Largest Private Armies

Private armies are military forces that consist of armed individuals who are not under a nation’s or the state’s jurisdiction. They pledge their allegiance to private people, groups or organizations. These troops are formed when a landowner wants to protect him/herself by arming his or her household. But, more often these private armies are formed in times of conflicts, when and where the central government is not powerful enough.  Soldiers who are fighting within these armies, are fighting in an exchange for some material compensation or some personal gain.

We are all aware that even though throughout most of the Earth, there is a some sort of a peace going on, there are still some areas, or zones, where conflicts and fightings are happening on a daily basis. Very often, the peace in these places is regulated by some of the largest private armies in the world. That is because, the central government of the country, that is involved in these conflicts,  wants to prevent the chance of losing its own people from the national army. Also, when the country is not militarily strong enough the government hires a private army to do the job. Examples of this type of armies date from thousands of years ago, in the times of the Roman Empire and Ancient Greece. Nowadays, we can see that the private armies are more of a business than an actual command. Although the central army of the country can benefit from these troops, there are also a lot of risks involved. Such as, how trained and efficient the hired ‘soldiers’ will be, or whether or not they will be satisfied with the payment; and of course, the desertion can be one of the many risk possibilities.