The Treaty of Viborg was a package of 7 documents signed in Viborg during 1609 between Sweden and Russia on the provision by Sweden of military assistance to the government of Vasily Shuisky .
102-585: Under the terms of the agreement and the secret protocol thereto, Sweden provided a mercenary corps, paid for by Russia, in exchange for the Korela Fortress and the surrounding county. In 1609–1610, the Swedish auxiliary corps under the command of Jacob De la Gardie participated in battles against the supporters of False Dmitry II and the Polish interventionists . After the overthrow of Shuisky, De la Gardie, under
204-691: A peace treaty was signed at Oreshek on August 12, 1323 between Sweden and Grand Prince Yury and the Novgorod Republic. This was the first agreement on the border between Eastern and Western Christianity running through present-day Finland . A modern stone monument to the north of the Church of St. John in the fortress commemorates the treaty. In 1333, the Novgorodians invited Lithuanian prince Narimantas to govern their north-western domain. Narimantas appointed his son, Alexander Narimuntovich to rule
306-411: A private military company (PMC) which does not supply any fighters but is used to export military training services. It realised a profit of €222 million in 2019. It is an offence "to recruit" German citizens "for military duty in a military or military-like facility in support of a foreign power" ( §109h StGB ). Furthermore, a German citizen who enlists in the armed forces of a state they are also
408-401: A bench, there was nothing in the cell. The prisoners, including both women, were strip-searched on arrival, and then locked in solitary confinement in a small, sparsely furnished cell, where at first they had nothing to read, except a printed declaration on the wall warning that insulting the jailers would be punishable by death. They were told the rules obliged the staff to address prisoners in
510-528: A citizen of risks the loss of their citizenship ( §28 StAG ). In 1998, South Africa passed the Foreign Military Assistance Act that banned citizens and residents from any involvement in foreign wars, except for humanitarian operations, unless a government committee approved deployment. In 2005, the legislation was reviewed by the government because: As of 2010, South Africa forbids citizens from fighting in foreign wars unless they are under
612-511: A city called Daedala or Daidala ( Ancient Greek : Δαίδαλα ) in India, which he called Indo-Cretan, most probably because it was a settlement of Cretan mercenaries. In the late Roman Empire , it became increasingly difficult for Emperors and generals to raise military units from the citizenry for various reasons: lack of manpower, lack of time available for training, lack of materials, and, inevitably, political considerations. Therefore, beginning in
714-476: A garden. This reduced the very high death toll. Thirteen of the 39 prisoners sent to the fortress in 1884-86 died within six years, most from illnesses aggravated by the stress of total confinement. On 7 January 1891, 28 year old Sofia Ginzburg, who had tried to revive Narodnaya Volya with the intention of assassinating the Tsar, was sent to Shlisselburg after her death sentence had been commuted to life imprisonment. As
816-526: A member of the State Council ( riksråd ) Göran Boije [ sv ] and the regional judge of Karelia, the commandant of Viborg Arvid Tönnesson Wildeman [ sv ] . On the Russian side there were two ambassadors – the stolnik Semyon Vasilyevich Golovin, brother-in-law of Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky, and the dyak Sydavny Vasilyevich Zinoviev. On the main issue, it was decided to dwell on
918-649: A mercenary. While mercenaries do not enjoy the same protection as prisoners of war do, they must still be treated humanely according to the rules of the Protocol and they may not be punished without a trial. On 4 December 1989, the United Nations passed resolution 44/34, the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries. It entered into force on 20 October 2001 and
1020-435: A new prisoner, she was placed in solitary confinement in the punishment cell in the old fortress, next to Nikolai Schedrin , who had gone insane, and had been moved to a punishment cell where he was raging, making animal noises, and banging on his cell door. After less than six weeks in the fortress, she asked for scissors to cut her nails and used them to slit her throat. The last political prisoner to be sent to Shlisselburg
1122-419: A prison doctor, apparently expecting to be executed, but the prison authorities decided that he was mad and did not punish him, so he used a kerosene lamp to set fire to himself. Soon after Grachevsky's suicide, Matvei Sokolov, the much hated superintendent of the gendarmes who guarded the prison, whom the inmates nicknamed 'Herod' was replaced, and prisoners were allowed books. Later, they were allowed to tend
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#17328562106921224-467: A profit, by either providing services involving the potential exercise of [armed] force in a systematic way and by military means, and/or by the transfer of that potential to clients through training and other practices, such as logistics support, equipment procurement, and intelligence gathering". Private paramilitary forces are functionally mercenary armies, though they may serve as security guards or military advisors; however, national governments reserve
1326-487: A surplus of experienced soldiers. Also, Colombian soldiers are much cheaper than soldiers from developed countries . PMCs from several Middle Eastern countries have signed contracts with the Colombian Defense Ministry to carry out security or military activities. The United Nations questions whether PMC soldiers are sufficiently accountable for their war zone actions. A common argument for using PMCs (used by
