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Bavarian Army

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The Bavarian Army was the army of the Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom (1806–1918) of Bavaria . It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereignty ( Wehrhoheit ) of Bavaria into that of the German State in 1919. The Bavarian Army was never comparable to the armies of the Great Powers of the 19th century, but it did provide the Wittelsbach dynasty with sufficient scope of action, in the context of effective alliance politics, to transform Bavaria from a territorially-disjointed small state to the second-largest state of the German Empire after Prussia .

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91-702: The Reichskriegsverfassung of 1681 obliged Bavaria to provide troops for the Imperial army . Moreover, the establishment of a standing army was increasingly seen as a sign of nation-statehood and an important tool of absolutist power-politics. At a field camp in Schwabing on 12 October 1682, the newly recruited troops, under the command of Hannibal von Degenfeld , were officially taken into Bavarian service. Seven regiments of infantry , two regiments of dragoons and two of cuirassiers were set up, along with an artillery corps . The traditional mid-blue colour

182-686: A Papal fief 36. Imperial Free City of Mulhouse 37. Savoy , a Sardinian fief (parl. in Chambéry 1537–59) 38. Nice , a Sardinian fief 39. Montbéliard , a fief of Württemberg 40. (not indicated) Trois-Évêchés ( Metz , Toul and Verdun ) 41. (not indicated) Dombes ( Trévoux ) 42. (not indicated) Navarre ( Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port ) 43. (not indicated) Soule ( Mauléon ) 44. (not indicated) Bigorre ( Tarbes ) 45. (not indicated) Beaujolais ( Beaujeu ) 46. (not indicated) Bresse ( Bourg ) 47. (not indicated) Perche ( Mortagne-au-Perche ) In an attempt to reform

273-466: A Grenadier Guard regiment, 16 regiments of Line Infantry, two battalions of Jäger, seven regiments of light cavalry (of which one was territorial), one regiment of Uhlans , two Hussar regiments, one regiment of Garde du Corps (mounted royal bodyguard), two regiments of foot artillery and one of horse-artillery. In 1815, the 7th (National) Light Cavalry regiment was formed into two Cuirassier regiments. The Hussars and Uhlans were disbanded in 1822. Following

364-579: A combination of aggression, annexation and quasilegal means, he set about extending his gains to stabilize and strengthen France's frontiers, culminating in the brief War of the Reunions (1683–1684). The resulting Truce of Ratisbon guaranteed France's new borders for 20 years, but Louis XIV's subsequent actions, notably his revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, led to the deterioration of his military and political dominance. Louis XIV's decision to cross

455-568: A few smaller German princes and dukes in Italy. Extensive back-and-forth fighting took place in the Netherlands, but the dimensions of the war once again changed when both Emperor Leopold and his son and successor, Joseph, died. That left Archduke Charles, the second son of Leopold, younger brother to Joseph , as the Alliance candidate for both king of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor. Since such

546-559: A longer time). The reforms of 1868 abolished the use of substitutes, introduced compulsory conscription for three years, and instituted the {{lang|de| Einjährig-Freiwilliger}} ("One Year Volunteer") system. In 1809, after the French model, the territorial forces were converted into a national guard, which from 1814 to 1868 was known as the Landwehr of the Kingdom of Bavaria. During

637-526: A new tax based on the dixième , the vingtième , was enacted to reduce the royal deficit and continued for the rest of the ancien régime . Another key source of state financing was through charging fees for state positions (such as most members of parlements, magistrates, maître des requêtes and financial officers). Many of the fees were quite high, but some of the offices conferred nobility and could be financially advantageous. The use of offices to seek profit had become standard practice as early as

728-469: A peace program that was agreed to by Fleury, and the two powers formed an alliance. The Dutch Republic was much reduced in power and so agreed with Britain's idea of peace. In Vienna, the Holy Roman Empire's Habsburg emperors bickered with the new Bourbon king of Spain, Philip V, over Habsburg control of most of Italy, but relations with France were undramatic. In the mid-15th century, France

819-686: A reward, but unrest erupted into a full-blown rebellion under Andreas Hofer in 1809, which could only be put down with French assistance. When Austria attacked Bavaria once more that same year in the War of the Fifth Coalition , Napoleon's army was concentrated in Spain , and it was troops of the Confederation of the Rhine , predominantly Bavarian, which led the early campaigning against Austria. At

