Foreigners in European armies

What is it about?

Foreign soldiers were a major element in virtually all European armies between the early sixteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries. The extent and duration of their use clearly indicates they were far more than a temporary expedient adopted solely until states acquired the capacity to organise forces from their own inhabitants. Rather than being a hindrance to state formation, they were integral to that process. Likewise, the formation of European states and an international system based on indivisible sovereignty was not purely competitive: it also entailed cooperation. The transfer of foreign military labour is an important example of this and is central to what can be labelled the European Fiscal-Military System which assisted the emergence of a sovereign state order and was dismantled as that order consolidated in the later nineteenth century. The right to enter the honourable service of a foreign potentate, which had previously been an expression of individual or corporate liberties, now became treason to the nation. This article articulates ‘foreign soldiers’ as an alternative to the problematic term ‘mercenaries’, before briefly examining their motives and how these might help inform debates on what today are often called ‘foreign fighters’. It explains how and why foreign soldiers were recruited by early modern European states and assesses the scale of their employment and demonstrates that the de-legitimation of foreign military labour was connected to fashioning the modern ideals of the citizen-in-arms as part of a more general process of nationalising war-making.

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Photo by David Trinks on Unsplash

Photo by David Trinks on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Examining why foreign soldiers were so important to European warfare before about 1850 allows us to ask better questions about foreign fighters and private military and security companies in today's world.

Perspectives