1428-587: A total of 1,500 casualties, compared to 360 for the Swedes. Peter renamed the fortress to Shlisselburg , a transliteration into the Cyrillic alphabet of Schlüsselburg . The name, meaning "Key-fortress" in German , which refers to Peter's perception of the fortress as the "key to Ingria ". During Imperial times the fortress lost its military role and was used as a notorious political prison. The first two prisoners were Peter
1530-643: A videotaped attack; the killings and subsequent dismemberments were a cause for the First Battle of Fallujah . Afghan war operations also boosted the business. The United States has made extensive use of PMCs in Afghanistan since 2001, mostly in a defensive role. PMC teams have been used to guard bases and to protect VIPs from Taliban assassins, but almost never in offensive operations. One mercenary stated about his work in Afghanistan: "We are there purely to protect
1632-573: Is inaccurate and demeaning to men and women who put their lives on the line to protect people and facilities every day." Tamil poems described the Greek soldiers who served as mercenaries for Indian kings as: "The valiant-eyed Yavanas (Greeks), whose bodies were strong and of terrible aspect". Alfred Charles Auguste Foucher said that some of the troops of Mara in the Gandhara sculptures may represent Greek mercenaries. Stephanus of Byzantium wrote about
1734-631: Is not endorsed by some countries, including the United States. The Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts ( Protocol I ), 8 June 1977 states: Art 47. Mercenaries All the criteria, as listed in 2(a) through 2(f), must be met, according to the Geneva Convention, for a combatant to be considered
1836-514: Is that this authorized contractors to engage in combat on behalf of the US government. It is the combatant commander's responsibility to ensure that private security contract mission statements do not authorize performance of inherently governmental military functions, i.e. preemptive attacks, assaults, or raids, etc. On 18 August 2006, the US Comptroller General rejected bid protest arguments that
1938-584: Is usually known as the UN Mercenary Convention . Article 1 of the UN Mercenary Convention contains the definition of a mercenary. Article 1.1 is similar to Article 47 of Protocol I. Article 1.2 broadens the definition to include a non-national recruited to overthrow a "Government or otherwise undermin[e] the constitutional order of a State; or Undermin[e] the territorial integrity of a State"; and "Is motivated to take part therein essentially by
2040-550: The condottiero was a military chief offering his troops, the condottieri , to Italian city-states . The condottieri were extensively used by the Italian city-states in their wars against one another. At times, the condottieri seized control of the state, as one condottiero , Francesco Sforza , made himself the Duke of Milan in 1450. During the ages of the Taifa kingdoms of
2142-663: The Duchy of Athens . The Great Company ruled much of central and southern Greece until 1388–1390 when a rival mercenary company, the Navarrese Company were hired to oust them. Catalan and German mercenaries also had prominent role in the Serbian victory over Bulgarians in the Battle of Velbuzd in 1330. During the later Middle Ages, Free Companies (or Free Lances ) were formed, consisting of companies of mercenary troops. Nation-states lacked
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#17328562106922244-673: The Great Northern War , the fortress was taken by the Russians under Peter the Great in an amphibious assault : 440 Swedish soldiers defended the fort for ten days before surrendering. After heavy artillery fire and 13 hours of fighting inside the fortress, the Swedish commandant finally agreed to capitulate on honorable conditions. The Swedes left the fortress with their flags, rifles and four cannons. The Russian forces numbered 12,500 men and sustained
2346-575: The United States Army contracts violated the Anti-Pinkerton Act by requiring that contractors provide armed convoy escort vehicles and labor, weapons, and equipment for internal security operations at Victory Base Complex in Iraq. The Comptroller General reasoned the act was unviolated because the contracts did not require contractors to provide quasi-military forces as strikebreakers. In 2007,
2448-745: The 7 June 1978 Letter to the heads of Federal Departments and Agencies, the Comptroller General interpreted this decision in a way that carved out an exemption for "Guard and Protective Services". A United States Department of Defense (DoD) interim rule revised DoD Instruction 3020.41 to authorize contractors, other than private security contractors, to use deadly force against enemy armed forces only in self-defense (71 Fed. Reg. 34826), effective 16 June 2006. Per that interim rule, private security contractors were authorized to use deadly force when protecting their client's assets and persons, consistent with their contract's mission statement . One interpretation
2550-522: The Act and the legislative history reveal that an organization was "similar" to the Pinkerton Detective Agency only if it offered for hire mercenary, quasi-military forces as strikebreakers and armed guards. It had the secondary effect of deterring any other organization from providing such services lest it be branded a "similar organization." The legislative history supports this view and no other. In
2652-413: The Anti-Pinkerton Act as forbidding the U.S. government from employing companies offering "mercenary, quasi-military forces" for hire (United States ex rel. Weinberger v. Equifax , 557 F.2d 456, 462 (5th Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1035 (1978)). There is disagreement over whether this proscription is limited to strikebreakers only, because Weinberger v. Equifax states the following: The purpose of