910-566: A sixtieth of the official charge, which permitted the titleholder to be free of the forty-day rule. The paulette and the venality of offices became key concerns in the parliamentarian revolts of the 1640s called the Fronde . The state also demanded a "free gift", which the church collected from holders of ecclesiastic offices through taxes called the décime (roughly a twentieth of the official charge, created under Francis I). State finances also relied heavily on borrowing, both private (from

1001-743: A smaller proportion of aristocratic officers than the Prussian Army: in 1832 there were 1.86 common officers for every one noble; by 1862 it was 2.34 commoners for every noble and by the outbreak of the First World War 5.66. Since the dissolution in 1826 of the Lifeguard unit, there was no specific Guard regiment. Only in the following units was the proportion of aristocratic officers considerably higher than average: The Bavarian NCO Corps consisted of long-serving and career soldiers, usually recruited from those completing military service. There

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1092-515: A union between Spain and the Holy Roman Empire would be too powerful in the eyes of Charles VI's allies, most of the allies quickly concluded a separate peace with France. After another year of fruitless campaigning, Charles VI did the same and abandoned his desire to become the king of Spain. The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht resolved all these issues. France gave up Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Louis XIV's grandson became King Philip V of Spain and kept all of his overseas colonies but renounced any rights to

1183-753: The Raupenhelm (until 1886), the Light Cavalry and some other peculiarities. The officers and men of the Bavarian Army continued to swear their oaths to the King of Bavaria and not the German Emperor . Nevertheless, the uniform cut, equipment and training was standardised to the Prussian model. When field-grey uniforms were introduced, only the cockade and a blue-and-white lozenge edging to

1274-451: The fermiers généraux ('farmers-general"). The taille was only one of a number of taxes. There also existed the taillon (a tax for military purposes), a national salt tax (the gabelle ), national tariffs (the aides ) on various products (wine, beer, oil and other goods), local tariffs on speciality products (the douane ) or levied on products entering the city (the octroi ) or sold at fairs and local taxes. Finally,

1365-465: The généralités of the Renaissance went through a variety of reforms. In 1577, Henry III established 5 treasurers ( trésoriers généraux ) in each généralité who formed a bureau of finances. In the 17th century, oversight of the généralités was subsumed by the intendants of finance, justice and police. The expression généralité and intendance became roughly synonymous. Until

1456-433: The pays d'élection , the pays d'état and the pays d'imposition . In the pays d'élection (the longest-held possessions of the French crown; some of the provinces had held the equivalent autonomy of a pays d'état but had lost it through the effects of royal reforms) the assessment and collection of taxes were trusted to elected officials (at least originally, since later on those positions were bought), and

1547-609: The gabelle or salt tax. Southern France was governed by written law adapted from the Roman legal system , but northern France used common law , codified in 1453 into a written form. The representative of the king in his provinces and cities was the gouverneur . Royal officers chosen from the highest nobility, provincial and city governors (oversight of provinces and cities was frequently combined) were predominantly military positions in charge of defense and policing. Provincial governors, also called lieutenants généraux , also had

1638-575: The Battle of Leipzig . The attempt by Wrede to stop the victory of the Grande Armée in 1813 at the Battle of Hanau ended in a narrow defeat for his Austro-Bavarian corps. The campaign of 1814 began badly for the Allies, but Wrede made up for his earlier defeat with valuable victories over his former allies at the battles of Arcis-sur-Aube and Bar-sur-Aube . In 1814, the Bavarian Army consisted of

1729-663: The Battle of Wagram , the contribution of Bavarian forces was decisive to the outcome. In the Russian Campaign , the Bavarian army suffered terrible losses - of about 33,000 men (including following reinforcements) who marched in 1812, only 4,000 returned. Pressed by the Crown Prince and General Wrede , King Maximilan I Josef turned with a heavy heart away from the French and changed to the Allied camp shortly before

