Military Orders Example: Fill & Download for Free

“No wannabe dictator is going to tell me what to do! I’m an American!”In 1991, a bloodless coup by the military toppled the Thai government. All schools were ordered closed for a week (or was it two?).The above statement was reported to have been made by the U.S. government official who was the director of the language center where I worked. Our center was NOT owned by the U.S. government, but two positions were funded and filled by the U.S. government.I was full-time staff at the time. At a meeting, we were told what the director had said and that we would NOT be closing.My husband, a Thai police officer, gave me five safety suggestions to pass along (example: replace all metal trash bins with clear plastic containers so bombs could be easily spotted. Why bombs? Because the school would be in breach of military orders and might be ‘punished’.)When I presented the list at another staff meeting, I was told to “stop rocking the boat.”Husband, therefore, insisted that if the school did not close, I must take annual leave for however long the government demanded. Some of the Thai staff felt the same.Fortunately, the Thai board members ‘convinced’ the U.S. director to close the center.

Well, if a sovereign entity delegated some of its sovereignty to a private company, then, yes, the company could declare war on another country.While these days sovereignty is usually restricted to nation-states, there is no legal requirement as such. The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is a present-day example of a sovereign entity under international law which is not a nation-state.Historical examples of delegated sovereignty are the Dutch East Indies Company, the British Honourable East India Company, and the Canadian Hudson Bay Company.There is no legal reason under international law why a company holding delegated sovereignty could not declare war.

When the Order of the Knights Templar were established, they caused mass interest in the idea of Holy knightly orders. Many orders were established primarily in mimicry of the Templars, in hopes of receiving the same success that the Templars had been endowed. There were some orders, however, that predated the Templar Order.The most known and powerful of the other knightly orders were the Knights Hospitaller (now known as the Sovereign Military Order of the Malta) and the Teutonic Knights. The Order of the Holy Sepulcher was also a major group in the Holy Lands during the Crusades, but not as well known as the Templar, Hospital, and the Teutonic.Smaller orders include the Order of St. Lazarus, the Order of Calatrava, the Order of Santaigo (St. James of the Sword), Order of Aviz, Order of the Holy Ghost, and many, many others.The Templars, Hospitallers, Knights of the Sepulcher, and Knights of St. Lazarus were recognized as international orders. The Teutonic were entirely international until they created their own nation in the Baltics. The rest of the orders had their influence restricted to a specific regions. The Reconquista orders were mostly restricted to Spain and Portugal, for example.Each Order mostly had its own purpose to fulfill. The Templars were originally founded to combat Saracen raiders in the Holy Lands and to protect the Christian pilgrims. The Hospitallers were founded to treat Christians that had become sick or injured, forming a paramilitary wing later on. The Teutonic Knights were one of the lucky few that gained large scale success in their attempt to copy the Templars. The rest were lesser known, but still had their purposes.Here’s a longer list of the most known (of the lesser) Orders, on Wikipedia: Military order.