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I'm looking for examples of countries that have armed prisoners and sent them to war? Were the prisoners coerced, or were they offered amnesty should they survive?

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I'm not sure what "often" would mean here, or how to define it. – Mark C. Wallace Oct 15 '12 at 14:08
Mark C. Wallace, I am actually asking for notable examples, so that I an look them up. If you can edit the heading, go on! – Vorac Oct 16 '12 at 7:32

5 Answers

up vote 7 down vote accepted

I believe that often is subjective.
Here are some examples from World War II:

  • Strafbattalions in Nazi Germany created from prisoners
  • Dirlewanger Brigade in Nazi Germany was originally formed for anti-partisan actions, but took part in war battles later
  • Shtrafbats in Soviet Union were created mostly from courted privates and officers or Red Army.

The Wikipedia article on Penal military units has links on other examples

In Soviet Union soldiers and officers convicted in cowardice or/and common crimes were sent (forced to go) to penal unit. So, shtrafbats became the prison replacement for this categories of people. There was also a possibility to achieve amnesty through outstanding military service, though no amnesty was guaranteed.
I have no information about amnesty for Nazi soldiers.

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I think amnesty was guaranteed if a person was wounded. For regular criminals a month in penal unit counted as a year in prison. – Anixx Sep 23 '12 at 3:43
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@Anixx, it's interesting. Could you provide some links? – default locale Sep 24 '12 at 3:35
do mind that the regime in the penal units was harsh enough they were unlikely to survive a month, effectively they were forced into battle as cannonfodder, the rifles and bayonets of their guards and political officers in their backs. Any who was too slow, seemed to falter, or dared to turn back in a hopeless situation was killed. So there were no wounded... – jwenting Mar 4 at 13:57
@jwenting I assume it's an answer for Anixx's comment. I have to say that I agree that regime in penal units was extremely harsh and mortality rate (is it a suitable term?) was very high. But considering shtrafbats, I found references in support of amnesty for hospitalized soldiers. I don't have any statistic on number of such occasions, though (at least one example from quick google search). Also, "wounded" and "turning back in hopeless situations" are different categories. – default locale Mar 4 at 15:01
@defaultlocale not really. If you had an arm shot off you were supposed to press on even if you died, rather than call for a medic to be evacuated... Maybe if you survived to the end of an action and were wounded, yes you might get pardoned or transferred to rear area duties. – jwenting Mar 5 at 11:10
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up vote 5 down vote

"Prisoners" fall into two categories. The first is military men court-martialed for cowardice, or other offenses, that are given a chance to redeem themselves. The second is criminals sent to war.

The first kind of prisoners were quite common particularly in totalitarian societies such as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union (e.g. in World War II).

The second type was less common, but used from time to time. By definition, criminals are aggressive people suited to war, and who need a chance to redeem themselves.

Sometimes the "amnesty" was offered before the criminals were caught. The British (and other countries) did this in the 17th and 18th century with pirates. Provided that they agreed not to attack ships of their own country, such people were given letters of pardon that immunized them from punishment for attacking the ships of OTHER countries. That process turned "pirates" into "privateers."

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+1 for categorization. But criminals are aggressive people suited to war line sounds weird for me. Regular army assumes discipline and organization. I think personal aggressiveness is a negative factor here. – default locale Sep 21 '12 at 13:43
I believe the British Navy in the early 1800's was comprised of some men who were convicts, not sure about the land armies under Wellington but I recall some historical novels that often referred to men who might have gone to jail but went to serve. – MichaelF Sep 21 '12 at 17:01
How number of court-materialed soldiers corresponds to totalitarity of state? I think it only corresponds to the magnitude of hostilities. -1 – Anixx Sep 23 '12 at 3:39
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Concur that criminals are not by definition aggressive people suited to war. None of the clauses in that sentence are defensible. War demands disciple more than aggression, and "criminal" can include people whose behavior or opinions differ from that of the local government. (Are Nelson Mandela, Ghandi or Martin Luther King intrinsically excellent warriors merely because they were convicted?). Nor do they automatically need redemption. Rest of the answer is excellent. – Mark C. Wallace Oct 15 '12 at 14:08
+1, default locale, you can see a good example how it worked at "The Dirty Dozen" movie. :) – Darek Wędrychowski Mar 4 at 12:33
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up vote 3 down vote

In ancient times some states would in times of extreme adversity arm their slaves and promise hem freedom if they acquitted themselves well in the fight.

For example:

However by the time of the Achaean war in the 140s BC, the League's army had decreased in strength and efficiency. The League was even reduced to freeing and arming 12,000 slaves.

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the Confederacy during the US civil war did the same thing. – jwenting Mar 4 at 13:59
up vote 3 down vote

The French Foreign Legion was originally a fighting force made up of criminals and other undesirables.

The purpose of the Foreign Legion was to remove disruptive elements from society and put them to use fighting the enemies of France. Recruits included failed revolutionaries from the rest of Europe, soldiers from the disbanded Swiss and German mercenary regiments of the Bourbon monarchy, and troublemakers in general, both foreign and French.

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yes, but they weren't convicts (unless an escaped prisoner were to apply, in which case the Legion Estranger will not care, they don't ask for your history or even proof of identity on enlistment, or didn't use to, it may have changed). – jwenting Mar 5 at 11:12
up vote 1 down vote

I know it has been common practice in the USA in the past to send convicted criminals to serve in the military in time of war in lieu of jail or some other kind of community service.

During the unit self-intro bit at the beginning of Stripes, I believe at least one recruit had been sent by a judge. That is high fiction of course, but I know of a least one reference in non-fiction: In the opening chapters of Hill 488 Ray Hildreth relates being given a choice of jail or military service after some "youthful indiscretions"

This is cheifly something that was done back when there was a draft (and thus men of fighting age would have been at a premium), not something done today with the USA's all-volunteer armed forces. So the reference in Stripes was probably an anachronisim. Today the USA armed forces generally do not even accept convicted (violent) felons.

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BTW: Hill 488 is a whale of a read. Sort of like Rorke's Drift in Vietnam. – T.E.D.♦ Sep 21 '12 at 14:08
I don't know how common it is or was in the US, but I remember during MEPS being asked a question along the lines of: Did a judge order you to join the service? I want to say it was on one of the forms I had to fill out but it could have just been something I was asked. It made me think that joining the service instead of being sentenced for a crime is/was fairly common at one point in time. – stoj Oct 14 '12 at 3:52
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they were not prisoners. For specific non-violent crimes people'd be offered the choice of prison or enlistment in the armed forces. – jwenting Mar 4 at 13:58

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