The Fiscal Military State (1) absolute monarchy and service states

Question 1

In Spain, why is the argument of linking war with state development weakened?

Answer 1

The military revolution did not promote the permanent establishment of a powerful, centralised state

Question 2

From the start of the sixteenth century to the middle of the seventeenth, how much did the Spanish Treasury Expand?

Answer 2

At least twenty four fold

Question 3

What were the three components of Spain’s expenditure?

Answer 3

1.the ordinary budget for the military and naval establishment within the Spanish theatre
2.extraordinary military expenditures within Spain, war became a permanent element of life.
3.3. money sent abroad from Spain to help pay for the wars in the Low Countries, France, Italy and Germany.

Question 4

Describe how fortification affected the costs of war in Spain:

Answer 4

The fortifications were no means outside the financial capacity of individual provinces, cities and lords.
Fortification construction was fairly modest in Spain
Not only paid by crown, but also appeared in government budgets

Question 5

Describe how Artillery affected the costs of war in Spain:

Answer 5

i. demand not only in military rev but also naval rev
ii. Gunpowder assignments only attributed to around 3 1/2 percent of the total capital of the Crown debt at that time.
iii. rose substantially between the mid sixteenth and the early seventeenth centuries, however,
the entire annual expenditure on the artillery account hardly ever represented more than about 4 or 5 percent of Castile’s total domestic military budget.

Question 6

Describe how tactical changes affected the costs of war in Spain:

Answer 6

Saved money from decline in cavalry, making possible a considerable overall increase in army size.
The fall in the number of pikemen was matched after about 1570 by a rising proportion of highly-paid musketeers, from 10 percent initially to over 30 percent i n the 1690s.

Question 7

Why was manpower the most costly element of the Spanish Army?

Answer 7

The burden of manpower in pay and provisions was overwhelming.
Even in the fleets, the pay and rations of the personnel amounted to some 80 percent of total running costs.

Question 8

What does Parker argue about Spanish manpower and inflation?

Answer 8

5X as much to put a soldier in the field in the 1630s as it had in the 1530st
it seems that much the most important factor in that increase was not the Military Revolution but monetary inflation.

Question 9

Why does Spain struggle with its empire during the period of military revolution?

Answer 9

Because of its composite nature
1. each Spanish realm retained its own freedoms and laws, administrative and governance arrangements, different monetary systems and borders.
2. The differing tax arrangements led to a reliance on the revenues from the Kingdom of Castile as opposed to other areas of Spain

Question 10

Describe the economic failures of Spain according to Thomson

Answer 10

There was the idea that Spain could not sustain their own military ambitions; Philip II borrowed heavily and so did his successors, but they failed to repay this debt, thus the bankruptcy of the crown inevitably resulted in the failure of her military ambitions.
Spain was unable to develop a fiscal system capable of maintaining the necessary levels of military spending demanded by its strategic position, thus becoming self-destructive

Question 11

What was the problem with Spanish finance after 1576?

Answer 11

financing needs progressively shifted to the colonies as from 1763, the conscious deviation of expenditure to the Americans meant a significant reduction of the money that should have been spent in Spain.

Question 12

During the American Civil War, compare the English expenditure to the Spanish Expenditure?

Answer 12

Spain fell well behind England’s expenditure capacity after the American War of Independence

Question 13

What does Sanchez claim is the greatest weakness of the Spanish state

Answer 13

the need of ‘economising’, that is, to save as much as possible and to avoid running up any deficit

Question 14

What quote does Sanchez say about Spain’s economising

Answer 14

‘the desire and possibility of balancing the books and thus avoiding the dreaded deficit ran counter to the development of a true fiscal-military state’.

Question 15

Why was England’s military finances more effective than Spain?

Answer 15

Great Britain showed a firm determination to build up and maintain a public debt system as the main means of financing this state and its main priority
Great Britain devoted 38% of its public spending to nursing this debt; Spain never even clocked up 9%.

Question 16

Why were new Mercenary Officers needed in Russia?

Answer 16

Due to the embrace of the military revolution, such as tactical innovation and new weapons, this demanded more authority and training

Question 17

What did Patrick Gordens observe about the Russian Military Culture?

Answer 17

It was dominated by the state and the aristocratic elites

Question 18

give an example of the growth in the Russian Army

Answer 18

1654: 55 000
1663: over 90 000

Question 19

In Russian context, what does ‘Modernisation’ mean

Answer 19

‘traditional societies’ develop from ‘modern socities’
Russia was seen as inferior to European states

Question 20

What quote does Reger say about westernisation and mercenary officers?

Answer 20

Notions of ‘westernisation’ through European Mercenary Officers were seen as the necessary evil in the face of threats’ for European armies who were better trained and organised.

Question 21

Why did Russia become more Europe-Like?

Answer 21

To compete with stronger and more organised European armies

Question 22

Name the three stages of military innovation in Russia

Answer 22

1. The Artillery Stage: by the sixteenth century Russia’s military accomplishments rested in large measure on its artillery
2. The hand-held firearm stage: they began to embrace lighter, more efficient muskets.
3. Foreign Mercenary Officers: mercenaries became increasingly central to military development in seventeenth century Russia.

Question 23

Give an example of how mercenary officers in Russia helped their success in 1605

Answer 23

1605 Battle of Dobrinich; Russia victorious over the poles, they used fire volley

Question 24

During the thirteen years war, what was the relationship between mercenary officers and the Russian state?

Answer 24

the mercenary officers relied on the ability of the state to provide their regiments with men, guns, supplies and money in a timely fashion.

the state relied upon the officers to know their business and train and command soldiers drawn from the lower and middle-service classes and the peasantry.

Question 25

What did Peter the Great’s reforms encourage in Russia

Answer 25

Modernisation and Europisation

Question 26

Name four criticism of Peter the Great’s reforms

Answer 26

1 .The new recruiting system launched in 1705, failed to deliver a reasonably predictable number of recruits until the 1720s, and looked a-lot like conscription
2.- The military reforms has social consequences, with the reforms effectively limited the ability of Russian society to modernize and transform itself.
3. hungry and unpaid soldiers deserted the ranks during the Northern War.
4.The expense of maintaining and army and a navy led to the imposition of the soul tax, which cost the peasants dearly.

Question 27

What was the Soul Tax in Russia

Answer 27

A tax that all males (except the clergy and nobility) had to pay.
The peasant thus became a mere item on the tax roll who could be moved, sold, or exchanged according to the needs and whims of his master

Question 28

Name 3 support/successes for Peter the Great’s reforms

Answer 28

1. his personal efforts to coordinate military reforms had increasingly broad impact.
   2.New battlefield performance and professionalism, greater tactical maneuverability, and very gradually more central coordination were some of the results.
2. some elements of the Russian army had real combat experience by 1708 and 1709, the years of its great victories over Sweden. Experienced veterans made up for the failures of the formal training system.
3. the reforms allowed for a gain in diplomacy.

Question 29

What the problem with Peter the Great’s reforms and the Ottomans?

Answer 29

in 1710, Russia was unable to raise and supply a large army against the Ottomans, It was poorly supplied and poorly informed.

Russian concentration on the Northern War limited military preparedness on the southwestern frontier.

Peter lacked the flexibility and resources, in the midst of the Great Northern War, to create a military configuration that would defeat the Ottomans

Question 30

What was the execution of Strel’sty 1698?

Answer 30

They were a group of musketeers who rose up against Peter I because he was introducing the progressive innovations. about 1,200 Streltsy were executed, and 600 were whipped, branded with iron, or sent into exile.