2754-788: The Big Companies and French Companies and placed a decisive role in putting Enrique on the Castilian throne in 1369, who styled himself King Enrique II, the first Castilian monarch of the House of Trastámara. The White Company commanded by Sir John Hawkwood is the best known English Free Company of the 14th century. Between the 13th and 17th centuries the Gallowglass fought within the Islands of Britain and also mainland Europe. A Welshman Owain Lawgoch (Owain of
2856-719: The British Army (specifically units that are administered by the Brigade of Gurkhas ) and the Indian Army. Although they are nationals of Nepal, a country that is not part of the Commonwealth, they still swear allegiance (either to the Crown or the Constitution of India ) and abide by the rules and regulations under which all British or Indian soldiers serve. French Foreign Legionnaires serve in
2958-698: The Foreign Enlistment Act. It was unclear whether or not the Greek rebels constituted a 'state', but the law was later clarified to indicate that they were. The British government considered using the Act against British subjects fighting for the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War and the FNLA in the Angolan Civil War , but on both occasions chose not to do so. Civilians with
3060-620: The French Crown lacked the necessary military and economic strength to put an end to their activities. To rid France of the rampaging mercenaries and to overthrow the pro-English King Pedro the Cruel of Castile, Marshal Bertrand du Guesclin was directed by King Charles V of France to take the Free Companies into Castile with the orders to put the pro-French Enrique de Trastámara on the Castilian throne. Guesclin's mercanaries were organized into
3162-587: The French Foreign Legion, which deploys and fights as an organized unit of the French Army . This means that as members of the armed forces of Britain, India, and France these soldiers are not classed as mercenary soldiers per APGC77 Art 47.e and 47.f . Volunteers for the Ukraine Foreign legion have three-year contracts, and are eligible for Ukrainian citizenship (the probation period being the duration of
Treaty of Viborg - Misplaced Pages Continue
3264-579: The Great's sister, Maria Alexeyevna Romanova, and his first wife, Yevdokiya Lopukhina . The best known prisoner in the Shlisselburg Fortress was Ivan VI , who had inherited the throne as an infant and was interned there until he was murdered by his guards in 1764. After his murder, no more prisoners were sent to the fortress until 1775. In 1800-1870, the fortress held a probable total of 52 political prisoners, including Wilhelm Küchelbecker , and Mikhail Bakunin , most for short periods, though
3366-714: The Iberian peninsula, Christian knights like El Cid could fight for a Muslim ruler against his Christian or Muslim enemies. The Almogavars originally fought for the counts of Barcelona and kings of Aragon , but as the Catalan Company , they followed Roger de Flor in the service of the Byzantine Empire . In 1311, the Catalan Great Company defeated at the Battle of Halmyros their former employer, Walter V, Count of Brienne , after he refused to pay them, and took over
3468-571: The Italian Wars. They were known for cutting off the heads of dead or captured enemies, and according to Commines they were paid by their leaders one ducat per head. Shlisselburg Fortress The Shlisselburg Fortress or Oreshek Fortress ( Russian : Крепость Орешек ) is one of a series of fortifications built in Oreshek (now known as Shlisselburg ) on Orekhovy Island in Lake Ladoga , near
3570-595: The Notburg region that the boyars were going to transfer the fortress to Karl Olafson, the bishop Sylvester and the inhabitants of the city gathered together, forbade them to enter, for which they raised the local peasants. After the battle near Tver , a revolt occurred in the De la Gardie corps, mainly due to the irregular payment of salaries, most of the mercenaries deserted. The significantly thinned corps went to Valdai , where by autumn De la Gardie still received some confirmation from
3672-550: The Novgorodians after several Russian and Lithuanian princes ignored the city's pleas to help them rebuild and defend the fort. The remnants of the walls of 1352 were excavated in 1969, and can be seen just north of the Church of St. John in the center of the present fortress. In 1478, the Novgorod Republic was absorbed by the Muscovy who immediately started to strengthen their border with Sweden. The existing small citadel
3774-655: The PMCs themselves), is that PMCs may be able to help combat genocide and civilian slaughter where the UN or other countries are unwilling or unable to intervene. Yet, after considering using PMCs to support UN operations, Kofi Annan , the Secretary-General of the United Nations , decided against it. In October 2007, the United Nations released a two-year study that stated, that although hired as "security guards", private contractors were performing military duties. The report found that
3876-617: The Peter and Paul Fortress, and thence to Shlisselburg. Lenin 's brother, Aleksandr Ulyanov , and four others involved in a plot to kill Alexander III were hanged in the fortress in 1887. So were Nikolai Rogachev and Alexander Shtromberg, whose death sentences, passed at the Trial of the Fourteen , for their involvement in Narodnaya Volya , were not commuted. They were held in the old cells, away from
