Landwehr, or
Landeswehr, is a
German language term used in referring to certain national
armies, or
militias found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. In different context it refers to large-scale, low-strength fortifications. In German, the word means "defence of the country"; but the term as applied to an insurrectional militia is very ancient, and
lantveri are mentioned in
Baluzii Capitularia, as quoted in
Hallam's Middle Ages, i. 262, 10th edition.