Imperial Home Guard (Belhavia)
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| Imperial Home Guard of Belhavia | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1854 |
| Current form | 1946 |
| Headquarters | Provisa |
| Leadership | |
| General-in-Chief, Imperial Home Guard | Ezriel Greenstein |
| Chief of Staff, General | Gershon Waxman |
| Personnel | |
| Reaching military age annually | (2014 (estimate)) |
| Active personnel | 45,575 |
| Reserve personnel | 12,531 |
The Imperial Home Guard of Belhavia (alternatively referred to as White Guards (colloquially)) is one of the six branches of the Imperial Armed Forces of Belhavia and is a consolidated national militia and military reserve force whose members engage primarily in homeland security and disaster relief duties in semi-active duty operations.
It was formed by the Imperial government during the Revolutions of 1854 as a loyalist militia that bolstered the beleaguered Imperial Army in suppressing the liberal revolutionaries in Belhavia. The force was maintained and used during the White Terror to enforce the White Terror laws until the early 1860s, when its purported ruthless actions caused the Imperial Senate to reassign enforcement of the laws to the then-His Majesty's Imperial Intelligence Service.
After border skirmishes with Estovnia in 1903, the Home Guard was transformed under President David Lieberman to expand from just a voluntary national militia into an semi-active reserve force of the main Imperial military forces as well.
It is a joint Imperial-provincial military organization that has a central command in Provisa that is active but only undertakes full command of the force during wartime or national emergencies, while command of Home Guard units are decentralized to the provincial and territorial governors of the Empire's provinces and crown territories.
As of August 2015, it has 45,575 active personnel (on semi- or full-active duty) and 12,531 reserve personnel (on reserve status).
History
The Home Guard was formed hastily on August 11th, 1854, in reaction to the outbreak of liberal revolutionary violence in Provisa and Dakos between July 29th and August 10th. The Emperor ordered loyalists to be organized into a fighting militia as the Imperial Army and royalist police were struggling to contain the growing violence against the Imperial Government.
Retired Imperial general Noam Levansky was recalled from retirement and made its commander. By August 20th, the force had raised a standing men-under-arms count of 15,649. They trained until revolutionaries raised arms against the government formally in early September 1854, and the Home Guard complemented Imperial Army units in the fighting between September 1854 and March 1855, when the revolution was defeated.
During the conflict, many Home Guard troops guarded loyalist towns and government buildings, and earned the nickname White Guards by royalist supporters in recognition of their loyalties and the color of the monarchy being white. Between 1855 and 1863, the so-called "White Guard" was maintained to suppress lingering revolutionary insurgents and to enforce the White Terror laws.
After several very public brutal and ruthless actions by White Guard units or commanders, the Imperial Senate transferred enforcement of the laws to the Imperial intelligence service and secret police instead.
The White Guard was involved in numerous incidents of loyalist attacks on malcontents and other enemies of the state throughout the late 19th century, including trade unionists, labor activists, nascent socialists, anti-monarchists, and others.
In the early 1900s, the White Guard was under threat of disbanment under the ruling Liberal government of David Lieberman but fought hard in the 1903 border skirmishes on the Esto-Belhavian border. Rather than abolish the paramilitary organization, Lieberman purged it of extremist elements and merged it from solely a national militia into the reserve forces of the proper Imperial Army.
During the South Akkadiya Ocean War, the Home Guard was put on alert in the Ross Archipelagos, Weissland Islands, and Merrina due to the Estovnian-Tulese threat. Home Guard anti-air units fired in defense of Port Solomon harbor during the Battle of the Gap of Glat Seyling when Estovnian bombers targeted the colonial territorial capital, and later Guard units served in naval scouting patrols.
In the 1980s, the Home Guard played a pivotal role during the Urban Enclave Crisis bolstering local police forces in restoring law and order in so-called "Zones of Lawless Disorder" (ZLDs). In the decades since, the White Guards have assisted joint DISE-IBI efforts to halt the illegal drug trade in the Taverian Drug War from being trafficked into Belhavia.
Command & Hierarchy
The entire Home Guard is about at 75% strength of a standard Army corps (approx. 60,000). During wartime, the Home Guard is organized as 'VI Corps - HG' and subsumed under the Imperial Army's General Staff, with the Home Guard general-in-chief given equivalent Army status of a standard corps commander.
The Home Guard hierarchy mimics the Imperial Army structure.
Equipment
The Belhavian Home Guard has limited access to the full arsenal and equipment of the Imperial Army. The Army often "retires" semi-used but decent and durable equipment to the Home Guard's armories.
During wartime and national emergencies, the Army shares all but its most advanced weaponry and equipment with the Home Guard.