3978-666: The Polish rebel, Walerian Łukasiński was in solitary confinement there for 38 years. After the assassination of Alexander II in 1881, the authorities decided to invest in a new purpose-built prison in Shlisselburg, containing 40 cells, with ten more cells from the old fortress retained as a punishment block. In 1884, 36 political prisoners were transferred to Shlisselburg from the Peter and Paul Fortress . Most were members of Narodnaya Volya , who had been sentenced to death for conspiring to kill
4080-737: The Red Hand) formed a free company and fought for the French against the English during the Hundred Years' War , before being assassinated by a Scot named Jon Lamb, under the orders of the English Crown, during the siege of Mortagne in 1378. Swiss mercenaries were sought during the late 15th and early 16th centuries as being an effective fighting force, until their somewhat rigid battle formations became vulnerable to arquebuses and artillery being developed at
4182-658: The Roman practice and contracted foreigners especially for their personal corps guard called the Varangian Guard . They were chosen among war-prone peoples, of whom the Varangians (Norsemen) were preferred. Their mission was to protect the Emperor and Empire and since they did not have links to the Greeks, they were expected to be ready to suppress rebellions. One of the most famous guards was
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4284-492: The Stratioti were mostly Albanians. According to a study by a Greek author, around 80% of the listed names attributed to the stradioti were of Albanian origin while most of the remaining ones, especially those of officers, were of Greek origin; a small minority were of South Slavic origin. Among their leaders there were also members of some old Byzantine Greek noble families such as the Palaiologoi and Comneni . The stratioti were pioneers of light cavalry tactics during this era. In
4386-499: The Swedish representatives to keep further negotiations secret. As a result, a secret protocol to the treaty was signed, according to which the Korela Fortress with the county was ceded to perpetual possession. The geographical position of Korela is not advantageous for defense, and it was clear to the Shuisky government that "if we do not make a voluntary concession, the Swedes will take this territory by force"; moreover, at that time, Korela did not actually belong to Shuisky. Nevertheless,
4488-583: The Third Infantry Division charged with Baghdad security after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, said of DynCorp and other PMCs: These guys run loose in this country and do stupid stuff. There's no authority over them, so you can't come down on them hard when they escalate force... They shoot people, and someone else has to deal with the aftermath. It happens all over the place. In 2004, the US and Coalition governments hired PMCs for security in Iraq. In March 2004, four Blackwater employees escorting food supplies and other equipment were attacked and killed in Fallujah in
4590-482: The Tsar, but had had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. They included two women – Vera Figner and Lyudmila Volkenstein . All were to be denied any kind of contact with the outside world, including visits from or correspondence with relatives. There were others not linked to Narodnaya Volya , but had been in protests or escape attempts in Siberia. After a riot and a hunger strike in Kara prison in 1882, eight particularly unruly prisoners were transported to
4692-419: The US Armed Forces lose their law of war protection from direct attack if, and for such time as, they directly participate in hostilities. The Anti-Pinkerton Act of 1893 ( 5 U.S.C. § 3108 ) forbids the US government from using Pinkerton National Detective Agency employees or similar private police companies. In 1977, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit interpreted
4794-522: The US Army was temporarily barred from awarding a $ 475 million security contract in Iraq, the largest one at that time, because of a lawsuit filed by a US citizen alleging violation of the Anti-Pinkerton Act of 1893. Three of the candidates under final consideration for the contract (to include intelligence services and security for reconstruction work by the United States Army Corps of Engineers ) included British firms Aegis Defence Services and Erinys Iraq , as well as Blackwater of North Carolina. The case
4896-405: The Varangians ceased to be in the service of the Roman Empire remains unclear. In England at the time of the Norman Conquest , Flemings (natives of Flanders ) formed a substantial mercenary element in the forces of William the Conqueror with many remaining in England as settlers under the Normans . Contingents of mercenary Flemish soldiers were to form significant forces in England throughout
4998-401: The autonomous principality of Oreshek. In 1348, Magnus IV of Sweden attacked and briefly took the fortress during his crusade in the region in 1348–1352. It was largely ruined by the time the Novgorodians retook the fortress in 1351. The fortress was rebuilt in stone in 1352, by Archbishop Vasily Kalika of Novgorod (1330–1352), who, according to the Novgorod First Chronicle , was sent by
5100-464: The basement. This made it the strongest Russian fortress of that period. The residents were forced to resettle on the mainland and most preferred the Southern bank of Neva for safety reasons. In 1554–1555, during the Russo-Swedish War , the Swedes laid siege to the fortress, with no success. In response, the Russians besieged Vyborg , with no success either. During the Livonian War in 1582, Swedish troops led by Pontus De La Gardie almost captured
5202-475: The center of the north-Ingrian Nöteborg county ( slottslän ). During that time very little was done to maintain the fortress in good order, and the experts coming to Nöteborg to do inspections warned the crown of its deterioration. During the Ingrian campaign of tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in June 1656, the fortress came under a siege by voevoda Pyotr Potemkin , known as the Battle of Nöteborg , which lasted until November 1656 with no success. In 1702, during
