Editing Demilitarisation

{{Short description|Reduction of state armed forces}}
{{war}}
'''Demilitarisation''' or '''demilitarization''' may mean the reduction of state armed forces; it is the opposite of [[militarisation]] in many respects.<ref name="LachenmannWolfrum2017">{{cite book|author1=Frauke Lachenmann|author2=Rüdiger Wolfrum|title=The Law of Armed Conflict and the Use of Force: The Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=boWuDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA327|year=2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-878462-3|pages=327–}}</ref> For instance, the demilitarisation of Northern Ireland entailed the reduction of British security and military apparatuses.<ref>{{cite book|title=The State of Loyalism in Northern Ireland|url=https://archive.org/details/stateloyalismnor00spen_484|url-access=limited|last=Spencer|first=Graham|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2008|isbn=978-1-349-54224-6|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/stateloyalismnor00spen_484/page/n160 148]}}</ref> Demilitarisation in this sense is usually the result of a peace treaty ending a war or a major conflict. The principle is distinguished from [[demobilisation]], which refers to the drastic voluntary reduction in the size of a victorious army.

== Definitions ==
Demilitarisation was a policy in a number of countries after both world wars. In the [[aftermath of World War I]], the [[United Kingdom]] greatly reduced its military strength, which is also referred to as [[disarmament]]. The resulting position of British military weakness during the rise of the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi regime]] in Germany was among the causes that led to the policy of [[appeasement]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Lloyd George and the Appeasement of Germany, 1919-1945|last=Rudman|first=Stella|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|year=2011|isbn=978-1-4438-2657-0|location=Newcastle upon Tyne, UK|pages=192}}</ref>

The conversion of a military or paramilitary force into a civilian one is also called demilitarisation. For example, the Italian [[Polizia di Stato]] demilitarised in 1981, and the [[Austrian Gendarmerie]] merged with the national police, making up a new civilian body. Demilitarisation can also refer to the policies employed by Allied forces during the [[occupation of Japan]] and [[Allied-occupied Germany|Germany]] after [[World War II]].<ref name="Haller">Haller, Oliver, ''[http://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/diss/z2007/0126/pdf/doh.pdf Destroying Weapons of Coal, Air and Water: A Critical Evaluation of the American Policy of German Industrial Demilitarization 1945 – 1952]'' (Philipps-Universität Marburg: Marburg, 2006).</ref> The Japanese and German militaries were re-badged to disassociate them from their recent war history, but were kept active and reinforced to help the allies face the new [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] threat, which had become evident as World War II ended and the [[Cold War]] began.

Demilitarisation can also refer to the reduction of one or more types of weapons or weapons systems ''(See [[Arms Control]])'' or the removal of combat equipment from a [[warship]] ''(See [[Japanese battleship Hiei]])''.

A [[demilitarised zone]] is a specific area, such as a buffer zone between nations previously engaged in armed conflict, where military persons, equipment or activities are forbidden. This can also include areas designated during conflicts in which nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities or personnel. The demilitarised zone is also free from all activities that assist the war efforts of any of the [[belligerent]]s.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Companion to International Humanitarian Law|last=Djukić|first=Dražan|last2=Pons|first2=Niccolò|publisher=BRILL Nijhoff|year=2018|isbn=978-90-04-34200-2|location=Leiden, Netherlands|pages=201}}</ref> Generally, this zone is protected from attack and many countries forbid their troops from targeting because it would constitute a grave breach or a serious war crime that would likely warrant the institution of criminal proceedings.<ref>{{cite book|title=Customary International Humanitarian Law|last=Henckaerts|first=Jean-Marie|last2=Doswald-Beck|first2=Louise|last3=Alvermann|first3=Carolin|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-521-83937-2|location=Cambridge|pages=691}}</ref> In the case, however, of the [[Korean Demilitarized Zone|Korean Demilitarised Zone]], of the areas beyond the demilitarized strip that separates both sides, are heavily militarized.

Examples of demilitarisation include:

* The [[Treaty of Versailles]] barred post–World War I Germany from having an air force, armoured vehicles, and certain types of naval vessels. In addition, it established a demilitarised zone in the [[Rhineland]].
* The massive reductions of military personnel in the Allied countries, following World War I.
** The [[Demobilisation of the British Armed Forces after World War II]]
* The [[Washington Naval Treaty]]
* The [[Chemical Weapons Convention]]
* The abolition of the army of [[Costa Rica]] on December 1, 1948, by President Jose Figueres.<ref>Bird, Leonard. 1984. ''Costa Rica: The Unarmed Democracy''. London: Sheppard Press, pp. 89–93</ref>

==See also==
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* [[Antimilitarism]]
* [[Anti-war movement]]
* [[Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution]]
* [[Conference of the Committee on Disarmament]]
* [[Corpus separatum (Jerusalem)]]
* [[Counter-recruitment]]
* [[Decommissioning in Northern Ireland]]
* [[De-escalation]]
* [[Demilitarized zone]]
* [[Denazification]]
* [[Disarmament as Humanitarian Action]]
* [[Disarmament in Somalia]]
* [[Disarmament Insight]]
* [[Disarmament of Libya]]
* [[Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration]]
* [[Disarmament]]
* [[Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament]]
* [[Japan Self-Defense Forces]]
* [[Korean Demilitarized Zone]]
* [[List of countries without armed forces]]
* [[Militarization]]
* [[Occupation of Japan]]
* [[Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone]]
* [[Washington Naval Conference]] of 1921–22
{{div col end}}

==References==
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{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Arms control]]
[[Category:Military disbanding and disarmament]]