Mutiny

{{Short description|Disobeying of superiors}}

{{Other uses}}

{{Redirect|Mutineers|other uses|Mutineer (disambiguation)}}

{{Redirect|Army Mutiny|the 1924 event in the Irish Free State|Irish Army Mutiny}}

{{Redirect|Mutiny!|the debut studio album by American rock band Set Your Goals|Mutiny! (Set Your Goals album)}}

File:Mutiny HMS Bounty.jpg]]

Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military or a crew) to oppose, change, or remove superiors or their orders. The term is commonly used for insubordination by members of the military against an officer or superior, but it can also sometimes mean any type of rebellion against any force. Mutiny does not necessarily need to refer to a military force and can describe a political, economic, or power structure in which subordinates defy superiors.

During the Age of Discovery, mutiny particularly meant open rebellion against a ship's captain. This occurred, for example, during Ferdinand Magellan's journeys around the world, resulting in the killing of one mutineer, the execution of another, and the marooning of others; on Henry Hudson's Discovery, resulting in Hudson and others being set adrift in a boat; and the famous mutiny on the Bounty.

Mutiny is widely considered a serious crime, punishable by imprisonment, penal labour or death. Failure to prevent or suppress a mutiny may also be punishable depending on the circumstances; negligent failure may result in dishonourable discharge while wilful failure may bring any punishment including death.{{cite web |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/23-24/123/part/I/crossheading/mutiny/enacted |title=Naval Discipline Act 1860 |website=UK National Archives |access-date=25 April 2025}}{{cite web |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/894 |title=10 U.S. Code § 894 - Art. 94. Mutiny or sedition |website=Cornell Law School |access-date=25 April 2025}} The UK has passed various Mutiny Acts to establish procedure and punishment, the latest of which is the Armed Forces Act 2006. Military mutineers are usually tried at court martial, represented by counsel. Pirate captains have been known to mete out punishment ad hoc without due process.

Penalty

Those convicted of mutiny often faced capital punishment.

=United Kingdom=

Until 1689, mutiny was regulated in England by Articles of War instituted by the monarch and effective only in a period of war. In 1689, the first Mutiny Act was approved, which passed the responsibility to enforce discipline within the military to Parliament. The Mutiny Act, altered in 1803, and the Articles of War defined the nature and punishment of mutiny until the latter were replaced by the Army Discipline and Regulation Act in 1879. This, in turn, was replaced by the Army Act in 1881.

Today the Armed Forces Act 2006 defines mutiny as follows:{{cite act |title=Armed Forces Act 2006 |pinpoint=s. 6 |institution=Parliament of the United Kingdom |index=c.52 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/52/section/6 |year=2006}}

{{Blockquote|(2)For the purposes of this section a person subject to service law takes part in a mutiny if—

(a)in concert with at least one other person subject to service law, he—

(i)acts with the intention of overthrowing or resisting authority; or

(ii)disobeys authority in such circumstances as to subvert discipline;

(b)he agrees with at least one other person subject to service law to overthrow or resist authority; or

(c)he agrees with at least one other person subject to service law to disobey authority, and the agreed disobedience would be such as to subvert discipline.}}

The same definition applies in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.

The military law of England in early times existed, like the forces to which it applied, in a period of war only. Troops were raised for a particular service and were disbanded upon the cessation of hostilities. The crown, by prerogative, made laws known as Articles of War for the government and discipline of the troops while thus embodied and serving. Except for the punishment of desertion, which was made a felony by statute in the reign of Henry VI, these ordinances or Articles of War remained almost the sole authority for enforcing discipline until 1689. That year, the first Mutiny Act was passed and the military forces of the crown were brought under the direct control of Parliament. Even the Parliamentary forces in the time of Charles I and Oliver Cromwell were governed not by an act of the legislature, but by articles of war similar to those issued by the king and authorized by an ordinance of the Lords and Commons exercising in that respect the sovereign prerogative. This power of law-making by prerogative was however held to be applicable during a state of actual war only, and attempts to exercise it in times of peace were ineffectual. Subject to this limitation, it existed for considerably more than a century after the passing of the first Mutiny Act.

