Ethiopian Fascist Guard (Italian Empire)
The Ethiopian Fascist Guard (Ahmaric: የፋሺሽት ዘበኛ Yefashīshiti Zebenya, የ.ዘ.; Italian: Guardia Fascista, G.F.) is the militia part of the security establishment of the Empire of Ethiopia, other three parts being the Imperial Ethiopian National Defence Force, the Ethiopian National Imperial Guard and the Ethiopian Gendarmerie. The Ethiopian Fascist Guard is under the functional leadership of the Ethiopian Ministry of Interior, under the disciplinary leadership of the Italian M.V.S.N. and under the political guidance of the Ehiopian Fascist Front.
The Fascist Guard has the task to carry out police duties, to protect State-owned property and crops, and to enforce the decisions of Fascist Party.
Contents
History
The Ethiopian Fascist Guard tracks its origins back to the Italian Colonial Militia. With the establishment of the Special Government Regions, local militia units began to be organised also within indigenous peoples. With the Proclamation No.71, issued in 1975, the government established the Ethiopian Fascist Guard in order to "safeguard the revolution and the Empire" and the local power bases.
The Ethiopian Fascist Guard has always been largely a rural organization, despite the fact that Addis Ababa had directed urban dwellers' associations and workers' associations to "elect" constituents to serve in the militia.
Organisation
The Fascist Guard is organised according the decentralised structure of the Empire of Ethiopia. At the imperial level, the Guard is dependent on the Minister of Interior and politically guided by the Ethiopian Fascist Front.
General Command
The Fascist Guard is administered by the General Command, under the Ministry of Interior and the political guidance Ethiopian Fascist Front. The General Command provides a communication channel for Provincial Commands to the Ministry of Interior, as well as policies and requirements for training and funds and other administrative responsibilities. The National Guard Bureau is headed by the Chief of the National Guard Bureau (CNGB), who is a four-star general[14][15] in the Army or Air Force and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The General Command is headquartered in Addis Abeba, and is to conduct all the administrative matters pertaining to the Fascist Guard. As of July 2018, the current Commandant-General is Lieutenant General Giulio Stradelli. He is responsible for ensuring that the Fascist Guard personnel are accessible, capable, and ready to protect the Empire. He is appointed by the Empeor of Ethiopia.
Provincial Command
The Fascist Guard subdivided into 16 Provincial Commands (one for each City or Province) and each Provincial Command is attached to the government cabinet of the relevant Governor. However, it is the individual ethnically-based coalition Fascist Party which supervises it and actually exercises the day-to-day command. In case of Cities, the central Fascist Front exercises the "political guidance".
The Fascist Guard Provincial Commands also control the relevant Special Police Force. It is to note that the central Ethiopian Fascist Front directly controls 5 Fascist Guard Provincial Commands (and the relevant Special Police Forces), while ethnic Fascist Parties control up to two Commands each.
Special Police Forces
All 13 Provinces (but not the Cities) in Ethiopia have their own Special Police Force (Ahmaric: ልዩ የፖሊስ ኃይል Liyu YePolīsi ḫayili, Italian: Forza Speciale di Polizia) in order to perform counterterrorism and security operations, including operating checkpoints and patrolling border areas, as well as being used against demonstrations. These Special Police Forces are subject to the respective chief of the Fascist Guard Commander and relevant Governor. Special police forces are not only responsible for fighting terrorism, but also for protecting external borders and for handling general security challenges in the region. A number of government actors are tasked with protecting the border, including the Ethiopian Gendarmerie, ENDF and Special police forces.
Special police forces are highly visible in the streets. They operate in teams of two or more, and are armed with automatic rifles and various types of striking weapons. Special police forces are also have access to heavy weapons like machine guns, while their vehicles are typically pickups.
Special police forces' training is primarily of a military nature. After the completion of a 6-month of basic military and guerrilla tactics training, recruits are graduated during a ceremony dense of patriotic rethoric.
Village militia
The basic unit of the Fascist Guard is the village militia unit. Local communities are expected to organise and arm themselves in local village militias framed within the Fascist Guard, and fight back against organised crime and rebels. Such local militias are supported, according to the specific needs, by the Ethiopian National Imperial Guard or by the Ethiopian Gendarmerie. The political work involves mainly consultation between the Ethiopian Fascist Front (and its ethnic-based branches) with local communities and helping them in organising and arming themselves under the umbrella of the Fascist Guard in order to fight back against threats.
