ABSTRACT

This article will explore the differing attitudes among British parliamentarians towards the use of German soldiers in 1756 and 1776. Utilising speech act theory, it will be shown that German soldiers were constructed as mercenaries in 1776 because they were being employed to fight against British subjects – the North American colonists. However, when nearly identical German soldiers were employed to fight against a French adversary in 1756, they were not constructed as mercenaries. It will be concluded that the mercenary as a figure of war is not a static, transhistorical concept with universal characteristics. Rather, the mercenary is socially constructed, and, as such, is only made possible in specific historical and socio-political contexts.

摘要

本文将探讨英国议员对 1756 年和 1776 年使用德国士兵的不同态度。利用言语行为理论，将表明德国士兵在 1776 年被建造为雇佣兵，因为他们被用来与英国臣民作战——北美殖民者。然而，当几乎相同的德国士兵在 1756 年被用来与法国对手作战时，他们并没有被建造成雇佣兵。可以得出结论，作为战争形象的雇佣军并不是一个静态的、具有普遍特征的跨历史概念。相反，雇佣兵是社会建构的，因此，只有在特定的历史和社会政治背景下才有可能。