From 1689 to 1803, the Mutiny Act occasionally expired during times of peace. Yet statutory power was given to the crown to make Articles of War that operated in the colonies and elsewhere beyond the seas in the same manner as those made by prerogative in times of war.

In 1715, in consequence of the rebellion, this power was created in respect of the forces in the kingdom, but apart from and in no respect affected the principle acknowledged all this time that the crown of its mere prerogative could make laws for the government of the army in foreign countries in time of war.

The Mutiny Act 1803 effected a great constitutional change in this respect: the power of the Crown to make any Articles of War became altogether statutory, and the prerogative merged in the act of Parliament. The Mutiny Act 1873 was passed in this manner.

Such matters remained until 1879 when the last Mutiny Act was passed and the last Articles of War were promulgated. The Mutiny Act legislated for offences in respect of which death or penal servitude could be awarded. Meanwhile, the Articles of War, while repeating those provisions of the act, constituted the direct authority for dealing with offences for which imprisonment was the maximum punishment, as well as with many matters relating to trial and procedure.

The act and the articles were found not to harmonize in all respects. Their general arrangement was faulty, and their language sometimes obscure. In 1869, a royal commission recommended that both should be recast in a simple and intelligible shape. In 1878, a committee of the House of Commons endorsed this view and made recommendations for performing the task. In 1879, a measure was passed into law consolidating in one act both the Mutiny Act and the Articles of War, and amending their provisions in certain important respects. This measure was called the Army Discipline and Regulation Act 1879.

After one or two years of experience highlighted the need for improvement, it was superseded by the Army Act 1881, which formed the foundation and main portion of the military law of England. The act contained a proviso saving the right of the crown to make Articles of War, but in such a manner as to render the power in effect a nullity by enacting that no crime made punishable by the act shall be otherwise punishable by such articles. As the punishment of every conceivable offence was provided, any articles made under the act could be no more than an empty formality having no practical effect.

Thus the history of English military law up to 1879 may be divided into three periods, each having a distinct constitutional aspect: (I) prior to 1689, the army, being regarded as so many personal retainers of the sovereign rather than servants of the state, was mainly governed by the will of the sovereign; (2) between 1689 and 1803, the army, being recognised as a permanent force, was governed within the realm by statute and without it by the prerogative of the crown; and (3) from 1803 to 1879, it was governed either directly by statute or by the sovereign under an authority derived from and defined and limited by statute. Although in 1879 the power of making Articles of War became in effect inoperative, the sovereign was empowered to make rules of procedure, having the force of law, to regulate the administration of the act in many matters formerly dealt with by the Articles of War. These rules, however, must not be inconsistent with the provisions of the Army Act itself, and must be laid before parliament immediately after they are made. Thus in 1879, the government and discipline of the army became for the first time completely subject either to the direct action or the close supervision of Parliament.

A further notable change took place at the same time. The Mutiny Act had been brought into force on each occasion for one year only, in compliance with the constitutional theory:

that the maintenance of a standing army in time of peace, unless with the consent of parliament, is against law. Each session therefore the text of the act had to be passed through both Houses clause by clause and line by line. The Army Act, on the other hand, is a fixed permanent code. But constitutional traditions are fully respected by the insertion in it of a section providing that it shall come into force only by virtue of an annual act of parliament. This annual act recites the illegality of a standing army in time of peace unless with the consent of parliament, and the necessity nevertheless of maintaining a certain number of land forces (exclusive of those serving in India) and a body of royal marine forces on shore, and of keeping them in exact discipline, and it brings into force the Army Act for one year.

