An imperial military

Would it be at all realistic for an empire to use people it has conquered in its armies? Basically, I want a benevolent/grey Space Empire to include multiple races. But would it make sense for an empire to use people it has conquered as soldiers? Would those people even want to fight? I guess an empire could force them, but you can only boss around people with heavy guns so much.

Ultimately, I suppose this is a question of political reliability - and the answer might surprise you!

To use the example I'm most familiar with, Poland really hated the Soviets. Poland was also pretty well equipped so far as Warsaw Pact forces were concerned. And yet despite this, NATO analysts believed that Poland would willingly fight for the USSR, at least so long as the Soviets ensured that Polish units didn't fight NATO units of certain nationalities, such as (for example) British units. I think that this is particularly pertinent considering that we're dealing with two polities (your space empire and the USSR) that have satellite states (your various aliens and Poland) which would have every reason to despise them. And yet they can be relied upon!

I believe that native tribes were increasingly relied upon by the late Roman Empire as well.

At any rate, I can foresee a couple of options for ensuring political reliability:

1. Ensure that the aliens have a reason to buy into your empire's ethos and have a stake in its continued existence. To use a silly example, if you're giving a group of starving people okay food when no-one else will (or is able to), they'll be much more willing to fight other people to protect your great food.

2. Attach political officers to such units in order to monitor them for any sign of dissent. Keep in mind, however, that this can bring its own problems - for example, the political officer attached to a unit might decide he or she knows better than the commanding officer and overrule them to carry out his/her plan (with potentially disastrous results).

This is just a springboard to get you thinking, but I hope it's helpful!

edited 29th May '15 3:40:57 PM by Flanker66

Quite a few militaries did this. Alexander and Rome stand out in particular. What you need to do is offer them something in return. The more valuable the reward, the more loyal the soldiers. You could have it as part of the terms of surrender.

Which brings me to another matter.Always negociate for surrender. If you sack their towns and enslave their people, it doesn't matter what you offer. They're going to hate you for generations.

edited 29th May '15 4:31:47 PM by Belisaurius

The British Empire did use local troops like that. One particular classification system created for use in Indian sub-continent labeled certain groups as "Martial Races". Basically any group that had a history of conflict, hunting, tradition of loyalty, and hardiness. They often were at odds with other groups in the areas of interest something the British leveraged to their advantage. The British Empire heavily recruited from these groups. This includes the famous Gurkhas and other groups known for their historical military skills like the Rajput. The policy was based on the belief that everything that made for good soldiers was inherited.

Groups that were too soft or known to be rebellious were often excluded. A few of the groups considered Martial Races were removed from the list after they rebelled.

Military service could be a way for conquered races to earn citizenship.

Such auxiliary forces could also be composed of a formerly oppressed group. They wouldn't have any loyalty to their former masters and they'd likely show at least some gratitude towards the empire that made them slightly more free...

Also you can put the auxiliaries with position of power in the conquered group, therefore having Allies who can add more manpower and the same time kept the conquered race/nation in control

Have the propaganda depict the empire as defending these newly conquered nations. "You were weak before we came. Now you are made strong by our hands. Enlist and protect your families with your benevolent overlords at your back, and nobody will even look funny at you guys ever again."

Also using troops from conquered Region A to police and patrol conquered region B. It means that the locals from region B will identify people from region A as part of the conquerors and thus enemies, rather than as potential allies against an imperial oppressor.

Have some more potential tricks to take from the Soviet playbook - but keep in mind that they may not necessarily be optimal. They're merely meant to represent possible ways of keeping potentially unreliable troops in line.

• Give your aliens slightly downgraded weapons, vehicles, and ammunition (if applicable). It might not be enough to tell against most opponents, but if they should ever try to take a crack at their benefactors, then they'll get steamrolled by their superior equipment - or so the theory goes, anyway.
• Have forces ready to swoop in and "stabilise" the aliens' system(s) if they should try to rebel or secede. It'll probably attract international opprobrium, but as long as you can present it as a fait accompli or it would be too costly for other powers to intervene you should be okay.

Your empire might want to deploy its alien auxiliaries against their traditional enemies, so to them it's less, "Go off and fight for empire and despotism," than "We're going to help you crush these guys."

Though it could be difficult to integrate those guys after they've been beaten my their most hated enemies.

edited 31st May '15 4:51:55 AM by PixelatedVolume

Generally, I'd feel either the conquered/absorbed/annexed guys would either be straight-up rebellious/seditious/whatever, thus making them u suitable; neutral, thus making it possible to convince them of your side; or agreeable (the majority said yes to your maybe-peaceful conquering), thus making them handy auxiliaries and/or line troops.

As for the angry mob... really, there's no way to utilize them. They're too P.O.ed at the empire.

The neutrals or apathetic? Possibly. My general rule on this is to only use them to defend their home territory/planet and generally avoid moving them elsewhere; thus, they're still fighting for the sake of their home, just under a new flag.

The friendlies? Again, possiblykeep them at home, but that may not be necessary here. Sometimes, these can just be treated like qny other imperial world, and recruited from normally.

Actually, that could work out in the empire's favor. The british empire kept its native regiments segregated by ethnicity and religion, and many of those groups had cordially loathed (and frequently raided) each other for centuries. It worked because each distinct group trusted the empire more than it trusted the other native forces. If any of them looked like they were about to rebel, the others could be counted on to cheerfully put them down.

Of course, the whole thing broke down during the Sepoy Mutiny in India, when the british managed to simultaneously piss off both hindus and muslims to the point where they were willing to put aside their differences. Quite by accident, too...

What does anyone here think of my concept for my Infinite Stratos fanfic Senjou no Kodoku na Shounen (The Lone Wolf of the Battlefield):

The Japanese Foreign Forces (Nihon Gaigoku-gun) are the newly organized armed forces of Japan, aside from the Japanese Defense Forces (Nihon Boei-gun), which were formed from what remained of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (Nihon Jietai) after the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands War. Their roles function from guarding foreign offices (embassies and consulates) to being deployed abroad, if said foreign offices are attacked. They receive their orders from the Emperor of Japan, and the Emperor of Japan only, with the Prime Minister relaying the orders to its Supreme Commander. True to its name, most of its strength comes from many immigrants coming to Japan for work easily due to the Reconstruction Party's immigration and foreign labor reforms, with an example being a battalion full of Chechens, who can deployed to any country having relations with Japan, like say, the United States.

really not the right place for this

I was just asking for opinions.

And there's nothing wrong with that but unless you're story includes adding foreign military forces to your own you're posting on the wrong thread and unless you need help with the setting of your story you may want to try the fanfiction sub-forum instead.

Very well then, I'll cut to the chase: If you're going to send foreign troops to guard an embassy, how large should the contingent be?

Depends on how big it is, how important it is, and how twitchy the locals are. If France housed an entire regiment in embassy row the US would probably take issue with that. Not that we could do anything about that since an embassy is officially foreign soil.

Generally speaking, a platoon is enough to garrison a building and anything more than a company would be enough to warrant some kind of deterrent.

Thanks

Hallow: It really depends on the size of grounds and how much security you need. Same for a building. Number of rooms and how big the building takes up is usually the determining factor for how many personnel you need for a building.