Mercenary - yohei (English spelling) mercenary English

A soldier who joins an army for financial compensation. The word mercenary comes from the word "merces" (reward). Mercenaries usually make a contract (condotta) with a group, and their leader is called a "condottiere."

Historically, in ancient Greek city-states (8th-4th century BC) and modern states since the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), young and middle-aged male members of the state were required to join the military, and in the feudal Middle Ages, vassals were obligated to join their lord's army due to their lord-vassal relationship. However, towards the end of the Greek city-states, more and more people were reluctant to join the military, which was obligatory for citizens, and as a result, mercenaries who were paid to serve in wars (for example, the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC)) came to be considered important. This is said to be the beginning of mercenaries.

Then, as in the case of Alexander the Great of Macedonia's invasion of Persia (334-324 BC), large armies were needed to wage war over vast areas, and in some cases, the indigenous people of the conquered territories had to be employed as mercenaries.

The Hundred Years' War (1338-1453) between England and France, famous for the appearance of Joan of Arc, is an example of a situation in which the larger scale of war leads to a shortage of military forces and an unavoidable reliance on mercenaries. This war demonstrated that in a long-term war, the side with the most supplies of soldiers will ultimately be the victor. France's Charles VII (reigned 1422-1461), who defeated England in this war, built a powerful standing army mainly composed of mercenaries, which became a model for other countries, marking the period in history when mercenaries were most active (15th and 16th centuries). This form continued until the Napoleonic Wars.

The sources of mercenaries during this period were mainly feudal vassals and knights who had no fiefs to inherit and had lost their place of activity in Europe due to the decline of the Crusades (1096-1270). Instead of the Crusades, they found a place of activity in Italy during the Interregnum (1256-1273), where conflicts between feudal lords and political struggles were constant, and they ran around the country to fight the political struggles between monarchs and feudal lords at the end of the Middle Ages, who could not take measures without mercenaries. Mercenaries came from Germany, England, France, Italy, Switzerland, etc., but Swiss mercenaries were originally armed peasant soldiers who fought for the independence of the Swiss cantons (Confederation of Nations), and after independence was achieved (1499), they worked as mercenaries in various parts of Europe to overcome the economic poverty of Switzerland, and were unique in that mercenary contracts were made by the cantonal authorities. Swiss mercenaries were popular for their bravery and loyalty to their contracts, and their legacy can be seen today in the Papal Guard at the Vatican.

However, as Machiavelli criticized in The Prince, mercenaries were generally considered to be unfit for life-or-death battles because they lacked loyalty, even though they excelled in combat techniques. Also, one of the causes of the devastation in Europe during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) was said to be the mercenaries' plundering, as they could no longer receive wages from their sovereigns. As such, mercenaries as lawless fighting groups gradually came to be shunned after the war, and were replaced by national armies.

After that, mercenaries disappeared except for the German Hessians hired by Britain during the American War of Independence (1775-1783), and reliable national militias, awakened to national identity, became the norm for both defense and offense, and continue to do so to this day. The Foreign Legion (see "Foreign Legion"), which became known around the time of World War I, is essentially the same as mercenaries, but is treated as a separate entity from mercenaries, as it was an auxiliary force organized by imperialist countries mainly for the purpose of maintaining order in their colonies and suppressing riots.

[Shunichi Fujimura]

"The History of Militarism, Volume 1: From Feudal Knights to Popular Armies" by Alfred Fakts, translated by Yukio Mochida (1973, Fukumura Publishing)" ▽ "European History and Wars" by Michael Howard, translated by Fusao Okumura et al. (1981, Gakuyo Shobo)" ▽ "World History, Volume 3: Medieval Europe" edited by Yozo Horimai (Chuko Bunko)" ▽ "World History, Volume 8: Absolute Monarchs and the People" edited by Mayumi Ohno (Chuko Bunko)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

金銭による報酬を条件に軍隊に参加する兵士。Mercenaryの語源は報酬mercesである。傭兵は普通、集団で契約(コンドッタ)condottaを交わし、その統率者を傭兵隊長(コンドッティエーレ)condottiereといった。

