These four white mercenaries were captured aiding the rebels during a failed coup to oust a legitimate government in modern day Equatorial Africa.
What prompted these four to intrude into the internal affairs of another nation? Was it a sense of adventure, boredom with their civilian lives or just pure greed for money?
Once they were proud, dedicated members of an elite fighting team within their country's military; now they are prisoners of the government they sought to overthrow. What will become of them?
Not so long ago, they would have been brutally dealt with. However, with the introduction of slavery in Africa, they are a valuable resource and their lives will be spared. Instead of being cruelly tortured and brutally executed, they will be sold as slaves forever doomed to labour in rebuilding the emerging economies of a self-confident "New Africa".
As they toil naked in the fields of their new black masters and sweat and groan under the whips of their overseers, no doubt they will regret their decision to fight for money and not for principle.
The words "dogs of war" are from a phrase spoken by Mark Anthony - "Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war."- in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
More recently, it was also the title of a novel by Frederick Forsyth about mercenaries fighting in Africa.
Photo sourced from the internet: the text is mine.
Wonderful idea, Chris !
ReplyDeleteWhite mercenaries, mainly arriving from Europe –especially from Russia and Eastern Europe- and (in a minor amount) from the Americas, have been a common and quite numerous reality in Africa for at least 70 years, i.e. since the starting of the first revolts for African independence and post-colonial wars.
In some cases –e.g. in the British and French colonies of Central and Western Africa- white mercenaries were mainly engaged and paid by wealthy European colonists and landowners, as a sort of “private Armies” against black native guerrillas in addition to the official National Armies, for the defence of their properties as well as of their lives.
In other African wars, where the strength and effectiveness of the European National Army was less “effective” and powerful for various reasons …… e.g. in the chaotic independence war in Belgian Congo (now Zaire) in the ‘960’s or in the revolts against Portugal in Mozambique and Angola in the ‘970’s- mercenaries were often even used and engaged by European authorities, in parallel with the national Armies.
Last but not least, very frequently, white European mercenaries were also hired and used against local guerrillas by the new African rulers, in the many civil wars that burst after the independence of several freshly independent African Countries.
In all cases, journalistic reports unanimously say that all these white mercenaries were always extremely hated by African populations, even when, more recently, they were actually fighting against black African guerrillas however for the defence of black African rulers.
Barbaric tortures to the death were the usual destiny of all these white mercenaries when captured by black fighters; and in several cases gruesome journalistic reports tell of public tortures, lasting for days, and in which a whole African village was invited to participate, men and women, old and young people …. even kids !
Certainly the sale into slavery of these captured white mercenaries …… e.g. to one of the many international Organization of the “White Slaves’ Trade” …… is a much more humanitarian destiny for POW’s that should be saluted as a great progress in the civil progression of new Africa !
Karel
I have to say, I really love your subject matter. There's a sense of ironic justice. Of course, I especially like your Arabic world themed stuff. Keep it up! (BTW, being Irish, kudos to you for knowing about the corsair raid on Baltimore, Cork!)
ReplyDeleteRossCo you are right in recalling the raid of Northern African Barbary Pirates in Ireland in 1631 that deserted the town of Baltimore in West Cork.
ReplyDeleteAllow me to recall also that just four years earlier, in 1627, the same Arab and African corsairs had raided twice in the same year, even the coasts of the extremely far and secluded Iceland, dragging to the Slave Markets of Northern Africa a much higher number of white captives, most likely between 900 and 1000.
In their craving for precious white slaves, the Barbary corsairs did not limit themselves to raid the coasts of the Mediterranean countries, as they had started to do since the 8th century AD; but they did not fear also to face the very dangerous waters of the Atlantic Ocean even in extremely long voyages for attacking and plundering e.g. the coasts of England and Ireland, of Northern France and of Denmark, of Northern Germany and Scandinavia, up, as I said, even to Iceland.
The powerful "push" for this were the very valuable Christian slaves of Northern Europe, those rare "exotic animals" with blond hair and blue eyes that were hugely valued and priced in all the Arab Slave markets, from Northern Africa to the Middle East and the Arabic peninsula.
Karel