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#17328562106925304-432: The city and "go to Russia". Upon the arrival of the De la Gardie corps in Novgorod, Skopin-Shuisky really gave him letters of confirmation to the contract and the secret protocol. But two months later the royal letters were not handed over, and the city was not handed over, as the townspeople did not even let the royal ambassadors into the city: When the Kexholmians heard from the fugitive Swedish soldiers who had ravaged
5406-409: The conditions adopted in Novgorod, but the Swedish ambassadors objected: But what should be expected as a reward? The soldiers should be paid according to the agreement with Mansfeld, but what will the king get for his service and for sending so many thousands of hired soldiers? After that, the ambassadors proposed to all members of the Russian embassy to leave the premises, and they swore an oath from
5508-462: The desire for significant private gain and is prompted by the promise or payment of material compensation". Under Article 1.2, a person does not have to take a direct part in the hostilities in a planned coup d'état to be a mercenary. If a person is proven to have worked as a mercenary for any other country while retaining Austrian citizenship, their Austrian citizenship will be revoked. In 2003, France criminalized mercenary activities, as defined by
5610-400: The direct control of their own national armed forces. In the United Kingdom, the Foreign Enlistment Act 1819 and the Foreign Enlistment Act 1870 make it unlawful for British subjects to join the armed forces of any state warring with another state at peace with Britain. During the Greek War of Independence , British volunteers fought with the Greek rebels, which could have been unlawful per
5712-445: The early 16th century heavy cavalry in the European armies was principally remodeled after Albanian stradioti of the Venetian army, Hungarian hussars and German mercenary cavalry units (Schwarzreitern). They employed hit-and-run tactics, ambushes, feigned retreats and other complex maneuvers. In some ways, these tactics echoed those of the Ottoman sipahis and akinci. They had some notable successes also against French heavy cavalry during
5814-407: The exchange for additional troops promised "full of Sweden to make a retribution from her it will be required". The Shuisky government, however, did nothing to actually transfer the land, looking through the fingers at the disobedience of the townspeople, and even rewarding them for this: [At the beginning of 1610] Pushkin and Bezobrazov brought money to the archers of the Korel garrison to distribute
5916-399: The former US Ambassador to Colombia Myles Frechette has said: "Congress and the American people don't want any servicemen killed overseas. So it makes sense that if contractors want to risk their lives, they get the job". Not only have foreign PMCs worked in Colombia, but a disproportionate number of the mercenaries with PMCs are Colombian, as Colombia's long history of civil war has led to
6018-418: The fortress during 1968-1975 that excavated what remained from the ancient Novgorodian stone fort dated 1352 and other artifacts. The fortress has been the site of an annual rock concert since 2003. There is also a museum of political prisoners of the Russian Empire and a small collection of World War II artillery. Renovation of the walls and towers is slow, although still underway. A stone monument in memory of
6120-400: The fortress was not captured. During Operation Iskra (18 January 1943) the siege of the fortress was lifted. The war completely devastated the fortress. Out of the original ten towers, the fortress retains only six (five Russian and one Swedish). The remains of a church inside the fortress were transformed into a memorial to the fortress's defenders. An archaeological site was established in
6222-414: The fortress. After a row of artillery fire they managed to break into one of the towers, but were later repelled by the Russians. The fort was captured by Sweden in 1611 during the Ingrian War after nine months of siege, when the defenders lost every 9 men of 10. As part of the Swedish Empire , the fortress was known as Nöteborg ("Nut-fortress") in Swedish or Pähkinälinna in Finnish , and became
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#17328562106926324-434: The frontline. The garrison held the abandoned castle for 500 days preventing the Germans from landing there and cutting the last transit route from Leningrad to the mainland . Food and supplies were brought from the northern bank of the Neva which remained under Soviet control. Heavy artillery fire by the Germans destroyed all the buildings inside the fortress and part of the outer towers and walls, but despite numerous attempts
6426-462: The funds needed to maintain standing forces, so they tended to hire free companies to serve in their armies during wartime. Such companies typically formed at the ends of periods of conflict, when men-at-arms were no longer needed by their respective governments. The veteran soldiers thus looked for other forms of employment, often becoming mercenaries. Free Companies would often specialize in forms of combat that required longer periods of training that
6528-455: The future king Harald III of Norway , also known as Harald Hardrada ("Hard-counsel"), who arrived in Constantinople in 1035 and was employed as a Varangian Guard. He participated in eighteen battles and was promoted to akolythos , the commander of the Guard, before returning home in 1043. He was killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 when his army was defeated by an English army commanded by King Harold Godwinson . The point at which
