Organisation
Supremacy at sea: finance, aggression and national commitment.
Trafalgar -The Penultimate Naval Victory. In the last analysis Britannia came to rule the waves because the British navy was better financed than any of its rivals. Once disagreements with the Crown were overcome and a productive taxation and borrowing system established, Parliament never stinted on the navy because the whole country was convinced that national survival depended on it.…
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LANDSKNECHTE
Landsknechte. “Companions of the country.” French: “lansquenets.” Mercenary infantry originally formed in the late 15th century from petty war bands (“Knabenschaften”) of wild youths. These were unemployed older apprentices overflowing from the highly restrictive Guilds, or other surplus young males produced by a time of demographic expansion. Such “lads” (“Knechte”)…
The Pomest’e System
Ivan III began the process of asserting centralized authority over the army. Before his reorganization, the armies available to the grand prince directly reflected the political character of the Russian lands. Each ruling prince, as well as some of the prominent boyars, maintained his own military retinue. This arrangement enabled…