Machiavelli Application

5. What does it mean to ‘master fortune’?

Application:  What would Machiavelli say about our all-volunteer military?

Throughout The Prince, Machiavelli dissects many of the necessary decisions a ‘prince’ or other person of power must make. A large part of this consists of military strategy to ensure that the prince can adequately protect his domain while also occupying neighboring lands should he be in a position to do so.

Machiavelli makes it clear that the composition of the military is crucial to its ability to fulfill the purposes the prince has intended for it. He introduces three kinds of militaries: one “made up of [the prince’s] own people, or of mercenaries, or of auxiliary forces” (38).  Of these, Machiavelli deems militaries of mercenaries and auxiliary forces to be “useless and dangerous,” citing that these forces are less likely to cooperate as they consist of foreigners instead of actual citizens. In this manner, it could be seen that Machiavelli would be receptive to a volunteer based army, as it would be made up of a sovereign’s actual citizens that are more inclined to be enthusiastic to participation in military pursuits. Machiavelli does caution that soldiers by having more authority compared to other citizens can create a dilemma of two opposing forces. He argues that it is “almost impossible to satisfy both the soldiers and the populace” (59).  Therefore, in a volunteer based military, people may join in order to gain power over their peers if the king does not adequately keep them in check.

Another aspect of the volunteer based military is that it does not make military participation compulsory, meaning that it is less likely to cause conflict with the populace if they are called to action. Machiavelli dictates that longevity for a prince’s power is heavily reliant on his ability to “satisfy the masses” and “avoid being hated by the people” (58). This goal contrasts with modern applications of conscription where compulsory drafting of adult males in the United States for the Vietnam War saw protests and was regarded as a relative failure for the government. Machiavelli would likely agree that if a volunteer based military is doing what it is supposed to, and is widely accepted by a prince’s subjects, then there is no reason it should be set another way.