Description

English summary: Military service for foreign sovereigns is an integral part of the history of the Swiss Confederation in the early modern period. The services were an important source of income, not only for the Cantons, but also for the soldiers involved. Mercenary service was a key element for the self-understanding of the patrician upper class, which supplied the officers. My thesis explains how the officers viewed their activity, especially during wartime, using diaries, autobiographies and letters as my source material. The swiss officers, serving mainly in France, adopted an officer mentality influenced by the values of nobility. The concept of honour was one the main elements of this mentality. The officer mentality influenced the way the Swiss thought and wrote about their war experiences. On the other hand the Swiss mercenary officers possessed their own kind of ethics which was distinguished, among other things, by a republican patriotism. Mercenary service continued to be popular among the upper class despite growing criticism in Switzerland from the second half of the 18th century onward. German description: In seinem Buch stellt Marc Hochner die Geschichte des Schweizer Soldnerwesens im 18. Jahrhundert aus dem Blickwinkel der Offiziere dar. Zu dieser Zeit war der Dienst im Ausland eine wichtige Station fur viele Manner aus der Schweizer Oberschicht. Von ihnen sind heute noch Briefe, Tagebucher und andere Schriften erhalten, in denen sie uber ihren aussergewohnlichen Beruf, uber den Schrecken des Krieges, aber auch uber Alltagliches und Banales schreiben. Dieses Buch deckt auf, wer die Manner waren, die fur fremdes Geld kampften, wovor sie Angst hatten und was sie auf dem Schlachtfeld oder im Ausland zusammenhielt.