Standing army

A standing army is a permanent, often professional, army. It is composed of full-time soldiers (who may be either career soldiers or conscripts) and is not disbanded during times of peace. It differs from army reserves, who are enrolled for the long term, but activated only during wars or natural disasters, and temporary armies, which are raised from the civilian population only during a war or threat of war and disbanded once the war or threat is over. Standing armies tend to be better equipped, better trained, and better prepared for emergencies, defensive deterrence, and particularly, wars. The term dates from approximately 1600, although the phenomenon it describes is much older.

The army of ancient Rome is considered to have been a standing army during much of the Imperial period and during some of the late republican period.

The first record of a standing army is the army of Sumer in Mesopotamia, recorded on the Stele of the Vultures, between 2600 and 2350 BCE.. And was also created by Sargon of the Akkadian Empire that broke peace between Sumer and the Akkadians. The first modern standing armies in Europe were the Janissaries of the Ottoman Empire, formed in the fourteenth century CE. In western Europe the first standing army was established by Charles VII of France in the year 1445. The Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus had a standing army from the 1460s called the Fekete Sereg, which was an unusually big army in its age, accomplishing a series of victories and capturing parts of Austria, Vienna (1485) and parts of Bohemia.

Standing Army (film)

Standing Army, directed by Enrico Parenti and Thomas Fazi, is a 2010 documentary film about the global network of U.S. military bases, the impact that these have on local populations, and the military-industrial complex that lies behind it.

Synopsis

The United States has 250,000 soldiers stationed on more than 700 military bases in at least 40 countries across the globe,. This deployment has continued to increase.

The film explores historical displacement of native populations, including Italy, on Diego Garcia (an Indian Ocean island) and the Middle East. The film posits that while the traditional definition of the term empire means possession of colonies, the foundation of an "American empire" is based on a worldwide network of military bases. While they used to serve as simple supply facilities in war-like conflicts, they are often formed in the aftermath of armed US interventions, raising the question if this is intentional strategy. The film presents various data and concludes with Chalmers Johnson, former CIA advisor, who claims this is a new type of imperialism containing a self-destructive recoil force that will lead to a medium-term decline and the ruin of the American position of power in the world.