European War Changes

The growth of the nation-state has long been viewed as the key political development of this era.’ It is a common belief of historians and it is a belief of mine that nation states could have only been formed and developed due to the military revolution which took place during the sixteenth and the seventeenth century. During this period, there were changes in which war was conducted which led to a change in how armies were organised. This meant that European states had to come up with extra revenue and larger bureaucracies to afford and to deal with these changes. In this essay, I will look at these changes in war and how they affected two countries in particular, France and Spain.

Military organisation encouraged the rise of the state. According to Roberts, there was a ‘new standard in the training and discipline of the ordinary soldier.’ An army consisted of a cavalry, pikemen and footsoldiers. Cavalrymen rode on horses wearing armour while carrying a lance and a sword. Pikemen had pikes that were ‘ten-to fifteen-foot long.’ They required little skill according to Roberts. Footsoldiers carried firearms like an arquebus. This was the start of gunpowder based hand-held weapons which Roberts viewed as very important and changed the course of warfare. However, some historians like Jeremy Black disagrees with

France using military advancements/changes that Roberts mentioned- increased and permanent armies and weaponry, attempted to invade many countries. Francis was able to invade many Italian states like Savoy and Piedmont. However,’France did not succeed in winning Milan back until 1515.’ It is said that ‘Francsis’s renunciation of his Italian interests was, however, purely ornamental.’ This shows that Francis invaded as a sign of his wealth, power and a want to accumulate new land to expand his reigning