1820-651: The Battle of the Frontiers , the last time that it fought together as a single unit: the exclusive Bavarian command of Bavarian forces began to be diluted from the Imperial German Army reorganisations in Autumn 1914 onwards. Rupprecht held command for the duration of the war and was promoted to Field Marshal in 1916 largely on account of his outstanding ability; however, after Frontiers, the units under his command came largely from outside Bavaria. Although

1911-755: The German Empire fell in the German Revolution of 1918–19 , and King Ludwig III was forced to abdicate, Bavaria retained its military sovereignty. However, the rise of the Bavarian Soviet Republic and the confusion surrounding its overthrow and the defeat of its "Red Army" persuaded the drafters of the Bamberg Constitution of 1919 to relinquish military sovereignty to the Weimar Republic . At any rate,

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2002-468: The Habsburgs ' internal family conflict, and the territorial expansion of France in the 17th century all demanded great sums, which needed to be raised by taxes, such as the land tax ( taille ) and the tax on salt ( gabelle ), and by contributions of men and service from the nobility. One key to the centralization was the replacing of personal patronage systems, which had been organised around

2093-691: The Kingdom of Navarra ; there were also foreign enclaves like the Comtat Venaissin . In addition, certain provinces within France were ostensibly the personal fiefs of noble families. Notably the Bourbonnais , Forez and Auvergne were held by the House of Bourbon until the provinces were forcibly integrated into the royal domain in 1527 after the fall of Charles III, Duke of Bourbon . From

2184-595: The Palatinate line added eight regiments to the infantry in 1777, and the Palatine troops brought with them a lighter blue tunic colour. The War of the Bavarian Succession is often known as the "Potato War" due to the amount of time and effort the sides expended in securing food supplies and denying them to the enemy, and the war actually passed relatively uneventfully for the Bavarian army. In 1785,

2275-960: The Prince Leopold Barracks ). In 1838, Bavaria maintained seven fortresses, with another under construction: Bavaria also maintained troops in the German Confederation fortresses of Landau and Ulm . The fortress of Germersheim was de-fortified according to the Treaty of Versailles . The museum for the Bavarian Army was moved from the Hofgarten in Munich into the New Castle in Ingolstadt. Imperial Military Constitution The Imperial Military Constitution ( German : Reichsheeresverfassung , also called

2366-563: The Raupenhelm , a helmet with a fore-and-aft horsehair plume, which became characteristic of the Bavarian army. Capable generals, such as Deroy, Wrede and Triva , reformed the army along French lines, and it soon became the most modern in Germany, and the first in Germany to abolish flogging. The field army was based largely on compulsory military service. A national guard with three classes was also developed (1st class: Reserve battalions of

2457-703: The Reichskriegsverfassung ) was the collection of military laws of the Holy Roman Empire . Like the rest of the imperial constitution , it grew out of various laws and governed the establishment of military forces within the Empire. It was the basis for the establishment of the Army of the Holy Roman Empire ( Reichsarmee , created in 1422), which was under the supreme command of the Emperor but

2548-780: The Rhine in September 1688 was designed to extend his influence and to pressure the Holy Roman Empire into accepting his territorial and dynastic claims, but Leopold I and the German princes resolved to resist, and the States General and William III brought the Dutch and the English into the war against France. Louis XIV faced a powerful coalition aimed at curtailing his ambitions. The main fighting took place around France's borders in

2639-688: The Spanish Netherlands , the Rhineland , the Duchy of Savoy , and Catalonia . The fighting generally favoured Louis XIV's armies, but by 1696, France was in the grip of an economic crisis. The maritime powers (England and the Dutch Republic) were also financially exhausted, and when Savoy defected from the alliance, all of the parties were keen for a negotiated settlement. By the terms of the Treaty of Ryswick (1697), Louis XIV retained

2730-708: The ancien régime in France evolved across years of state-building, legislative acts (like the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts ), and internal conflicts. The attempts of the Valois Dynasty to reform and re-establish control over the scattered political centres of the country were hindered by the Wars of Religion from 1562 to 1598. During the Bourbon Dynasty , much of the reigns of Henry IV ( r.  1589–1610 ) and Louis XIII ( r.  1610–1643 ) and

