“Fortune’s Soldiers: The Business of War in Europe from the Italian Wars to the War in Ukraine “
Michael Martoccio
Assistant Professor of History
UW-Madison
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
3:30-4:45 (Senior Auditor Dinner from 4:45-5:30)
Curti Lounge, Rm 5233 Mosse Humanities
Since the dawn of the 21st century, nations at war have increasingly turned away from citizen armies and towards paid soldiers. Blackwater, Wagner, Sandline: the names of private military contractors are familiar to many of us. The historical origins of military contractors and the business of war more generally is less well understood. This talk thus approaches war business from a long historical perspective, centering in particular on the many ways war business became entangled with the emergence of capitalism and international commerce from the 17th to the 19th centuries.