.14-17 Century European Military Revolution And Social Transformation

In the period between the 14th century and the 17th century, a series of transforms took place in the Europe military field while such transform were absent in elsewhere. Some of the transforms have not only changed rapidly the manner and the size of the European warfare but also had far-reaching impacts in the the course of the social development of Europe. These transforms are the so-called military revolutions. There were at least 5 military revolutions during this period including the Infantry Revolution in the fourteenth century, the Artillery Revolution in the early fifteenth century, the Fortification Revolution in the early sixteenth century, the Tactical Revolution from the end of the sixteenth century to the beginning of the seventeenth century, and the Naval Warfare revolution in the sixteenth century, and so on. When we pinpoint the importance of these military revolutions we take into account not only their status in the history of military affairs. What we consider more is that their impacts in the institutions and the society have accelerated effectively the social transition of the late medieval and early modern Europe.Scholars always think that the appearing of the firearm or the naissance of the mercenary army are the main military causes of the collapse of the feudal system in the western Europe, but the processes during which the feudal nobility in England, France, Spain and other countries were tamed proved that there are defects in the traditional theory. In the fourteenth century, the infantry superseded the men-at-arms and began to dominate the battlefield of the Western Europe, this process is called the the Infantry Revolution. Since the infantry need less skill and expenditure, the rise of the infantry and the decline of the men-in-arms make it possible for the third estate to enter the army. The Revolution of the Infantry not only broke the nobility's monopoly in the military affairs but also improved the status of the third estate, it stroke the old social order of the western Europe and accelerated the collapse of the feudal system.The military revolutions are the main cause of the sharp growth of European armies during the sixteenth century and the seventeenth century.The growth of army lead to the rise of expenditure in military affairs. Although the governments of early modern Europe had adopted all kinds of expedients, they still couldn't find enough capital to meet the demand of the military affairs, because they lacked the capacity of mobilizing social resources. On the side, the growth of army and the substitute of the mercenary by the regular army challenged the administration of the states. In order to extending the exchequer and improving the administration, many European states began to reform their administration system and worked up specialization bureaucracy. So the military revolutions accelerated the rationalization of European administration system.The military revolutions broadened the interfluves between soldiers and the common people, so they made the European soldiers' manner of behavior and their idea about value present some new characteristics: the medieval knight's notion which regard pursuit of honor, individual valor and loyalty to one's lord as virtue had disappeared, what had replaced it is the new notion that regard merits as to obey the orders, to observe the disciplines, loyalty to the collectivity, team spirit, standardization and grading system. Subsequently, the soldier's manner of behavior and their idea about value that came into being mostly as a result of the military revolutions were introduced into the factories, the organs of administration, the schools and other social institutions and effectively improved the management of them. At a certain extent, this had speeded the naissance and development of the modern society in Europe.The military revolutions have increased the European navy's power to exert traffic blockage then improved the effect of the mercantilist policy. The military revolutions also expanded the size of th...