The nature and practice of Early Modern warfare

The idea that between c1500 and 1750 gunpowder weapons transformed the scale, cost and organisation of war, reshaping armies and the state.

Michael Roberts, in 1955, focusing on Sweden c1560–1660 — new tactics, drill and bigger armies that reshaped society.

In 1988 he widened it to include the new bastion fortresses and naval power, and argued the change was gradual over a longer period.

An infantry system where pikemen (long spears) protected musketeers while they reloaded; the two worked as a team through the 1500s and 1600s.

The faster flintlock musket plus the bayonet, so every soldier was both gunman and spearman — pikemen were no longer needed.

Heavy cannon could batter tall, thin stone walls until they collapsed, so even mighty castles could fall in days.

A low, thick, angled 'star' fortress with jutting bastions, designed to absorb and deflect cannon fire and let defenders sweep every approach.

It made fortresses very hard to storm, so wars became long, costly campaigns of sieges rather than quick battles.

Castle: tall, thin walls that cannon shatter. Trace italienne: low, thick, sloped, angled walls that deflect or absorb cannon fire.

A permanent, professional, paid army kept all year round, even in peacetime, rather than temporary troops raised only for one campaign.

A state organised mainly to raise taxes, borrow money and build a bureaucracy to pay for war — the idea that 'war made the state'.

Ships were built around rows of side cannon; firing a broadside shattered enemies, and larger navies mattered for trade, empire and blockade.

A Bohemian military entrepreneur who raised huge mercenary armies (up to ~100,000 men) for Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II. He was assassinated in 1634 when he became too powerful.

Organised cash and supplies demanded from occupied territory to fund an army — the main way armies paid for themselves ('war must feed war').

Feeding and paying an army from whatever region it occupied, through plunder and requisitioning — devastating the local civilian population.

Mobile field artillery, combined-arms tactics, and lighter, more manoeuvrable/shallower formations that could fire faster and move quickly.

An early Imperial/Catholic victory near Prague that crushed the Bohemian revolt; showed older deep formations still winning early in the war.

Gustavus Adolphus's Swedish army destroyed the Imperial forces, showcasing his mobile artillery and flexible lines — a landmark of the new tactics.

Sweden won the battle, but Gustavus Adolphus was killed, robbing the Protestant side of its greatest commander.

Fortified towns held the money, food and river crossings. Controlling star-fort fortresses let an army dominate whole provinces and levy contributions.

Imperial forces stormed and burned the Protestant city; roughly 20,000–25,000 inhabitants died. It became the war's most notorious atrocity and a symbol of civilian devastation.

Plunder = soldiers directly seizing food, valuables and livestock. Requisitioning = the more organised forcing of local people to hand over supplies, quarters and cash.

Gunpowder tactics and ever-larger armies that had to feed themselves, campaigning for three decades, produced unprecedented cost and destruction — some regions lost a third or more of their people.

Early Modern states lacked the tax systems and banks to fund war on this scale, so renting an army from a private contractor pushed the up-front cost and risk onto the entrepreneur.

The Sunni Ottoman Empire (based in Istanbul) and the Shia Safavid Empire (based in Persia/Iran).

A state whose military power rested on cannon and firearms rather than only on cavalry.

The Ottoman sultan's elite, paid standing infantry, armed with muskets and famous for their discipline.

The Safavids' tribal cavalry, known for their red headgear, who fought with bow, lance and sword.

Disciplined Janissary infantry armed with firearms, backed by a powerful artillery train of heavy cannon.

Ottoman cannon and muskets defeated the Safavid Qizilbash cavalry charge — firepower beating the cavalry charge.

Their army was built on tribal Qizilbash cavalry, and many horsemen saw guns as dishonourable.

He built a paid, gunpowder-equipped standing army with muskets and artillery, loyal to the shah not the tribes.

Baghdad (in Mesopotamia) and Tabriz (near the Caucasus) changed hands many times.

Frontier siege warfare — the long struggle to capture and hold fortified cities rather than open battle.

Long campaigns crossed harsh mountains and deserts; supply was hard, and scorched-earth tactics could starve an invading army.

Both used gunpowder and artillery, but the Ottomans leaned on firearms infantry while the Safavids relied on cavalry until reformed by Shah Abbas I.