==Sentence==

Until 1998, mutiny and another offence of failing to suppress or report a mutiny were each punishable with death.{{cite act |url=http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?LegType=All+Legislation&Year=1955&searchEnacted=0&extentMatchOnly=0&confersPower=0&blanketAmendment=0&sortAlpha=0&TYPE=QS&PageNumber=1&NavFrom=0&activeTextDocId=2675342&parentActiveTextDocId=2675303&showAllAttributes=1&hideCommentary=0&suppressWarning=0&versionNumber=1 |title=Army Act 1955 |index=c.18 |pinpoint=Part II Discipline and Trial and Punishment of Military Offences |institution=Parliament of the United Kingdom |year=1955}} Section 21(5) of the Human Rights Act 1998 completely abolished the death penalty in the United Kingdom. (Prior to this, the death penalty had already been abolished for murder, but it had remained in force for certain military offences and treason, although no executions had been carried out for several decades.) This provision was not required by the European Convention on Human Rights, since Protocol 6 of the Convention permitted the death penalty in time of war, and Protocol 13, which prohibits the death penalty for all circumstances, did not then exist. The government introduced section 21(5) as a late amendment in response to parliamentary pressure.

=United States=

The United States' Uniform Code of Military Justice defines mutiny thus:

:Art. 94. (§ 894.) 2004 Mutiny or Sedition.

:(a) Any person subject to this code (chapter) who—

::(1) with intent to usurp or override lawful military authority, refuses, in concert with any other person, to obey orders or otherwise do his duty or creates any violence or disturbance is guilty of mutiny;

::(2) with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of lawful civil authority, creates, in concert with any other person, revolt, violence, or other disturbance against that authority is guilty of sedition;

::(3) fails to do his utmost to prevent and suppress a mutiny or sedition being committed in his presence, or fails to take all reasonable means to inform his superior commissioned officer or commanding officer of a mutiny or sedition which he knows or has reason to believe is taking place, is guilty of a failure to suppress or report a mutiny or sedition.

:(b) A person who is found guilty of attempted mutiny, mutiny, sedition, or failure to suppress or report a mutiny or sedition shall be punished by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct.{{cn|date=March 2024}}

U.S. military law requires obedience only to lawful orders. Disobedience to unlawful orders (see Superior orders) is the obligation of every member of the U.S. military, a principle established by the Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials following World War II and reaffirmed in the aftermath of the My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War. However, a U.S. soldier who disobeys an order after deeming it unlawful will almost certainly be court-martialed to determine whether the disobedience was proper. In addition, simple refusal to obey is not mutiny, which requires collaboration or conspiracy to disobedience.

Famous mutinies in history

=16th century=

=17th century=

=18th century=

  • The Wager Mutiny – the main body of the crew of the British war ship HMS Wager mutinied against their Captain after she was wrecked on a desolate island off the south coast of Chile in 1741. The ship was part of a squadron bound to attack Spanish interests in the Pacific.
  • A failed 1787 mutiny aboard the Middlesex occurred two weeks before HMS Bounty{{'}}s final departure from England, which included the lead mutineer of HMS Bounty Fletcher Christian's older brother Charles.
  • Mutiny aboard HMS Bounty, a mutiny aboard a British Royal Navy ship in 1789 that has been made famous by several books and films.
  • Quibéron mutinies were major mutinies in the French fleet in 1793.
  • HMS Hermione was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the British Royal Navy. While operating in the Caribbean in 1797 a portion of the crew mutinied, killing the captain, eight other officers, two midshipmen and a clerk before surrendering the ship to the Spanish authorities. The mutiny was the bloodiest recorded in the history of the Royal Navy.
  • Spithead and Nore mutinies were two major mutinies by sailors of the British Royal Navy in 1797.
  • Schemes for mutiny onboard nine British warships between June and mid-August 1798, resulting in courts-martial for crew from {{HMS|Adamant|1780|6}}, {{HMS|Atlas|1782|6}}, {{HMS|Caesar|1793|6}}, {{HMS|Defiance|1783|6}}, {{HMS|Glory|1788|6}}, {{HMS|Haughty|1797|6}}, {{HMS|Neptune|1797|6}}, {{HMS|Queen Charlotte|1790|6}} and {{HMS|St George|1785|6}}{{cite journal |last1=MacDougall|first1=Phillip |date=2022 |title=The Naval Mutinies of 1798 |journal=The Mariner's Mirror |volume=108 |issue=4 |pages=423–438 |publisher=Society for Nautical Research|doi=10.1080/00253359.2022.2117457 |s2cid=253161503 }}
  • The Vlieter Incident was a mutiny of a squadron of the fleet of the Batavian Republic which caused it to be surrendered to the British without a fight in 1799 at the start of the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland.

