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What do we exactly mean when we are talking about "the military" during the Early Modern period?

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When looking at the Early Modern period (16th to the late 18th century), we often speak of "the military" or "the army", but do we know what exactly these terms mean? The forms and structures of the armed forces have not only changed between 1500 and 1800, but also varied throughout different regions of the world and even within Europe. The contributors to this volume examine 12 Early Modern examples of armed forces in the Holy Roman Empire, Western and Eastern Europe, Eastern Asia and North America and paint a multifarious and even disparate picture during this period. The findings suggest that modern notions of the armed forces common in the Early Modern period should be used more prudently to avoid prevalent implications of non-existing continuity and uniformity.

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What do we exactly mean when we are talking about the "military" during the Early Modern period?

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¶
When looking at the Early Modern period (16th to the late 18th century), we often speak of "the military" or "the army", but do we know what exactly these terms mean? The forms and structures of the armed forces have not only changed between 1500 and 1800, but also varied throughout different regions of the world and even within Europe. The contributors to this volume examine 12 Early Modern examples of armed forces in the Holy Roman Empire, Western and Eastern Europe, Eastern Asia and North America and paint a multifarious and even disparate picture during this period. The findings suggest that modern notions of the armed forces common in the Early Modern period should be used more prudently to avoid prevalent implications of non-existing continuity and uniformity.¶

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Meumann, Markus
Dr Markus Meumann gained a PhD from the University of Göttingen in 1993 and held several positions at the Universities of Halle and Erfurt. Since 2017, he is an academic supervisor of the Gotha Research Centre of the University of Erfurt.

Pühringer, Andrea
Dr Andrea Pühringer gained a PhD from the University of Vienna in 1998 and held lectureships at the Universities of Vienna, Venice, Marburg and Kassel. She is freelance historian with main focus on themes of early-modern social, economic and cultural history.

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