Transnational Soldiers: Foreign Military Enlistment In The Modern Era
by Nir Arielli /
2012 / English / PDF
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The history of military mobilization does not fit neatly into national boxes, not even in the modern era. There are three quite different issues involved in the analysis of transnational participation in warfare. The first is the shift from state armies partially composed of mercenaries, or soldiers from countries other than the one in whose service they were currently enlisted, to armies consisting of citizens who have a duty or responsibility to fight for the state in which they live. One explanation for this shift, which began at a time when armies grew in size in the late eighteenth century, is that conscripts were cheaper and more militarily reliable and effective than mercenaries. Moreover, the intensification of nationalism in the nineteenth century weakened the attractiveness of mercenary service and reduced the motivational level of mercenaries.