=19th century=

  • HMS Dominica - in May 1806, crew members mutinied, took over the ship and turned her over to the French. She was later recaptured by the British and the mutiny's ringleader hanged.
  • Vellore Mutiny, outbreak against the British East India Company on 10 July 1806, by sepoys forming part of the garrison of a fortress and palace complex at Vellore (now in Tamil Nadu state, southern India).
  • The Froberg mutiny by the Froberg Regiment in Fort Ricasoli, Malta in 1807. The mutiny was suppressed and 30 men were executed.
  • The US whaler Globe mutiny of 1824. Captain and several crewmen were brutally murdered by whaler Samuel Comstock of Nantucket. Comstock was then murdered on Mili, a remote but inhabited Pacific island that he intended to take over and make his own, by the ship's remaining survivors.https://archive.org/details/gpl_1793280/page/n11/mode/2up
  • Barrackpore Mutiny, (2 November 1824), incident during the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26), generally regarded as a dress rehearsal for the Indian Mutiny of 1857 because of its similar combination of Indian grievances against the British.
  • St. Joseph Mutiny (1837): rebellion of forcibly conscripted African soldiers in the 1st West India Regiment in British Trinidad.{{cite journal|doi=10.1080/01440399108575034|first=Thomas|last=August|year=1991|title=Rebels with a cause: The St. Joseph Mutiny of 1837|journal=Slavery & Abolition|volume=12|issue=2|pages=73–91}}
  • La Amistad, in 1839. A group of captured African slaves being transported in Cuba mutinied against the crew, killing the captain.{{cite web |url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3080/ |title = Unidentified Young Man |website = World Digital Library |date = 1839–1840 |access-date = 2013-07-28 }}
  • The brig USS Somers had a mutiny plotted onboard on her first voyage in 1842. Three men were accused of conspiring to commit mutiny, and were hanged.{{citation|url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/columnists/memmott/2017/11/20/jim-memmott-high-seas-mutiny-canandaigua-connection/881514001/|title=Jim Memmott: A high-seas mutiny with a Canandaigua connection|newspaper=Democrat & Chronicle (USA Today)|location=Rochester|last=Memmott|first=Jim|date=November 20, 2017|access-date=May 30, 2019}}
  • Lady Franklin (1854) seized by convicts
  • The Indian rebellion of 1857 was a period of armed uprising in India against British colonial power, and was popularly remembered in Britain as the Indian Mutiny or Sepoy Mutiny. It is remembered in India as the First War of Independence.
  • The Sharon, a Fairhaven whaleship, was subject to multiple mass desertions, mutinies and the murder and dismemberment of a cruel (and from the record, sociopathic) captain by four Polynesians who had been pressed into service on the Sharon.{{cite book |last=Druett |first=Joan |date=2003 |title=In the Wake of Madness |publisher=Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill}}
  • In 1857 on the whaleship Junior, Cyrus Plummer and several accomplices engineered a mutiny that resulted in the murder of Captain Archibald Mellen and Third Mate John Smith. The mutineers were captured and found guilty in the fall of 1858. Plummer was sentenced to be hanged and his accomplices received life sentences. The story made national and international news and Plummer was able to garner a stay of execution from President James Buchanan and was ultimately pardoned by Ulysses S. Grant.
  • The Cavite Mutiny of 1872 in the Philippines.
  • The Brazilian Naval Revolt was the occasion of two mutinies in 1893 and 1894.

