Military history of Nepal
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The Nepalese Army ( ne, नेपाली सेना) or Gorkha Army ( ne, गोर्खाली सेना) is the armed military Land warfare force of
Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...
and a major component of the
Military of Nepal The Nepalese Armed Forces are the military forces of Nepal. Composed primarily of the ground-based Nepali Army, organized into six active combat divisions, the Nepalese Armed Forces also operates the smaller Nepalese Army Air Service designed t ...
.


Early military history

In 1846 the pro-British army leader Sir Jung Bahadur (1816–77) of the Rana family finally overthrew the Nepalese government and declared himself the prime minister. Like many dictatorships, Jung Bahadur's office was passed on through hereditary rather than valid elections. Jung Bahadur launched a successful military campaign in 1855 in
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...
( Nepalese-Tibetan War). But the Nepalese-Tibetan War exhausted Nepal's finances and in 1856 Tibet signed a peace treaty which granted diplomatic and commercial rights to Nepal on the condition that Tibet continue to pay a yearly "
tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...
" to the Nepalese government. Nepal aided Great Britain during the Indian Mutiny and during
World War I 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 ...
. The British government in gratitude for Nepal's assistance declared the independence and sovereignty of Nepal to be genuine by the terms of a treaty concluded in 1923.


World War II

On September 4, 1939
Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...
declared war on
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in solidarity with the Allied Forces, assisting the United Kingdom as they had in
World War I 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 ...
and the Indian Mutiny. Twelve regiments of Gurkha soldiers from Nepal were sent to fight in the British Indian Army. Although Britain has been recruiting
Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Go ...
soldiers from Nepal since the 19th century, no effort was made to develop a centralized recruit-training system in the Brigade of Gurkhas throughout the pre
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
era. As a result, British Army recruiting training was conducted at the various Gurkha regimental training centres in India. After the end of the war, Nepal also established good diplomatic relations with the United States in 1948.


Nepal Civil War

In February 1996, one of the Maoist parties started a bid to replace the constitutional monarchy and democratic government with a so-called people's new democratic republic, through a Maoist revolutionary strategy known as the people's war, which led to the Nepal Civil War. Led by Dr. Baburam Bhattarai and Pushpa Kamal Dahal (also known as "Prachanda", fierce in Nepalese), the insurgency began in five districts in Nepal: Rolpa, Rukum, Jajarkot, Gorkha, and Sindhuli. The Maoists have declared the existence of a provisional "people's government" at the district level in several locations


The end of civil war and establishment of the democratic republic of Nepal

The various parties of Nepal together conducted an anti-monarchy campaign by demonstrating and chanting slogans, and finally the king was compelled to declare a democracy. After the democracy the parties leaders had thrown out the monarchy and declared the democratic republic of Nepal. The civil war of Nepal caused by the Maoists had been concluded after the Maoists came into the political mainstream. All the Maoists combatants/militias were concentrated in cantonments and verified. Since last 6 years the leaders are engaged in a constitution building process. There had been 2 elections for constitution assembly and first elected constitution assembly members were not able to draft the constitution on time. Now there is a government led by prime-minister Sushil Koirala (Nepali Congress Party) which has the main task of drafting the constitution.


See also

* Brigade of Gurkhas *
Nepal Civil War The Nepalese Civil War was a protracted armed conflict that took place in the former Kingdom of Nepal from 1996 to 2006. It saw fighting between the Nepalese royal government and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) throughout the country. ...
* British Indian Army * Recruitment in the British Army *
History of the British Army The history of the British Army spans over three and a half centuries since its founding in 1660 and involves numerous European wars, colonial wars and world wars. From the late 17th century until the mid-20th century, the United Kingdom was the ...
* List of wars involving Nepal


Sources

* http://www.worldalmanacforkids.com/explore/nations/nepal.html * https://www.webcitation.org/5kx6PR6Nz?url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761562648_6/Nepal.html
Archived
2009-11-01) {{DEFAULTSORT:Nepal