Martial

Martial (pronounced mahr-shuhl)

(1) Of a state or of people, inclined or disposed to war; warlike.

(2) Of, suitable for, or associated with war or the military.

(3) Characteristic of or befitting a warrior.

(4) As Martial Law, the administration of a country by the armed forces.

(5) Of or relating to Mars (obsolete except in historic use).

(6) As a proper noun, a male given name from Latin, narrowly applied to certain historic persons (but some foreign cognates are modern given names; an Anglicized cognomen (given name) of the Spanish-born Roman poet and epigrammatist Marcus Valerius Martialis (circa 40-104).

1325–1375: From the Middle English martial (war-like, of or pertaining to war) from the Medieval Latin Mārtiālis (of Mars or war) from martiālis (belonging or dedicated to the Mārs, the Roman god of war, or to war), the construct being Mārti- (stem of Mārs) + -ālis (the Latin suffix used to form adjectives of relationship from nouns or numerals).  The sense of "connected with military organizations" (as opposed to civil) dates from the late fifteenth century and survives most obviously in the court-martial from the military system of justice.  The use (usually with a capital M-) in the sense of "pertaining to or resembling the planet Mars" emerged in English in the 1620s and the phrase Martial law (military rule over civilians) was first used in the 1530s.  Martial arts from 1909 cam to be the collective name for the fighting sports of Japan and the surrounding region (the Japanese bujutsu).  Martial is the adjective, martialism, martialist & martialness the nouns and martially the adverb.

Martial Law

Martial law describes the suspension of civilian government and the imposition of military control.  This is done typically as a temporary response to extraordinary circumstances such as natural disasters, invasions, revolutions or pandemics but is commonly used in occupied territories.  Except for areas of occupation in which government may wholly be staffed by the military, most systems of martial law adopt a hybrid model, using at least some of any extant civilian administration.

The experience varies, martial rule becoming sometimes essentially permanent; Egypt has been under martial law almost continuously since 1967, the most recent declaration in 1981.  It can be a brutal and bloody business (Iran, China and most of the usual suspects in Africa) or benign to the point hardly anyone notices (Fiji).  The post-war prosecution of the surviving Nazi leadership, generally known as the Nuremberg trials, was technically a series of International Military Tribunals (IMTs), conducted in occupied Germany under martial law.  In Australia, Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur (1784–1854; Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land (present-day Tasmania) 1823-1836) imposed martial law between 1828-1830 during a violent conflict between colonists and indigenous peoples in Tasmania.  It remains the longest period of martial law in Australian history.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (b 1945) critiques the SLORC, Rangoon, 10 July 1995.

Martial law in Myanmar (Burma) was associated with the creation of a new word: slorc (pronounced slork).  Not best pleased with election results in 1988, the military seized power, announcing the formation of the State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC), dictionaries soon noting slorc had morphed from acronym to word, one suggesting it may endure as a synonym for junta.  Use however faded after 1997 when the SLORC was re-named SPDC (State Peace & Development Council) which never caught on.

The SLORC's other contribution to language was changing the name of the country from Burma to Myanmar.  Both Burma and Myanmar are derived from the name of the majority Burman (Bamar) ethnic group, versions of both existing in Burmese and long used in different circumstances.  The regional variations had confused the British who, after decades of hegemony, annexed the country in 1886, appending it to the Raj.  Prior to that, on maps and in documents, the spellings used had included Bermah, Burme, Birmah, Brama, Burmah, Burma & Burmah.  Even the usually decisive SLORC dithered, gazetting Union of Burma and then Union of Myanmar before settling on Republic of the Union of Myanmar.

Internationally, adoption has been mixed.  The UN, on the basis that what a recognized government advises the secretary-general is the correct name and spelling is what should be used, adopted Myanmar, a process hardly rare (Iran / Persia; Burkina Faso / Upper Volta; Cambodia / Kampuchea et al).  Many countries follow the same protocol although the EU, never happy except when on the fence, use Burma/Myanmar.  On the Burma page of their World Factbook, the CIA note dryly “the US Government has not officially adopted the name.”