Preferred Name
Decklan Wilkerson
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9111-3820
Date of Graduation
12-14-2024
Semester of Graduation
Fall
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Department of History
First Advisor
Johnathan Jones
Abstract
Privateers were quite active between 1765 and 1815. While past scholarship has discussed the importance of the privateer, few works have ever tried to analyze them with newer lenses in military theory. Two such lenses are that of Hybrid Warfare and Grey Zone. This work seeks to do precisely that, leveraging new ideas to analyze the position of privateers as an unconventional force that could impact conventional areas of war and diplomacy.
To accomplish this, a particular deviation from normative sourcing will be utilized when discussing privateering. While typical individual analysis and grander monetary damage sources will be used, this work utilizes quantitative estimation based on centralized sources for specific goods brought in by privateers. Additionally, when utilizing the individual account sourcing so common in the field, there will be light usage of critical fabulation to make certain accounts feel fresh without deviating from or adding any account-altering facts. Finally, to compare hybrid strategies that are unconsciously replicated by the mass usage of privateers, the Eastern theory of guerrilla warfare will be utilized due to its natural hybridity.
By bringing together a plethora of sources and new lenses in military theory, it becomes apparent that a unique form of warfare was once practiced, with the years between 1765 and 1815 being a notable period of its usage. This warfare centered around the mass usage of privateers, combatants who were between the realm of black flag pirates and naval sailors flying their nation’s colors. First, Grey Flag Warfare had unique characteristics, such as how it allowed for the full utilization of criminal skills some manpower pools had. Second, due to being heavily decentralized and having powerful effects on enemy logistics, it both benefitted from and was a benefit to conventional forces. Second, it could be waged during both wartime and peacetime, straddling the gray zone between peace and war. Third, it presented opportunities for the areas of both espionage and diplomacy. Finally, aspects of this style of warfare still exist today and are carried out by the modern privateer: Hackers.
