https://forum.juhlin.com/showthread....3265#post93265
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcdusk
Foreign fighters fighting on behalf of a different country. Are they being paid? If so, I'd say yes to mercenaries.
If the soldiers are there representing Iran, still being paid, then i'd say not mercenary.
Different argument now. I always thought of mercenaries as individuals being paid to fight. Not really in large groups, or sent by a country. Being sent by a country makes them "legit" fighters in my view rather than mercenary.
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That's one definition. Historically, there have been large groups of one particular nationality who have contracted to fight for another nation, or pay. A few notable examples are the Varangian Guard (Norseman/Normans and Anglo-Saxons) who fought for the Byzantine Empire), the Landsknechts (Germans who fought for various polities in the 16th century), and the Swiss Pikemen who fought for France and other kingdoms/principalities/city states during the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance.
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