¿revolución militar o devolución militar? Cambio y continuidad en la edad moderna military

Abstract

This article seeks to take issue with the historical paradigm of military development in the early modern period as a state-directed process linked to ideas of centralization and bureaucratic control. Although the widespread deployment of mercenaries and the support and supply of armies and navies via private contracting has been noted by historians, their significance as viable and predominant mechanisms for deploying military force have not been properly examined. By exploring the development of all aspects of warfare waged through private contracting from the later Sixteenth Century onwards, it will be argued both that this style of warfare was not some anomaly, undertaken by weak or irresponsible rulers, but a logical means to deploy resources in the context of the limitations of early modern governments and of their dependence on the resources and cooperation of elites. © Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca.