What is mutiny?

[Ulrich Rudofsky]

There is a discussion on at http://www.u-boot-net.de/phpBB/index.php (Kaiserliche Marine Foren) about mutiny and the 1917 German Imperial Navy's execution of two of the ringleaders. At first reading of the historical account of the naval mutiny of 1917, it does not appear to have been a mutiny, but a lesser form of insubordination. No officers were fragged or thrown over the side, no ships commandeered, and it did not seem to be like the mutinies we see in the movies. However, it may be of interest to you that any unusual behavior aboard ship, then and now, can be construed to be a mutinous act. Reading the Kaiser's military law edict and recent versions of the British Articles of War and the US Uniform Code of Military Justice shows that the interpretation of mutiny encompasses a much larger list of infractions than I had assumed. The German, British, and US military laws on mutiny, attempted mutiny and sedition are spelled out in the Militär-Strafgesetzbuch für das Deutsche Reich, 1872, (6. Abschnitt: Strafbare Handlungen gegen die Pflichten der militärischen Unterordnung, paragraphs: 89-113), the present “Articles of War” of the RN (Article 19) and the present “Uniform Code of Military Justice” (UCMJ, Article 94). The actual penalties may have been softened since the Kaiser’s time, but life or death sentences are still on the books in the UK and USA, perhaps not in Germany right now, for mutiny. In that sense, the severe punishment of the two German sailors was sanctioned by the law of that time. Although it may be objectionable to many, these military laws have a purpose and they are still in force in virtually all nations. A rebellion within a navy would be dealt with the same way now as it was then.

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitive ... /mcm94.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Articles_of_War
http://www.documentarchiv.de/ksr/1872/m ... reich.html

[RF]

Under European Union law the death penalty cannot be applied, this is certainly the case in Britain.