 1930s. An overview is provided of the historiography, the formation of Kaitseliit in 1918, its role in the Liberation War, the period of decreasing activity of the organisation after the war, and the restoration and development of Kaitseliit in the 1920s and 1930s. The author reviews the objectives of the organisation, issues of its membership, structure, management and armament, as well as the use of Kaitseliit and its units in Estonian military defence and internal training. The paper also attempts to answer the question how the role of Kaitseliit in Estonian national defence developed.
Journal:Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis
Volume 28 (2014): Paramilitarism in the Eastern Baltics, 1918–1940: Cases Studies and Comparisons = Paramilitarizmas Rytų Baltijos regione 1918–1940: atvejo studijos ir lyginimai, pp. 159–180
Abstract
The Riflemen’s Union (Związek Strzelecki) was a paramilitary organisation in the Second Polish Republic which oversaw the military training of young pre-military age people. Simultaneously, it was a civic education movement. The activities of the organisation covered all of Poland, and it also had structural subdivisions in Polish communities outside the country. The article discusses the circumstances of the foundation of the organisation, its relationship with the Polish army, the main features of its activities, organisational structure and principles of management, the staff, the composition of members, and the dynamics of their numbers.
Journal:Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis
Volume 28 (2014): Paramilitarism in the Eastern Baltics, 1918–1940: Cases Studies and Comparisons = Paramilitarizmas Rytų Baltijos regione 1918–1940: atvejo studijos ir lyginimai, pp. 75–102
Abstract
During the struggle for Lithuania’s independence, defence and guerrilla units started forming in the countryside, and fought against the Bermontian and Soviet forces and gangs of marauders. In 1919, intellectuals and public servants from Kaunas formed a sports-military guerrilla organisation, and called it the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union (LRU). The organisation accepted not only new members, but also people who had already fought with guerrilla units in northeast Lithuania. Therefore, the ranks of the LRU grew rapidly, and the new paramilitary organisation played an important role in the struggle for Lithuania’s statehood. The LRU was active throughout the interwar period, until 11 July 1940, when, after the Soviet occupation, it was officially disbanded. This paper deals with issues of the scope and structure of the LRU, which until now have hardly been dealt with in historiography. The paper has three objectives: 1) it tries to establish changes in the numbers of riflemen in the interwar period, as well as the numbers of people who belonged to the LRU in different periods, and their total number throughout the interwar period; 2) the ethnic, religious and social composition of the Riflemen’s Union is analysed, with the aim of developing ‘a social portrait of a rifleman’; and 3) the internal structure of the Union is addressed: the numbers of reserve and combatant riflemen.