6630-489: The jailer stands he can at once overlook all the forty cells. Along the upper story runs a narrow balcony, accessible by a winding iron staircase. In order to prevent any attempt on the part of the prisoners to throw themselves over, a closely woven net is stretched along the upper part of the railing. Lyudmila Volkenstein, who was the first to write a memoir of life in Shlisselburg, was struck on arrival by how clean and new it was: Our first impression of Shlissel’burg Fortress
6732-479: The kind of risks that can turn the tide of a battle, but may cost them their lives. He also noted that a mercenary who failed was obviously no good, but one who succeeded may be even more dangerous. He astutely pointed out that a successful mercenary army no longer needs its employer if it is more militarily powerful than its supposed superior. This explained the frequent, violent betrayals that characterized mercenary/client relations in Italy, because neither side trusted
6834-450: The last five prisoners left the fortress on 6 January 1906. In 1928, the fortress was turned into a branch of the Museum of the October Revolution, but in 1939, shortly before the war , it was closed and the exhibits were moved to Leningrad. Shortly before Shlisselburg was occupied by the German troops (8 September 1941), a garrison of 350 Red Army soldiers was sent to the fortress on Orekhovets island to bring supplies and munition to
6936-400: The late 4th century, the empire often contracted whole bands of barbarians either within the legions or as autonomous foederati . The barbarians were Romanized and surviving veterans were established in areas requiring population. The Varangian Guard of the Byzantine Empire is the best known formation made up of barbarian mercenaries (see next section). Byzantine emperors followed
7038-433: The modern city of Saint Petersburg in Russia . The first fortress was built in 1323. It was the scene of many conflicts between Russia and Sweden and changed hands between the two empires. During World War II, it was heavily damaged. Today it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments . A wooden fortress named Oreshek ( Орешек ) or Orekhov ( Орехов )
7140-489: The other hand, the Treaty of Teusina had recently been signed with Russia, according to which Sweden had to return most of Ingria . Having decided to use the difficult situation of the Moscow government and at the same time to tie the forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , the king at the beginning of 1604 offered a large army to help Boris Godunov . And in February 1605, an embassy went from Stockholm to Moscow to conclude an agreement. The price of military support
7242-533: The other. He believed that citizens with a real attachment to their home country will be more motivated to defend it and thus make much better soldiers. The Stratioti or Stradioti (Italian: Stradioti or Stradiotti; Greek: Στρατιώτες, Stratiotes) were mercenary units from the Balkans recruited mainly by states of southern and central Europe from the 15th until the middle of the 18th century. The stradioti were recruited in Albania , Greece, Dalmatia , Serbia and later Cyprus . Most modern historians have indicated that
7344-565: The pretext of non-fulfillment by the Russians of the terms of the treaty, in 1610–1613 captured Novgorod and a number of other northern Russian cities, further drawing Sweden into the Russian Troubles . The government of Mikhail Romanov during the years 1614–1617 held negotiations to end the occupation , but the Swedes insisted on territorial concessions. The negotiations were held in the midst of repeatedly renewed hostilities and culminated in
7446-471: The principals and get them out, we're not there to get into huge firefights with the bad guys". One team from DynCorp provided bodyguards for President Hamid Karzai . In 2006, a US congressional report listed a number of PMCs and other enterprises that have signed contracts to carry out anti-narcotics operations and related activities as part of Plan Colombia . Referring to the use of American PMCs in Colombia,
7548-539: The prisoners. Ivan Yuvachov , who was also sentenced to death at the Trial of the Fourteen, but whose sentence was commuted, wrote a description of his time in the fortress: On entering the prison one is struck by the peculiar construction of its interior. Both stories of the building contain about forty cells, the doors of which all lead into one common space in the middle of the building, as into one high hall, reaching from ground to roof, with windows at both ends. So wherever
7650-595: The protocol to the Geneva convention for French citizens, permanent residents, and legal entities (Penal Code, L436-1 , L436-2 , L436-3 , L436-4 , L436-5 ). This law does not prevent French citizens from serving as volunteers in foreign forces. The law applies to military activities with a specifically mercenary motive or with a mercenary level of remuneration. However, due to jurisdictional loopholes several French companies provide mercenary services. The French state owns 50% of Défense conseil international , which it founded,
7752-680: The right to control the number, nature, and armaments of such private armies , arguing that, provided they are not pro-actively employed in front-line combat, they are not mercenaries. In February 2002, a British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) report about PMCs noted that the demands of the military service from the UN and international civil organizations might mean that it is cheaper to pay PMCs than use soldiers. PMC "civilian contractors" tend to have poor reputations among professional government soldiers and officers—the U.S. Military Command has questioned their war zone behavior. In September 2005, Brigadier General Karl Horst, deputy commander of
