Soldados de fortuna

Throughout history there have been two major trends when it comes to getting troops to go to war: using citizens, as, in general, was the case in the Roman Empire and most countries after the French Revolution, or turn to mercenaries, as Hannibal and the Italian cities of the Renaissance did. The emergence of modern mercenaries occurred at the end of the Second World War, with the demobilization of the mass armies. Millions of former soldiers tried to resume their civilian life. Many of those who did not succeed, or no longer liked it, sought employment in military life: either as paid volunteers, or as modern soldiers of fortune, who volunteered to use their technical knowledge -such as airmen and sailors- in advisory duties or to perform purely military functions. It was the time when many of the French, British and Belgian mercenaries who acted during the decolonization process of the 1960s and 1970s emerged. The former colonial powers, to safeguard their commercial interests, particularly in Africa, used them to fight against national liberation movements. Later, they continued with sporadic actions in some armed conflicts until, in 1989, with the end of the Cold War, they were displaced by the phenomenon of security companies. Today, the classic mercenary has been replaced by private military companies such as Blackwater. Faced with the discretion with which they acted in the mid-twentieth century, many of them have Internet portals and public relations services for the press and future clients. The soldier of fortune has become something of a subcontractor, without the existentialist, adventurous and legendary aura of those old warriors for hire who fought in exotic places.