What Was Revolutionary About the Military Revolution

What was revolutionary about the ‘Military Revolution’ in Early Modern Europe?

The Military Revolution:
From Medieval to Modern Warfare

The historical paradigm of the military revolution found its first main proponent in Michael Roberts’s The Military Revolution, 1560-1660. The theory of the ‘military revolution’ is the period of years from the mid fifteenth century to the end of the eighteenth century saw a radical modernisation of the science of warfare. The advancement of gunpowder artillery technology was the catalyst for the fundamental transformation of warfare in the Early Modern period. The innovation in artillery saw a renewal of reconstruction in the military and civic fortifications of the period to enable medieval defences of the Early Modern World to be able to withstand a sustained bombardment from the new advanced artillery. The innovation in gunpowder firepower realised a far-reaching change in infantry tactics to make use of and defend against the new technology. The sixteenth century marked a fundamental shift from anti-personnel small-calibre cannon on board ships to ‘ship-killing’ cannon; this shift has been termed the ‘Dreadnought Revolution’. A consequence of the new technology and the new tactics was a marked increase in the size of a state’s armed forces. In the early modern period there was a change of perception regarding the role of soldiering by society, as well as, the effects of war on society in general. The knowledge and skills of the ‘military revolution’ filtered out beyond the borders of the European states. The Military Revolution of 1450-1800 was the period of years that saw the modernisation of the making of war from the medieval to the modern world.

The end of the fifteenth century saw the beginning of the age of gunpowder firepower. It is evident that gunpowder in various forms were used before this time on the battlefield, it is the new effectiveness of artillery that military historians such as Hammer and

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