=20th century=

File:The Russian Revolution, 1905 Q81546.jpg by the crew of the battleship Potemkin against the ship's officers on 14 June 1905.]]

==After World War II==

=21st century=

  • 2003 Oakwood mutiny – A group of 321 officers and personnel of the Philippines Armed Forces took over the Oakwood Premier Ayala Center serviced apartment tower in Makati to show the Filipino people the alleged corruption of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
  • 2003 Fort Bonifacio Crisis – Members of the Philippine Marines staged a protest over the removal of their Commandant Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda.
  • 2009 Bangladesh Rifles revolt – A group of Bangladesh border guards revolted, demanding equal rights to the regular army and killed several of their officers.
  • 2011 Mutiny on Lurongyu 2682, a Chinese fishing trawler in the South Pacific. After a month of killings, 11 of the 33 crew returned to China.
  • 2013 Eritrean Army mutiny on 21 January 2013, when around 100 to 200 soldiers of the Eritrean Army seized the headquarters of the state broadcaster, EriTV, to resist the rule of President Isaias Afwerki.
  • 2013 1st Battalion Yorkshire Regiment, British Army – Sixteen soldiers were jailed after a court martial for staging a 'sit-in' protest against their Captain and Colour Sergeant{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25313387|title=Yorkshire Regiment soldiers jailed for sit-in protest|work=BBC News|date=2013-12-10|access-date=2014-04-07}}
  • 2014 Nigerian Army: A total of 54 soldiers were sentenced to death by firing squad by a court martial in two separate trials, after they had refused to fight to recapture a town that had been captured by Boko Haram insurgents. The sentences are subject to the approval of senior officers.{{cite news|title=BREAKING: Nigerian Military Sentences 54 Soldiers To Death For Mutiny|url=http://saharareporters.com/2014/12/17/breaking-nigerian-military-sentences-54-soldiers-death-mutiny|access-date=12 March 2017|publisher=Sahara Reporters|date=17 December 2014}}{{cite news|title=Nigerian soldiers given death penalty for mutiny|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30526725|access-date=12 March 2017|work=BBC News|date=17 December 2014}}
  • 2020 Malian mutiny, where elements of the Malian Armed Forces mutinied before developing into a coup which overthrown the civilian government of President Ibrahim Keïta.
  • 2022 Russian Ground Forces: Obozrevatel reported that around 5,000 contract soldiers in the city of Belgorod rioted after being told that they would be sent to fight in Ukraine.{{Cite web |last=Рагуцька |first=Лілія |date=2022-02-26 |title=У Білгороді 5 тис. контрактників влаштували бунт та відмовилися їхати воювати з Україною. Ексклюзив |url=https://news.obozrevatel.com/ukr/russia/u-bilgorodi-5-tis-kontraktnikiv-vlashtuvali-bunt-ta-vidmovilisya-ihati-voyuvati-z-ukrainoyu-eksklyuziv.htm |access-date=2022-03-28 |website=OBOZREVATEL NEWS |language=uk}} Russian soldiers have also been surrendering en masse, and many have reportedly sabotaged their own vehicles, with prime examples being instances of gas tank sabotage among soldiers in the Russian Kyiv convoy.{{Cite web |last=Balevic |first=Katie |title=Pentagon official says Russian troops have 'deliberately punched holes' in their own gas tanks in apparent attempts to avoid combat as morale declines: report |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-troops-have-punched-holes-their-own-gas-tanks-2022-3 |access-date=2022-03-28 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Mass surrender, sabotage of own equipment – Pentagon on Russian military units |url=https://ua.interfax.com.ua/news/general/805291.html |access-date=2022-03-28 |website=Interfax-Ukraine |language=en}}