7854-533: The royal salary for the past year and a letter from the tsar. Vasily Shuisky emphasized that he, despite the disobedience of the Korelians, still considers the city and the county to be part of his state, and the city archers to be in his service. Under various pretexts, the Karelian authorities postponed the implementation of the tsar's order until Shuisky was overthrown. In these conditions, the Swedes decided to take what
7956-480: The same legal protections as captured service personnel of the armed forces. In practice, whether or not a person is a mercenary may be a matter of degree, as financial and political interests may overlap. Protocol Additional GC 1977 (APGC77) is a 1977 amendment protocol to the Geneva Conventions . Article 47 of the protocol provides the most widely accepted international definition of a mercenary, though it
8058-698: The same time. The Swiss Guard in particular were employed by the Papal States from 1506 (continuing to serve today as the military of Vatican City ). It was then that the German landsknechts , colourful mercenaries with a redoubtable reputation, took over the Swiss forces' legacy and became the most formidable force of the late 15th and throughout the 16th century, being hired by all the powers in Europe and often fighting at opposite sides. Sir Thomas More in his Utopia advocated
8160-453: The second person single, like an adult speaking to a child. Some prisoners communicated by knocking on the pipes, using a simple code, though they risked severe consequences if they were caught. Yuvachov was in solitary confinement for three years before he was allowed to speak to speak a fellow prisoner. Under these conditions, several either went mad, or became suicidal, or both. Of the eight who were transported from Kara prison, Yegor Minakov
8262-499: The secrecy of the additional negotiations was caused by the fear that the voluntary cession of the state's territory would further increase the king's discontent in the country. The contract and the secret protocol were signed on February 28. A separate line was the obligation of both parties not to conclude separate treaties with the Poles, and the Treaty of Teusina , concluded 13 years earlier,
8364-414: The signing of the Treaty of Stolbovo . According to William Pokhlebkin , the so-called " three-year war " of 1614–1617 was caused by the "mistake of Russian diplomacy under Vasily Shuisky" – "an uncritical choice of an ally in difficult times from among the eternal and traditional opponents of Russia". Formally, no war was fought between Sweden and Russia, because the situation in 1617 was not created by
8466-613: The time of the Norman and early Plantagenet dynasties (11th and 12th centuries). A prominent example of these were the Flemings who fought during the English civil wars, known as the Anarchy or the Nineteen-Year Winter (AD 1135 to 1154), under the command of William of Ypres , who was King Stephen 's chief lieutenant from 1139 to 1154 and who was made Earl of Kent by Stephen. In Italy,
8568-510: The tsar of the terms of the agreement and two more letters of confirmation from Kalyazin from Skopin-Shuisky addressed to him and the Swedish king. However, even after this the city was not transferred. On December 17, 1609 in Alexandrovskaya Sloboda , Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky and De la Gardie entered into an agreement on additional military assistance (confirmed a month later by the tsar), which again referred to Korela's ambulance, and
8670-584: The upcoming arrival of the traditional enemy, the Swedes, caused discontent among the inhabitants of the border cities, one by one they went over to the side of False Dmitry II: first Pskov , then Korela and Oreshek . In early February 1609, in Viborg, in the Round Tower of the Viborg Fortress , negotiations began on the terms of the contract. The king of Sweden in the negotiations was represented by, among others,
8772-556: The use of contractors such as Blackwater was a "new form of mercenary activity" and illegal under international law . Most countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, are not signatories to the 1989 United Nations Mercenary Convention banning the use of mercenaries. A spokesman for the U.S. Mission to U.N. denied that Blackwater security guards were mercenaries, saying "Accusations that U.S. government-contracted security guards, of whatever nationality, are mercenaries
8874-466: The use of mercenaries in preference to citizens. The barbarian mercenaries employed by the Utopians are thought to be inspired by the Swiss mercenaries. At approximately the same period, Niccolò Machiavelli argued against the use of mercenary armies in his book of political advice The Prince . His rationale was that since the sole motivation of mercenaries is their pay, they will not be inclined to take
8976-475: The war). The private military company (PMC) is a private company providing armed combat or security services for financial gain. PMCs refer to their personnel as security contractors or private military contractors. PMC contractors are civilians (in governmental, international, and civil organizations) authorized to accompany an army to the field; thus, the term civilian contractor . PMCs may use armed force, defined as: "legally established enterprises that make
9078-561: The war, but, in fact, by the allied Russian-Swedish Treaty of Viborg, which Vasily Shuisky inadvertently concluded. With the advent of the first news of the pretender to the Moscow throne announced in Poland and his support by the Poles, Charles IX began to pay more attention to the situation in the east. On the one hand, Sweden fought with Poland and it was impossible to allow its strengthening due to Russian lands or its rapprochement with Russia. On
