Private Armies: How Mercenaries Fight Today's Wars | Animated History

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Armchair Team Credits:

[shutup]

the unique thing about PMC's is that it has made expanding influence of major powers a lot easier since they can claim denial

[theprofessional]

I like how you criticized both Wagner and Blackwater . Both the US and Russia criticize mercenaries in the other countries but ignore what their own mercenaries are doing .

[jacopoabbruscato]

Mercenaries experienced a decline in popularity in the 18th-20th centuries because young men were readily available and weapons required very little training. Nowadays they're back because the conditions are similar to their golden age in the Renaissance: young men aren't as plentiful (or easily expendable without massive backlash), warfare technology requires a lot of training to be mastered and experienced professionals can easily dominate the battlefield against a conscription army.

[spenceramey]

“Snake…. We are not tools of the government or anyone else. Fighting was the only thing I was good at. But, at least I always fought for what I believe in. Snake, farewell…”

[redjaypictures]

Supposedly there was a period of time in American history where two rich gravel barons had each owned almost half of the land in modern-day new Mexico and bought up all of the local mercenary forces to fight a massive land war over it, only ending in 1971 when both land owners were assassinated by their secret third brother and their mercenary forces replaced with robots

[lucianoosorio]

“Unlike the government we don't keep secrets of our capabilities. We don't sell policy, we sell power. We are a super power for hire.” Johnathan Irons

[compatriot]

It would be interesting doing an evolution video on mercenaries going from antiquity to the modern day

[Scientist]

There is an interesting book I came across a decade ago and I think this might interesting. It's called "Soldiers of Fortune: A History of the Mercenary in Modern Warfare" by Tony Geraghty which has various examples of modern mercenaries ranging from PMCs in Africa, third-party guys experimenting weaponry on Hind helicopters before the US sent Stingers to the Mujahadeen, and even the humanitarian efforts at demining operations.

[mikhilmuhuthan]

As a Sri Lankan Tamil,
I didn't even know that PMC organizations were in Sri Lanka during thr civil war. Goes to show how our government covered up many things in that tragic petty conflict.

[ghostsniperable]

I'm a military contractor who has worked in Afghanistan, Ascension Island, and Israel. I wont disclose what company I worked for but it was a PMC and it was all about security not offense operations, literally had weapons and sometimes a plate carrier for protection to protect military personal and facilities. There are mercenaries out there, Russia, USA, Africans etc all use them. Its honestly a great job to have, I travel for free, get paid a good amount, good training, and got to visit world famous historical places like Petra on my free time.

[WOLF]

Thank you for making this video. Now I finally understand why PMCs are stock villains in video games.

[grandadmiralzaarin]

"War has changed. It's no longer about nations, ideologies, or ethnicity. It's an endless series of proxy battles, fought by mercenaries and machines. War--and it's consumption of life--has become a well-oiled machine."- Old Snake

[anasevi]

seeing how long modern PMC's go back, and how tightly they mirror eachother is mindblowing.

[DEstin]

Mercenary in IRL: We are gunman for hire.

Mercenary in TF2: WE CAN'T TELEPORT BREAD ANYMORE!!!

[MrBraddles]

It's the second oldest profession on the planet. They're here to stay.

[Of_Your_Volition]

Mercenaries are in my opinion a very unique and effective for those who need it so I agree that they will not end anytime soon

[pabcu]

Obviously, the best PMC is merryweather

[indianajones]

You can always tell where someone stands on PMCs if they refer to them as “mercenaries” or “contractors”

[jesusc]

my older cousin was apart of blackwater during the mid 2000s
he talked about it once and showed me lots of pictures on a digital camera. he turned our phones off before he talked about it.. he was very paranoid. rip anthony.

[lordsiomai]

I really like how you included a story for each PMC to contextualize how useful they are for their client nations.