Fremen Mirage

Laconic: “Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And weak men create hard times.”

"The basic outline of this pop theory of history: that a lack of wealth and sophistication leads to moral purity, which in turn leads to military prowess, which consequently produces a cycle of history wherein rich and decadent societies are forever being overthrown by poor, but hardy ‘Fremen’ who then become rich and decadent in their turn."

- Bret Devereaux, PhD

There are six parts to the idea of the Fremen, taken from Dune as a pure example of the trope:
 * 1) They are unsophisticated and poor, and do not value material wealth
 * 2) They are morally pure, in such a way that their manly virtue makes martial prowess
 * 3) They are ruthless and clever
 * 4) They are superior fighters due to living in harsh conditions
 * 5) There is a basis for the difference.  Classical basis: environment; modern basis: genetics and ethnic purity
 * 6) They are a contrast to the softer, decadent, effeminate societies around them.

Note that history has never actually supported these societies actually being stronger than civilized rivals, despite the fact the trope keeps recurring. State power has almost always rebuffed warlike tribes from any real gains of the richer territories controlled by states. However, because horse nomads often came from crappier places, they were beyond the state's reach, and thus got an large number of at-bats, and even succeeded occasionally.

The only truly successful warlike tribe to beat back several states were the Mongols -- but they didn't succeed because of their virtue. It was because their survival skill of Horse Archery happened to be a highly effective military strategy, providing a highly mobile army that didn't need long supply lines -- just pasture. Thus the mirage -- despite millennia of people advocating this trope as reality, it never seems to have existed in real life. Though the tropes appear in histories, they are de facto fictions, with facts assumed to make the author's point about culture. The article that named the trope has an novella-length argument, if you don't believe us.

This is something of a Culture as Device, allowing a writer to make an enemy look dangerous and uncivilized, while at the same time allowing the author to complain about the parts of society that he doesn't like -- particularly excesses of "kids these days." The trope has also been used to heighten the accomplishment of any military success against another culture, both in fiction and in reality.

Highly related to Barbarian Tribe and Proud Warrior Race Guy. Some overlap with Noble Savage, if the author wants to play up the moral superiority of the Fremen as a source of their strength. Many Fremen were Born in the Saddle, and ride with the Hordes From the East.

History
"This Artayctes who suffered death by crucifixion had an ancestor named Atrembares; and he it was who made the Persians a proposal, which they readily accepted and passed on to Cyrus. 'Since,' they said, 'Zeus has given empire to the Persians, and among individuals to you, Cyrus, by your conquest of Astyages, let us leave this small and barren country of ours and take possession of a better. There are plenty to choose from - some near, some further off; if we take one of them, we shall be admired more than ever.  It is the natural thing for a sovereign people to do; and when will there be a better opportunity than now, when we are masters of many nations and all Asia?' Cyrus did not think much of this suggestion; he replied that they might act upon it if they pleased, but added the warning that, if they did so, they must prepare themselves to rule no longer, but to be ruled by others. 'Soft countries,' he said, 'breed soft men. It is not the property of any one soil to produce fine fruits and good soldiers too.' The Persians had to admit that this was true and that Cyrus was wiser than they; so they left him, and chose rather to live in a rugged land and rule than to cultivate rich plains and be slaves to others."
 * Tacitus just making shit up about people in Germania as a way of lamenting how kids these days were making Rome weak -- at what was essentially the Golden Age of the Roman Empire.
 * Julius Caesar on his reports of his enemies in Gaul played up how fearsome the next enemy was, based on their unique barbarian culture. Right before he went and creamed them with a larger army, thus proving how awesome he was.  The power levels of the next Gauls just kept increasing, as did the use of this trope.
 * Later people reading Tacitus, and his crediting of martial strength to the blood purity of the German people (even after centuries of conquests and intermarriage!) used this trope as a way of adding to the strength of the modern German state. See also Those Wacky Nazis.
 * This is a very old trope, Herodotus ends book nine of The Histories with something similar, written circa 415 BCE:

Literature

 * Dune, of course, with its Fremen who take on decadent space empires.
 * A Song of Ice and Fire, where the author claims that the Dothraki are based on steppe warriors and Native Americans, but are in fact based on tropes about these tribes and not the real people. And, of course, the society is a bunch of strong, violent Fremen who manage to be even more rapey than your average culture in Westeros or Essos.