Today I learned that the British army still employs people from India and Nepal called Gurkhas

Read this

bbc.com/news/uk-12854492

It is compared to those places. Having both friends from Nepal and a friend who's an officer in the Gurkhas, those men take great pride in providing for their families, often poor farmers and such, in proving themselves as warriors - from a culture who still has a strong attachment to such notions.

Being from mountainous lands, they can't often swim, but of course modern soldiers have to be able to swim, and when in training they jump in the pool and sink to the bottom, you fish them out and they'll do it again until they get it. Thousands of them apply every year.

Plus as someone said, they gain citizenship into a nation much richer than theirs. I've seen ex ghurkahs in London as security guards in super markets, not the most amazing work but noble, they send money home to their families.

They're good men and warriors.

"In Afghanistan in 2010, Acting Sergeant Dipprasad Pun single-handedly fought off 30 Taliban soldiers. As Pun was keeping guard on the roof of a checkpoint, the attackers came at the complex from all sides with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s.

It took less than an hour for Pun to kill them all. He went through all of his ammo—400 rounds and 17 grenades, as well as a mine that detonated—to defeat each attacker. When he ran out of ammo, a Taliban soldier climbed up to the roof, only to be hit with a machine-gun tripod that Pun threw at him.

Pun's valor was rewarded with a Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, the second highest British military decoration awarded for bravery."

Apparently it is. Moreover it's definitely better than India or Nepal.

It's an age old tactic of the British to economically and politically stifle a conquered nation, then flatter the penniless vagrants of their society with a military niche that allows them to flaunt some cultural artifacts for the benefit of the British army. The Nepalese today have little going for them but British service that showers them with medals and a modest pay, and the niche of an elite, ethnic fighting force gives them high morale.

Compared to living in Nepal, it most certainly is.

Really, it's a mark of empire to know which conquered peoples produce the best soldiers and how to best incorporate them into the existing army structure. The british didn't have the worlds biggest empire for no reason.

For example, the Coldstream Guards and other Scottish units that were at first despised by the British until they were incorporated into the kingdom, given kilts and special hats, and buttered up as elites to fight hard for the crown. The Irish, Sikh, and Punjab forces that used to get the same treatment no longer do now that they're no longer completely tied to the crown for wealth and prestige.

It's posts like this that make me wish I could Upvote on Veeky Forums. You know that story is Audie Murphy tier and it never ceases to impress me no matter time I heard it.

Not him but seriously I don't know how you've never heard of the gurkhas unless you're trolling

All Empires do this really. Especially European multi-ethnic ones, who were some of the most skilled and effective Empires in human histories.

>even mentioning wanting to upvote
Why don't you return to your native lands, where you an upvote to your heart's content?

but AH really sucked at it tho

And Russians weren't much better either.

Sigh, another user so insecure they feel the need to put others down rather than discuss the topic at hand. My bias keeps me here in stead of going to the alternatives, but there's little to learned here.
Not the one you responded to.

Most empires treated these soldiers as they really were - cannon fodder. The reputation as skillful and elite developed later when suicidal behavior was increasingly rewarded, and it's really only the British that capitalized on it. Other armies mostly just adopted garb and weapons or terminology while the conquered forces were gradually absorbed.

>Why they'd want to work for Britshits baffles me. Maybe they're forced into it.
They're from a shitty country so becoming a soldier for a first world nation is a good way to make a living or even become a citizen of that country later.

Nobody needs upvoting on Veeky Forums. We can read for ourselves and decide for ourselves which posts are worth reading and which aren't.

>or even become a citizen of that country later
This is the British we're talking about. The Gurkhas are still getting shafted even now when it comes to retirement benefits.

And empires like, say, the spanish were completely inept at figuring out which conquered people would be great to have in their army. It would have been to the detriment of the philippines but the benefit of the spanish empire if that lot had put the moro people in a privileged position militarily, like the british did with warlike sultanates that came under their control.

I don't go on read it, I'm just complimenting user.

I remember reading an article from some new york writer that thought 'hey why not join the french foreign legion' and obviously did not make the cut. The folks who did make the cut, according to him, were either former military looking for a different sort of career advancement or poor people from the former french empire who saw it as the only way they could make a decent living.

>Sigh,
Yeah, you really need to head back to redd¡t.

That's because the Spanish crown was beholden to its aristocrats both native and foreign, whereas the British and other more effective European armies of the age were specifically targeting the poor - which often included the urban unemployed but also the usual ethnic minorities and conquered peoples who had little else to lose in taking the king's shilling.

The Spanish weren't trying to grow an increasingly industrialized army of massive scale, but simply keep its nobles and noble allies happy with government and military posts regardless of the actual quality of their soldiers.

It's not really about figuring out which conquered people would make great soldiers. Anyone would work. It's about brutalizing recruits from an already brutalized population with a paycheck and maybe citizenship. The British weren't too good on that last promise.