2821-444: The 12th and the 13th centuries. A law in 1467 made these offices irrevocable except through the death, resignation or forfeiture of the title holder, and the offices, once bought, tended to become hereditary charges that were passed on within families with a fee for transfer of title. In an effort to increase revenue, the state often turned to the creation of new offices. Before it was made illegal in 1521, it had been possible to leave

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2912-600: The 1868 reforms, the older classes of reserves became known as the Landsturm . The Landwehr also took responsibility for supervising the veterans' associations. The bulk of the Bavarian Army was housed in fortresses, secularised monasteries and former castles. The first co-ordinated programme of barracks-building took place in 1806 (such as the New Isar Barracks), and after a typhoid outbreak in 1881, modern buildings with married quarters were built (such as

3003-606: The Dutchman Piet Hein . English mariners nevertheless seriously pursued the opportunities for privateering and trade in Spain's colonies. As he neared his death, Charles II bequeathed his throne to the Bourbon candidate, the future Philip V of Spain. Philip's grandfather, Louis XIV, eagerly endorsed the choice and made unilateral aggressive moves to safeguard the viability of his family's new possessions, such as moving

3094-767: The Franco-Prussian War. In the Constitution of the German Empire , Bavaria was able to secure for itself extensive rights, in particular regarding military sovereignty. Not only did the army retain, like the kingdoms of Saxony and Württemberg , its own troops, War Ministry and military justice system, but it was also excluded from the Empire-wide regimental re-numbering of the army regiments and would only come under Imperial control in times of war. Bavaria also kept its light-blue infantry uniforms,

3185-543: The French army into the Spanish Netherlands and securing exclusive trading rights for the French in Spanish America . However, a coalition of enemies opposed to that rapid expansion of French power quickly formed, and a major European war broke out from 1701 to 1714. To France's enemies, the notion of France gaining enormous strength by taking over Spain and all its European and overseas possessions

3276-470: The French nobility struggled to maintain their influence in local judiciary and state branches while the Fronde and other major internal conflicts violently contested additional centralization. The drive for centralization related directly to questions of royal finances and the ability to wage war. The internal conflicts and dynastic crises of the 16th and the 17th centuries between Catholics and Protestants,

3367-464: The French throne. Spain lost its European holdings outside the homeland itself. The former members of the alliance also profited from the war. The Dutch maintained their independence in the face of French aggression. The Habsburgs picked up territory north of Austria and in Italy, including the Spanish Netherlands and Naples. However, the greatest beneficiary of the war was Great Britain , since in addition to extensive extra-European territorial gains at

3458-617: The Line regiments; 2nd class: Territorial army; 3rd class: Citizen levy). In 1800, Bavaria reluctantly fought on Austria's side against France in the War of the Second Coalition , but in 1805 when Austria attacked Bavaria for the third time in 100 years in the War of the Third Coalition , they found a powerful army. The Bavarians initially retreated, but only in order to link up with Napoleon 's advancing army and to prepare

3549-708: The Prussian Army was almost in Bohemia . The war went very badly for the Bavarians. The Bavarian Commander-in-Chief Prince Karl , who also commanded the southern forces of the German Confederation , was hurrying to the aid of the Kingdom of Hanover when he heard of the Hanoverians' surrender after the Battle of Langensalza . The rapid Prussian advance meant that Karl was unable to link up with

3640-424: The ability to convoke provincial parlements , provincial estates and municipal bodies. The title gouverneur first appeared under Charles VI . The Ordinance of Blois in 1579 reduced their number to 12, and an ordinance of 1779 increased their number to 39 (18 first-class governors and 21 second-class governors). Although in principle, they were the king's representatives, and their charges could be revoked at

3731-520: The army consisted of eight infantry, two dragoon and three cuirassier regiments, and a brigade of artillery. In 1757, one of the cuirassier regiments was disbanded and its men distributed among the other regiments, while only one company of dragoons in each regiment was mounted. Infantry regiments consisted of two battalions with four Füsilierkompanien (each of 130 men) and one infantry company (100 men) as well as two four-Pounder battalion guns . The nominal strength of approximately 1,800 men for each regiment

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3822-409: The assessment of the tax was established by local councils and the tax was generally " real " and so was attached to non-noble lands (nobles with such lands were required to pay taxes on them). Pays d'imposition were recently conquered lands that had their own local historical institutions (they were similar to the pays d'état under which they are sometimes grouped), but taxation was overseen by