  • 2022 Russian Naval Infantry: Russian conscripts rioted aboard Russian naval ships which were going to land in Odessa as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As a result of the riot, the landing was called off.{{Cite web |date=2022-03-01 |title=Russian young marine conscripts staged a riot against landing in Odessa |url=https://odessa-journal.com/russian-short-service-marine-conscripts-staged-a-riot/ |access-date=2022-03-28 |website=odessa-journal.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Дібров |first=Сергій |date=February 28, 2022 |title=Russian Marine conscripts riot when ordered to land 'straight to Odessa' |url=https://dumskaya.net/news/rossiyskie-matrosy-ustroili-bunt-kogda-im-prikaz-160512/ |access-date=February 28, 2022 |website=Dumskaya}}
  • 2022 Russian Ground Forces: Russian soldiers of the 37th Motor Rifle Brigade purposefully ran over their commanding officer, Colonel Yuri Medvedev, killing or severely injuring him. This was reportedly because the 37th Brigade had lost close to 50% of their men during the Battle of Makariv under the leadership of Medvedev.[https://antikor.com.ua/articles/532047-rossijskij_voennyj_pereehal_na_tanke_svoego_komandira_v_otmestku_za_gibelj_tovarishchej_v_bojah_pod_kievom Российский военный переехал на танке своего командира в отместку за гибель товарищей в боях под Киевом]{{cite web |title=Russian troops attack own commanding officer after suffering heavy losses |date=2022-03-25 |website=The Hill |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326024156/https://thehill.com/policy/international/599792-russian-troops-attack-own-commanding-officer-after-suffering-heavy/ |archive-date=2023-03-26 |url-status=live |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/599792-russian-troops-attack-own-commanding-officer-after-suffering-heavy/}}
  • 2023 Wagner Group mutiny, where the Russian private military company Wagner Group mutinied against the Russian Ministry of Defense for intentionally concealing the true number of soldiers killed in the war in Ukraine and allegedly attempting to deceive the public and President Vladimir Putin by portraying Ukraine as an aggressive and hostile adversary which, in collaboration with NATO, was plotting an attack on Russian interests.
  • 2024 Voznesensk munity: On 4 October 2024, Ukrainian soldiers of the 187th Battalion of the 123rd Territorial Defense Brigade refused orders to perform a combat mission and went AWOL. The soldiers then held a rally in Voznesensk where they attempted to draw attention to the lack of training and weapons to participate in combat operations in the Donetsk sector.{{Cite news |date=3 October 2024 |title=Самовільно залишили військову частину на Донбасі: у Вознесенську воїни 123-ї бригади ТрО вийшли на мітинг |trans-title=Went AWOL from Donbass: in Voznesensk, the soldiers of the 123rd brigade of the TDF went to a rally |url=https://suspilne.media/mykolaiv/850417-samovilno-zalisili-vijskovu-castinu-na-donbasi-u-voznesensku-voini-123-i-brigadi-tro-vijsli-na-miting/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241003202946/https://suspilne.media/mykolaiv/850417-samovilno-zalisili-vijskovu-castinu-na-donbasi-u-voznesensku-voini-123-i-brigadi-tro-vijsli-na-miting/ |archive-date=3 October 2024 |work=Suspilne Mykolaiv}}

See also

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

Further reading

  • Jaclyn Johnson's Military Mutinies and Defections Database (MMDD), 1945–2017.
  • {{EB1911|noprescript=1|wstitle=Mutiny}}
  • {{cite book|last=Guttridge|first=Leonard F|title=Mutiny: A History of Naval Insurrection|publisher=United States Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1992|isbn=0-87021-281-8}}
  • {{cite book|title=Naval Mutinies of the Twentieth Century: An International Perspective|url=https://archive.org/details/navalmutiniesoft00cbel|url-access=registration|editor1-last=Bell|editor1-first=Christopher M|editor2-last=Elleman|editor2-first=Bruce A|location=Portland, Oregon|publisher=Frank Cass Publishers|year=2003|isbn=0-7146-8468-6|oclc=464313205}}
  • Pfaff, Steven and Michael Hechter. 2020. The Genesis of Rebellion: Governance, Grievance, and Mutiny in the Age of Sail. Cambridge University Press.

{{Pirates}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Crimes

Category:Military law