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TWiesengrund t1_j7aodg4 wrote on February 5, 2023 at 10:56 AM

Reply to comment by geetarzrkool in TIL a sultan of Morocco, Isma‘il ibn Sharif, owned a private army called "The Black Guard" comprised of West African and Haratin slave-soldiers. Considered more loyal than the locals because of their lack of tribal affiliation, Isma‘il's black soldiers formed the bulk of his army, numbering at 150k. by delano1998

Russian peasants in 1917 really didn't have much choice when it came to "loyalty" to the person that owned them, did they?

Note: I know serfdom was abolished by then for a long time but practical servitude still existed on a massive scale.