A military cooperative is an organization that provides service members with products at a low profit margin and protects them from profiteering. Such organisations were popular in a number of countries, particularly in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Among others, they were popular in Poland in the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

. In the United Kingdom the Army & Navy Co-operative Society was founded in 1871 but ceased to be a cooperative in 1934, becoming a provincial

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

. The Canteen and Mess Co-operative Society, founded in 1894, operated canteens on a cooperative basis until absorbed into a government body during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. This later developed into the

Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes The Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI ) is a company created by the British government on 9 December 1920 to run recreational establishments needed by the British Armed Forces, and to sell goods to servicemen and their families. It runs c ...

(NAAFI) which continues to provide services to the British military.

Purpose and functions

A military cooperative is a form of

cooperative movement The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement bega ...

aimed at providing equipment and supply to the military personnel. Such cooperatives aim to supply soldiers with all kinds of products; in peacetime, they are also supposed to defend soldiers against

exploitation Exploitation may refer to: *Exploitation of natural resources *Exploitation of labour ** Forced labour *Exploitation colonialism *Slavery ** Sexual slavery and other forms *Oppression *Psychological manipulation In arts and entertainment *Exploi ...

. Military cooperative stores usually have low profit margins as they sell goods at preferential prices to the eligible customers.

By country

Jordan

Military cooperatives have been described as existing in

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

around the late 20th/early 21st century.

Poland

The first military cooperatives in Poland appeared in the

aftermath of World War I The aftermath of World War I saw drastic political, cultural, economic, and social change across Eurasia, Africa, and even in areas outside those that were directly involved. Four empires collapsed due to the war, old countries were abolished, ne ...

in 1918. The Polish military started to regulate those institutions shortly afterwards when in November 1920, General Leon Berbecki issued an order defining a typical statue of a military cooperative. A month later, General

Edward Śmigły-Rydz Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

gave an order to his subordinate units to create military cooperatives, which contributed to a significant increase in this type of activity in the recently recreated

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stret ...

. In 1922 rules for military cooperatives were codified by the Polish Ministry of the Interior. Initially, Polish military cooperatives had multiple functions, with some specializing in financial aids, others in activities like house construction or publishing. After a few years, however, virtually all remaining cooperatives focused on food distribution and supply. By 1928, there were about 300 such institutions in the Polish Army, many of them grouped under the Audit Union of Military Cooperatives (''Związek Rewizyjny Spółdzielni Wojskowych''). In 1936 there were about 240 remaining cooperatives in the Audit Union. Some Polish military cooperatives issued their own coinage, which is now considered a

numismatic Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...

and

militaria Militaria, also known as military memorabilia, are military equipment which are collected for their historical significance. Such items include firearms, swords, sabres, knives, bayonets, helmets and other equipment such as uniforms, military ord ...

collectible. After World War II, in the late 1940s, some military cooperatives were recreated in the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

Thailand

Military cooperatives have been described as existing in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

in 2017.

United Kingdom

Army & Navy Co-operative Society

The Army & Navy Co-operative Society was founded on 15 September 1871 by a group of army and navy officers; it aimed to supply goods to servicemen at reduced rates and was modelled after the Civil Service Supply Association and the Civil Service Co-operative Society. The society opened shops in the United Kingdom and India but its trade suffered during the First World War. In 1934 the society ceased to be a cooperative, being incorporated as a limited company, and turned into a provincial

. The company was purchased by

House of Fraser House of Fraser (also operating as Frasers) is a British department store group with 44 locations across the United Kingdom, which is now part of Frasers Group. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891, it w ...

in 1973.

Canteen and Mess Co-operative Society

The Canteen and Mess Co-operative Society was founded in 1894 by officers of the foot guards at

Caterham Barracks Caterham Barracks was a military installation in Caterham, Surrey. History The barracks were built as a Regimental depot, depot for the Foot Guards regiments in 1877. The construction reflected a more humane style of barrack design in the afterma ...

. The society was registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act and affiliated with the

Co-operative Union Co-operatives UK is a British co-operative federation described as "the central membership organisation for co-operative enterprise throughout the UK". It was founded in 1870 as the Co-operative Central Board, changing its name to the Co-oper ...

. The founding members were poorer officers and the society's aim was to supply officers at a better rate than the official canteen and with higher quality goods. The society's offices were in London; growth was slow initially but by 1900 the society turned over £265,000 a year. The

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

affected the growth of the society but a War Office committee recommended the establishment of an army-wide Soldiers' Central Co-Operative society in 1902, this did not progress due to resistance from longer-serving commanding officers. The existing system of letting out canteens to private firms continued until the winter of 1913-14 when the Canteen Scandal revealed bribery in the system, which was subsequently reformed. During the

the rapid expansion of the army saw new canteens created across the country. The government established a Board of Control to regulate these in January 1915. The canteen system was reformed in 1917 with the foundation of the Army Canteen Committee, this was a not for profit company, rather than a co-operative, but otherwise had the same aims as the Canteen and Mess Co-operative Society, which it absorbed. By April 1917 the committee managed more than 2,000 canteens across the world. The Navy joined the organisation in June 1917 and the newly formed Royal Air Force in April 1918. After the war a government committee recommended a single body be responsible for canteens in the armed forces and on 1 January 1921 the

(NAAFI) took over from the then Navy and Army Canteen Board. The NAAFI continues to operate as a government-owned company, running canteens in British garrisons and aboard Royal Navy ships.

References

{{reflist Consumers' cooperatives Military life Military pay and benefits Retail formats