3913-437: The battle-hardened veteran General Siegmund von Pranckh as the new War Minister on 1 August. Von Prankh already had political experience as adjutant to War Minister von Lüder, and contributed crucially to the modernisation of the Bavarian Army with his reforms . When the candidacy to the Spanish throne of Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern led to a worsening in relations between Prussia and France in 1870, von Prankh mobilised

4004-456: The church benefited from a mandatory tax or tithe , the dîme . Louis XIV created several additional tax systems, including the capitation , which began in 1695 and touched every person, including nobles and the clergy although exemption could be bought for a large one-time sum and the "dixième" (1710–1717, restarted in 1733), which enacted to support the military and was a true tax on income and on property value. In 1749, under Louis XV ,

4095-448: The collar distinguished Bavarian units. At the beginning of World War I , the Bavarian Army had an effective strength of 87,214 men including 4,089 officers, physicians, veterinarians and officials; and 83,125 NCOs and other ranks, plus 16,918 horses. With the beginning of mobilisation on 1 August 1914, the supreme command of the Bavarian field army passed from the 4th Army Inspectorate to the German Emperor. Units in Bavaria remained under

4186-410: The command of the Bavarian War Ministry. The Bavarian Army — consisting of the three Bavarian Army Corps, the Bavarian Cavalry Division  — was bolstered by the addition of the XXI Corps (of two divisions, recruited largely in the Rhineland and Westphalia ), and transported to the Western Front as the German 6th Army under the command of Crown Prince Rupprecht . The Bavarian Army fought at

4277-400: The composition of the army was the same as that during the Turkish wars, only now with three regiments each of cuirassiers and dragoons. The attempt by the Elector Charles Albert to gain the Imperial crown during the War of the Austrian Succession was initially successful, but the campaign ended once again with an Austrian occupation of Bavaria. At the beginning of the Seven Years' War ,

4368-403: The counter-attack, which took place quickly, methodically and thoroughly. 30,000 Bavarian troops took part in the successful Siege of Ulm and the consequent liberation of Bavaria. At the Battle of Austerlitz , the Bavarians secured the flanks and supply lines of Napoleon's army and in 1806-7 they forced several Prussian forts to surrender. Bavaria was awarded the Austrian province of Tyrol as

4459-408: The date that the transfer of title was to take effect open-ended. In 1534, a rule adapted from church practice made the successor's right void if the preceding office holder died within forty days of the transfer, and the office returned to the state. However, a new fee, the survivance jouissante protected against that rule. In 1604, Sully created a new tax, the paulette or "annual tax" of

4550-418: The double board, which was accused of poor oversight, made numerous administrative reforms, including the restructuring of the financial administration and increasing the number of généralités . In 1542, France was divided into 16 généralités . The number increased to 21 at the end of the 16th century and to 36 at the time of the French Revolution; the last two were created in 1784. The administration of

4641-432: The early years of Louis XIV ( r.  1643–1715 ) focused on administrative centralization. Despite the notion of " absolute monarchy " (typified by the king's right to issue orders through lettres de cachet ) and efforts to create a centralized state, ancien régime France remained a country of systemic irregularities: administrative, legal, judicial, and ecclesiastic divisions and prerogatives frequently overlapped,

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4732-566: The expense of Spain and France, it established further checks to French expansion within the continent by moderately strengthening its European allies. The quarter-century after the Treaty of Utrecht was peaceful, with no major wars. The main powers exhausted themselves in warfare, and suffered many deaths, disabled veterans, ruined navies, high pension costs, heavy loans and high taxes. In 1683, indirect taxes had brought in 118,000,000 livres, but by 1714, these revenues had plunged to only 46,000,000 livres. Louis XIV, with his eagerness for warfare,

4823-452: The four Généraux des finances (also called général conseiller or receveur général ) oversaw the collection of taxes ( taille , aides , etc.) by tax-collecting agents ( receveurs ) and the four Trésoriers de France (Treasurers) oversaw revenues from royal lands (the " domaine royal "). Together, they were the Messieurs des finances . The four members of each board were divided by geographical districts (although

