What do we exactly mean when we are talking about the military during the Early Modern period?

When looking at the early modern period (c. 1500c. 1800), we often speak of "the military" or "the army". But what exactly do we mean when using these terms? The forms and structures of the armed forces have not only changed between 1500 and 1800, but also varied throughout different regions of the world and even within Europe. The contributors to this volume examine twelve early modern examples of armed forces in the Holy Roman Empire, Western and Eastern Europe, Eastern Asia and North America and paint a multifarious and even disparate picture during this period. The findings suggest that modern notions of the armed forces common in the early modern period should be used more prudently to avoid prevalent implications of non-existing continuity and uniformity.

Autorentext
Ronald G. Asch ist Professor für Neuere Geschichte an der Universität Freiburg. Martin P. Schennach ist Professor für Rechtsgeschichte am Institut für Römisches Recht und Rechtsgeschichte der Universität Innsbruck, Mitglied des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung. Carmen Winkel ist Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Lehrstuhl für Militärgeschichte der Universität Potsdam. Seit 2008 arbeitet sie als DFG-Stipendiatin an ihrer Dissertation zum Thema »Netzwerke und Patronage im preußischen Offizierkorps des 18. Jahrhunderts«.

Prof. Dr. Marian Füssel hat den Lehrstuhl für Frühe Neuzeit unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Wissensgeschichte an der Universität Göttingen inne.

Prof. Dr. Marian Füssel hat den Lehrstuhl für Frühe Neuzeit unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Wissensgeschichte an der Universität Göttingen inne. Dr. Markus Meumann studierte Mittlere und Neuere Geschichte in Göttingen und Caen, Frankreich. Seit 2017 ist er Wissenschaftlicher Geschäftsführer des Forschungszentrums Gotha der Universität Erfurt. Andrea Pühringer, Dr phil., is also a member of the »Arbeitskreis«. She held lectureships at the Universities of Vienna, Marburg, Kassel and Venice, Italy, and is now a freelance historian with a focus on earlymodern social, economic and cultural history.

Klappentext

When looking at the Early Modern period (16th to the late 18th century), we often speak of "the military" or "the army", but do we know what exactly these terms mean? The forms and structures of the armed forces have not only changed between 1500 and 1800, but also varied throughout different regions of the world and even within Europe. The contributors to this volume examine 12 Early Modern examples of armed forces in the Holy Roman Empire, Western and Eastern Europe, Eastern Asia and North America and paint a multifarious and even disparate picture during this period. The findings suggest that modern notions of the armed forces common in the Early Modern period should be used more prudently to avoid prevalent implications of non-existing continuity and uniformity.