What is a mercenary?

Mercenaries are a special profession, which refers to armed men who fight for money and groups and individuals who participate in armed conflicts for profit. Mercenaries only fight for money. They can be employed by anyone as long as the other side bids high enough.

From the barbarians in the ancient Roman army to the European prisoners exiled to Africa in the post-colonial period, mercenaries have always been regarded as a group of people who want money and don't want life. In many people's understanding, mercenaries bring only pain and death to others, and their only motivation for fighting is money.

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The current situation of mercenaries

The development of military externalization has led to the transformation of mercenaries and the rise of private military companies. In order to distinguish it from the traditional image of mercenaries, modern mercenary organizations prefer to be called private military companies. A new generation of mercenaries, with neat appearance, decent clothes and strict discipline, are playing more and more military functions and roles.

Now there are two kinds of mercenaries in the world, one is a regular mercenary and the other is a private mercenary. Before 1980s, mercenaries, as individuals or small groups, were employed by a certain country or interest group to instigate coups, kidnappings, assassinations and looting of property, and were once called "war animals".

With the increasing complexity of the international situation, a new system has emerged, namely "mercenary company", and the mercenaries sent by this organization are called "private mercenaries".