>Anyone would work
Naw the last folks you want administering your nigerian territories are igbo's, who are more liable to revolt than to just fall in line. Meanwhile, the northern hausa and fulani people were more than happy to fall in with the british empire if it meant they got to continue fucking with their old southern enemies.
>The Spanish weren't trying to grow an increasingly industrialized army of massive scale
Well you know if you're trying to build a good empire not doing that is a bit of problem innit

Igbos would work if they were summarily destroyed and economically marginalized before hand. It's what worked for the Sikhs after all.

They were pretty marginalized in the british empire compared to the northern nigerian tribes.Those northern tribes, well, after the brits bought out the Sultan there was no real reason to brutalize the northerners, since they were now willing subjects.

they're poor as fuck

user Igbo's were FAVOURED BY THE BRITISH.

Lol. The Coldstream Guards are not a Scottish reg.

Nepal is literally poorer than most of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Mississippi would seem like heaven on Earth to most of these people.

This Igboland was highly advantaged due to their presence on the coast and their domination of the local palm tree based economy. The British only gave the northern tribes autonomy, and then recruited from its poor.

The Coldstream Guards began as one. That they changed over time doesn't change the fact that they started out very differently.

>autonomy and military power within the administered territory
you lot have a very weird idea of favouritism, given how sweet a deal this is for a subject population.

It's a sweet deal for the local nobility and middle class, not the poor who make up the bulk of these recruits and who are most left out of these deals.

Didn't begin as a Scottish regiment though, what gave you that idea?

No way, wanna know what's a great deal for a poor person? getting to lord their limited power over people within even less power than themselves. Hell, that goes double for the poor recruits from the british isles proper.
And anyways, it's not as if they weren't gonna be any less poor under independent emir's than under emir's in the pay of the brits.

user, There was scottish units from the moment the union of 1707 happened. Lowlanders never wore kilts. Oldest regiment in the army was also Scottish originated. Whole reason the jacobites died out in Scotland is the exact opposite of what you describe, the economy was so great they replaced the locals in the Highlands with sheep since they made more money.
They were considered elites by some because of how hard they fought.

>Why they'd want to work for
Because they live in the worlds worst country. There is no other country with half the suffering of india. somalia, NK. much much nicer alternatives. The disease, poverty, culture, everything about the majority of india is pain. Only place where hell on earth seems truly appropriate

When you're freezing your balls off on the side of a mountain you take what you can get.

Daily reminder the Gurkhas are only badass thanks to British Training.

By themselves, the Gurkhas were only fearsome to Tibetans Lamas. Ask the Khampa people and the Chinese about them and they'll just laugh.

China wiped the floor with them. Twice

>Gurkhas
>Indian

Get off my board.

did you mean to respond to me? I just responded to OPs premise.

Surprised the term "Cuckolonialism" hasn't been posted.

This is why we have people condemning the insanity of the left.

People like you actually take seriously.

The actual answer has been hinted at, but overwhelmed in favour of "lol they just want money".

It's a huge boost in status for any Nepali. It's the kind of thing kids do because their fathers did it because *their* fathers did it. It's the kind of thing -- you know renaissance Europe? When middle and even lower-class faggots would join the army to make a name for themselves? Well to the Nepali, that's what the Gurkhas are.

Gurkhas didn't used to be paid well at all. They couldn't be, because legally Britain had to match what the Indians paid their Gurkhas (to discourage all the Gurkhas joining the Brits instead of the Indians). But the Gurkhas still signed up.

But yeah, immigration &c. is still a big deal. I know two ex-Gurkhas who moved here (UK) and set up their family in middle-class comfort.

>centuries
2 centuries nigel.

>Why they'd want to work for Britshits baffles me

It's almost like they have a shit quality of life at home and the pay from the army plus an opportunity citizenship is like a dream come true.

I know everyone on Veeky Forums likes to join in on the "Britain is shit" meme but many people like this would kill for a chance to live in Britain or at the very least, come home with wages that are far FAR better that anything they can get at home.

You have the option to either

1. Work on the family farm in shitty conditions for the rest of your life earning the equivalent of like £500 a year and being perma-poor

or

2. Joining the British Army and getting a starting wage of at least £20,000 a year

What would you choose?

Look up Nepal, the place is poor as fuck. Obviously the thought of joining the army may not be tempting for somebody who lives in a first world country but to these people it's completely different.

Probably because you're stupid

Best line of that whole thing for me is
>It took less than an hour for Pun to kill them all.
Its like the impressive thing is not that he killed them all, but that it took less than an hour.

Ehh Cossacks were pretty effective examples of this. "We have steppe horsemen who attack our tax collectors, and raid the villages."
"What if they were the Tax collectors guards?"

Holy fuck why has this board become so anti British? They actually want to join its a great opportunity for them and they have proven to be very loyal and effective soldiers..

They get a British Army pension too so it effectively sets them and there family up for life, even if they are killed their family gets a pay out.