9180-468: The worst health were permitted to talk walks in pairs, and therefore to talk to each other. According to Vera Figner , who survived two decades in Shlisselberg, "these walks in pairs were the first breach in our stony grave." One of the first six granted this privilege was Mikhail Grachevsky, a member of Narodnaya Volya, despite which, he constantly complained about prison conditions. In 1887, he attacked
9282-531: Was Pyotr Karpovich, who shot and killed the Minister of National Enlightenment, Nikolay Bogolepov in 1901. During the 1905 Revolution , all the political prisoners held in Shlisselburg were freed or removed to other prisons or exile, including several who had been confined there for more than 20 years, such as Vera Figner , Mikhail Frolenko , German Lopatin , Pyotr Antonov and Nikolai Morozov , all once leading members of Narodnaya Volya . According to Yuvachov,
9384-432: Was also ratified . The secret protocol stipulated that after 3 weeks after the Swedish troops crossed the border, the commander of the Swedish corps De la Gardie will be awarded with confirmation letters signed by Skopin-Shuisky, and after another 2 months – letters signed by the tsar. Korela should be transmitted after 11 weeks (that is, simultaneously with the royal letters), on the condition that its inhabitants can leave
9486-511: Was built by Grand Prince Yury of Moscow (in his capacity as Prince of Novgorod ) on behalf of the Novgorod Republic in 1323. It guarded the northern approaches to Novgorod and access to the Baltic Sea . The fortress is situated on Orekhovy Island whose name refers to nuts in Swedish ( Nötö ) as well as in Finnish ( Pähkinäsaari , "Nut Island") and Russian . After a series of conflicts ,
9588-411: Was demolished and a new stone fortress with seven towers was constructed, which occupied almost the complete island. The old Novgorodian basement was used to construct a new citadel with three towers inside the outer walls. The total length of the walls was about 740 meters. Their height up to 12 meters, and the width at the basement 4.5 meters; The towers were 14–16 meters high and 16 meters in diameter at
9690-447: Was even pleasant: clean, dry cells – true, with opaque glass, but quite bright all the same. Fine, clean bed linen; a sink for washing and plumbed water closets.35 The cell was small – seven paces long and five wide – and of the type common to Houses of Preliminary Detention and therefore, perhaps even more pleasant on account of the memory of the last days of ‘freedom’ – of course, relative freedom… The bunks were locked shut, and apart from
9792-473: Was executed after a few months in Shlisselburg, in September 1884, after attacking a prison doctor who he thought was trying to poison him. Another prisoner, named Klimenko, hanged himself around the time that Minakov was executed. Ippolit Myshkin was executed for a similar offence two months later. After Myshkin's execution, there was a minor loosening of the prison regime when the six prisoners who appeared in
9894-874: Was later dismissed. The better-known combat units in which foreign nationals serve in another country's armed forces are the Gurkha regiments of the British Army and Indian Army , the French Foreign Legion , the Spanish Legion and the Ukraine Foreign Legion . Recruits from countries of the Commonwealth of Nations in the British Army swear allegiance to the British monarch and are liable to operate in any unit. Gurkhas, however, operate in dedicated Gurkha units of
9996-448: Was not available in the form of a mobilized militia. The Routiers formed a distinctive subculture in medieval France who alternated between serving as mercenaries in wartime and bandits in peacetime. The routiers were very destructive and became a significant social problem. After the Treaty of Brétigny ended the war between England and France in 1360, the French countryside was overrun by Free Companies of routiers while
10098-648: Was promised by force – the Swedish intervention of 1610–1617 began. Mercenary A mercenary , is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military . Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather than for political interests. Beginning in the 20th century, mercenaries have increasingly come to be seen as less entitled to protection by rules of war than non-mercenaries. The Geneva Conventions declare that mercenaries are not recognized as legitimate combatants and do not have to be granted
10200-516: Was sent to Novgorod to conduct negotiations and gather troops. On the Swedish side, Mons Mortensson, an officer of the Commander-in-Chief in the Baltic, Friedrich Mansfeld, went to Novgorod for preliminary negotiations. By the end of November, they agreed to send a Swedish auxiliary corps to Russia of 5 thousand people and to pay large salaries to the mercenaries by the Moscow government. The news of
10302-446: Was supposed to be the transfer of Sweden to the cities of Ivangorod , Yam , Koporye and Korela . Due to the sudden death of Boris Godunov, negotiations did not take place, and False Dmitry I soon ascended the throne. At the end of 1606, when the south of the country was gripped by a peasant uprising , and later, in May 1608, when the units of False Dmitry II approached Moscow, Charles
10404-497: Was thinking about an open attack on the bordering Russian lands. However, the ongoing war with Poland in Livonia did not allow the release of troops for this. In the summer of 1608, the situation of Vasily Shuisky became critical – Moscow was besieged by the Tushins, and on August 10 the tsar himself sent a letter to the Swedish king asking for military assistance. Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky
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