Ethiopian Fascist Guard (Italian Empire)
| Ethiopian Fascist Guard | |
|---|---|
| Yefashīshiti Zebenya | |
 | |
| Active | 1975-present |
| Country |
 Empire of Ethiopia |
| Allegiance |
 Italian Empire |
| Branch | M.V.S.N. |
| Type | Militia |
| Role | Security |
| Part of | M.V.S.N. |
| Garrison/HQ | Addis Abeba |
| Commanders | |
| Commandant-General | Lt. Gen. Giulio Stradelli |
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 local 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. The Colonial Militia was formed by Benito Mussolini in 1923. Based in Italian North Africa and Italian East Africa, the Colonial Militia recruited initially among Italian colonists, but later also among local Africans. By December 1931, the recruits reached 399,000. 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 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 Commands (one for each City or Province). Each Provincial and City 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 first and foremost task of the Provincial Command is to plan and execute security and contingency plans, to coordinate local militias activities and to direct them, as well as to provide logistics and support to local militia units. In the Cities, the relevant City Command is an unified structure with direct command over all Legionnaires.
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.
Each Provincial Command is functionally subordinated to the relevant Governor and, through him, to the Minister of Interior. On the other side, the Guard depends on the General Command. Each Provincial Command is led by a Major General:
- Commander;
- General Staff;
- Administrative Detachment;
- Training Regiment;
- Logistics Depot;
- Special Police Force;
- Political Delegate.
Special Police Forces
The Special Police Force (Ahmaric: ልዩ የፖሊስ ኃይል Liyu YePolīsi ḫayili, Italian: Forza Speciale di Polizia) is an armed contingents under the direct command of the Provincial Command of the Ethiopian Fascist Guard.
All 13 Provinces (but not the Cities) in Ethiopia have their own Special Police Force 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, whose numbers range from thousands to tens of thousands, are subject to the respective 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, IENDF and Special police forces.
Special police forces are armed with automatic rifles and various types of assault weapons. Special police forces also have access to heavy weapons like machine guns, while their vehicles are generally jeeps, pick-up trucks and technicals; air and heavy support is provided by the Italian Army. Special police forces operate checkpoints, conduct ostensive and roving patrols in the streets and in the countryside and generally conduct military and security operations which involve decisive use of force.
The Special Police Forces recruit from a variety of sources: ordinary legionnaires, retired soldiers, former bandits or former militiamen and rebels. The pay is good, compared to the Ethiopian average pay, and members are allowed to keep «confiscated» valuables. In addition, families of Special Police members who are killed in service are compensated. Training of the special police forces 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.
Officers of the Special Police Forces mostly come from other armed corps, in order to ease the interoperability.
Village militia
The basic unit of the Fascist Guard is the village militia unit. Local communities (including not only free villages but also local lorships and Italian settlements) are expected to organise and arm themselves in local village militias framed within the Fascist Guard. Village militias are tasked with security duties, fighting against organised crime and bandits, and with police tasks, handling petty crimes where the Gendarmerie is not available.
Local village militias are supported, according to the specific needs, by the Ethiopian National Imperial Guard or by the Ethiopian Gendarmerie. The political work in maintaining security 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.