　歴史的にみると、古代ギリシアの都市国家（前8～前4世紀）や、下ってナポレオン戦争（1799～1815）以後の近代国家では、国家構成員のうち青壮年男子に軍隊への参加が義務づけられていたし、また中世封建時代は主従関係によって家臣は主君の軍隊に参加するのが義務となっていた。ところがギリシア都市国家の末期になって、義務であった市民の軍隊参加を嫌う者が増え、いきおい戦争（たとえばペロポネソス戦争〈前431～前404〉）には金銭で応じる傭兵が重要視されてきた。これが傭兵の始まりといわれる。

　ついでマケドニアのアレクサンドロス大王のペルシア遠征（前334～前324）のように、広大な地域で戦争をするには大量の軍隊が必要となり、征服地の先住民を傭兵に採用せざるをえなかったこともある。

　戦争が大規模化すれば兵力が不足し、やむをえず傭兵への依存が高まるといった例は、ジャンヌ・ダルクの登場で有名な英仏の百年戦争（1338～1453）があげられる。この戦争によって、長期戦では兵士の補給に勝った側が最終的に勝利者となることが示された。この戦争でイギリスに勝ったフランスのシャルル7世（在位1422～1461）の傭兵を中心とした強力な常備軍が各国の模範となり、歴史上、傭兵がもっとも活躍した時期（15～16世紀）となる。以後この形態はナポレオン戦争期まで続いた。

　この時期の傭兵の供給源をみると、十字軍遠征（1096～1270）の退潮に伴い、活動の場を失ったヨーロッパ各地の、相続すべき封土のない次男以下の封建家臣、平騎士などが主であった。彼らは十字軍遠征にかわって大空位時代（1256～1273）の神聖ローマ帝国内の諸侯の対立、政争の絶え間ないイタリアでの戦闘に活動の場をみいだし、傭兵なしでは対応策もたてられない中世末期の君主、諸侯間の政争に東奔西走したのである。傭兵の出身地はドイツ、イギリス、フランス、イタリア、スイスなどであったが、このうちスイスの傭兵はもともとスイスの各州（誓約同盟）の独立のため武装した農民兵士であって、独立達成（1499）後はスイスの経済的貧困を打開するため、ヨーロッパ各地の傭兵となって働いたもので、傭兵契約は州当局が行うという特殊な存在であった。スイスの傭兵は勇敢で契約に忠実ということで人気が高かった。スイスの傭兵は今日、バチカン市の法皇庁警備兵にその名残(なごり)をみることができる。

　しかし一般に傭兵はマキャベッリが『君主論』で批判しているように、戦闘技術に優れてはいるものの、忠誠心が薄く生死を賭(と)した一戦には不向きといわれた。また三十年戦争（1618～1648）によるヨーロッパの荒廃の一因が、君主から給与支払いを受けられなくなった傭兵が略奪の限りを尽くしたことにあるといわれたように、無法な戦闘者集団としての傭兵は同戦争以降しだいに敬遠され、国民軍にとってかわられるようになった。

　その後傭兵は、アメリカ独立戦争（1775～1783）の際、イギリスに雇われたドイツ人傭兵Hessiansを除くと姿を消し、防衛にも攻撃にも、国民意識に目覚め、信頼しうる国民軍が主流となり今日に至っている。なお、第一次世界大戦前後から知られるようになった外人部隊（「外人部隊」参照）は、本質的には傭兵と同じであるが、主として帝国主義諸国が植民地の治安維持、暴動鎮圧などの目的で編成した補助部隊であり、傭兵とはいちおう区別して扱われる。

［藤村瞬一］

『アルフレート・ファークツ著、望田幸男訳『軍国主義の歴史　第1巻　封建騎士団から大衆軍隊へ』（1973・福村出版）』▽『マイケル・ハワード著、奥村房夫他訳『ヨーロッパ史と戦争』（1981・学陽書房）』▽『堀米庸三編『世界の歴史　第3巻　中世ヨーロッパ』（中公文庫）』▽『大野真弓編『世界の歴史　第8巻　絶対君主と人民』（中公文庫）』

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