When it comes to building an army for war, what does Machiavelli advise? What’s the secret to finding loyal soldiers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In The Prince<\/em>, Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli distinguishes three types of armies: hired forces, borrowed forces, and personal forces. He cautions princes to avoid hired forces, to be wary of borrowed forces, and to opt for personal forces when possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Continue reading for a brief discussion of Machiavelli on war forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Hired forces are a preexisting mercenary group that a prince pays for their services, while borrowed forces are soldiers loaned to a prince by another prince or government, either because they\u2019re working towards a common goal or as a show of goodwill between nations. There are two issues with hired or borrowed forces: They\u2019re not loyal to the prince, and<\/strong> using them puts the prince in debt<\/strong>, either literally or in terms of relying on another ruler for monetary and military support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to advice from Machiavelli on war, he argues that all princes should have personal forces. Developing a personal army has several advantages: The prince relies solely on their own resources<\/strong>, they have full control over how their army is organized and run, and they can enforce loyalty<\/strong> within the ranks through a combination of legal structures (such as making desertion a crime) and social shaming (encouraging the populace to see military service as part of their patriotic duty). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Princes should not just be the heads of their states on the civilian side of things; they should be seen as military leaders. Machiavelli writes that, for a prince, strong \u2018arms\u2019 are just as important as strong laws, and even a prince who has no direct interaction with soldiers should make an effort to be knowledgeable about military tactics and warfare. If a prince does <\/em>have personal involvement with commanding the military, they\u2019re more able to use their personal forces as a resource and are thus more secure in their position. <\/p>\n\n\n\nHired and Borrowed Forces<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Personal Forces<\/h2>\n\n\n\n