Wehrbauer

In defense farmers it was farmers who were obliged by their authority to exercise military activities and in return usually received some privileges.

Wehrbauerntum in Europe

Since the dissolution of the Roman Empire in the 5th century there was in Central and Western Europe over a thousand years, no standing armies. An exception was the Byzantine Empire in Eastern Europe. In the European Middle Ages, troops were mobilized only when a campaign was planned or needed to be taken against an enemy invasion. Thus it has been made possible by military commanders venture far into enemy territory with their troops before had to be reckoned with resistance. A countermeasure figured the massive construction of castles in vulnerable areas, but this was extremely costly and very time-consuming. At the beginning of the early modern period, this problem was still considerable, since the emergence of the early 16th century artillery fortifications were still far more expensive than castles. Therefore tried several European rulers of the early modern period, by so-called military peasants to defend the borders of their empire.

In the military farmers it was mostly unfree peasants who lived in a border region. They were applied, their country to defend so long against invading enemies until the regular troops could be brought up. In return for this dangerous task them freedoms were granted to those besides the personal freedom and the duty exemption could count. This was for the great mass of serfs and bondsmen an incentive to settle in a border area.

Especially in Habsburg Austria - Hungary to put on military peasants who defended the Croatian part of the border against the Turkish Ottoman Empire since the 1530s. They had a not inconsiderable proportion of the claim of the Habsburgs against their Ottoman enemies. Until the 19th century, took over military peasants defending the Austro-Hungarian military frontier. Even in Russia they sat since the 16th century a fortified farmers. Most armed peasants in the Russian service were Cossacks in which they were originally escaped to Russian and Ukrainian serfs who had north of the Black Sea developed in the steppes of their own society and culture. In the 18th century, many able-bodied Cossacks went up in the light cavalry of the Russian army. In Central Europe, there were during the Thirty Years' War, attempts to use armed peasants to defend the country. As the Holy Roman Empire was beset at this time by numerous, often marauding armies, the sovereigns had always count of destruction of its territory, while their main army may be fought in a faraway locale. Therefore, organized various princes their farmers in so-called land Defen ions, however, had only a minor military utility.

With the establishment of standing armies in most European countries, the concept of Wehrbauerntums lost in the late 17th century in importance.

Byzantine Empire

A special case represented the armed peasants in the Byzantine Empire, as their involvement in the constitutional issues was essential for the entire Grenzverteidiung from the 7th century AD. These so-called Stratioten had arisen within the themes reform since the 7th century AD and were not unfree. The Stratiot ( stratiotos ) had a small estate, which had to have a certain minimum value. From this property it had to earn his keep and his equipment. This system, which had ensured the survival of the Byzantine state for a long time, the end of the 10th century collapsed. It later came to a transformation in part dependent on the big landlords goods, the so-called Pronoia. This transfer of land ownership in the hands of large landowners weakened the military strength of the Byzantine State and was one of the reasons for its eventual demise.

National Socialism

The Nazis had their preference for military farmers. For the period after the final victory, ie, after the final conquest and subjugation of Europe, the dismantling of the Soviet Union as an independent state and the establishment of a bleeding limit the Urals was planned. This should be backed up by peasants, who were also soldiers, so by armed peasants. ( See also: Reichskommissariat, Reich Commissariat Ukraine, Reich Commissariat Ostland, Reichskommissariat Muscovy ). Under the motto " wind power for defense farmers " after any final victory facilities of a planned decentralized energy supply as part of the General Plan East have been proposed.