4914-419: The grandson of the powerful Louis XIV. That was a confrontation between two different styles of ancien régime : the French and Spanish style versus the Habsburg style. Spain's silver and its inability to protect its assets made it a highly-visible target for ambitious Europeans. For generations, Englishmen contemplated capturing the Spanish treasure fleet, a feat that had been accomplished only once: in 1628 by

5005-495: The inauguration of the First French Republic ) and was originally pejorative. Simon Schama has observed that "virtually as soon as the term was coined, 'old regime' was automatically freighted with associations of both traditionalism and senescence. It conjured up a society so encrusted with anachronisms that only a shock of great violence could free the living organism within. Institutionally torpid, economically immobile, culturally atrophied and socially stratified, this 'old regime'

5096-418: The infantry's uniform changed to white, and the cuirassiers abandoned their traditional armour. 1790 brought a fundamental reform of the Bavarian Army. All field troops received an identically-cut uniform, including a leather helmet with a horsehair plume, known as the "Rumford Casket" after the then Minister for War Count Rumford . However, Maximilian IV found the army in abject condition on his accession to

5187-495: The inheritance of the Spanish Empire would soon embroil Louis XIV and the Grand Alliance in a final war: the War of the Spanish Succession . Spain had a number of major assets apart from its homeland. It controlled important territory in Europe and the New World. Spain's American colonies produced enormous quantities of silver, brought to Spain every few years in convoys. Spain also had many weaknesses. Its domestic economy had little business, industry or advanced craftsmanship and

5278-423: The king and other nobles, by institutional systems that were constructed around the state. The appointments of intendants , representatives of royal power in the provinces, greatly undermined the local control by regional nobles. The same was true of the greater reliance that was shown by the royal court on the noblesse de robe as judges and royal counselors. The creation of regional parlements had

5369-418: The king's will, some governors had installed themselves and their heirs as a provincial dynasty. The governors reached the height of their power from the mid-16th to the mid-17th century. Their role in provincial unrest during the civil wars led Cardinal Richelieu to create the more tractable positions of intendants of finance, policing and justice, and in the 18th century, the role of provincial governors

5460-725: The late 15th century to the late 17th century and again in the 1760s, French territory greatly expanded and it attempted to better integrate its provinces into an administrative whole. Despite centralization efforts of the kings, France remained a patchwork of local privileges and historical differences. The arbitrary power of the absolute monarchy was much limited by historic and regional particularities. Administrative (including taxation), legal ( parlement ), judicial and ecclesiastic divisions and prerogatives frequently overlapped (for example, French bishoprics and dioceses rarely coincided with administrative divisions). Certain provinces and cities had won special privileges, such as lower rates for

5551-445: The late 17th century, tax collectors were called receveurs . In 1680, the system of the Ferme générale was established, a franchised customs and excise operation in which individuals bought the right to collect the taille on behalf of the king, through six-year adjudications (certain taxes like the aides and the gabelle had been farmed out in this way as early as 1604). The major tax collectors in that system were known as

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5642-409: The military leadership. Thanks to constant cuts in the military budget, the Bavarian war ministry did not see itself in a position to accomplish manoeuvres above the brigade level. Apart from Prince Karl, and General von Thurn und Taxis , no Bavarian general had ever commanded a division before. The newspapers also criticised the role of von der Tann . Due to this criticism, King Ludwig II appointed

5733-550: The money, and the treasury was always short. The banking system in Paris was undeveloped, and the treasury was forced to borrow at very high interest rates. London's financial system proved strikingly competent in funding not only the British Army but also those of its allies. Queen Anne was dead, and her successor, King George I, was a Hanoverian who moved his court to London but never became fluent in English and surrounded himself with German advisors. They spent much of their time and most of their attention on Hanoverian affairs. He too

5824-472: The princes to levy a "hundredth" penny and use it to enlist and maintain an army of soldiers for the duration of a war was opposed by the cities. It was agreed to set up a single register as a list of the troop contingents of the individual imperial estates. Ancien R%C3%A9gime Defunct Defunct The ancien régime ( / ˌ ɒ̃ s j æ̃ r eɪ ˈ ʒ iː m / ; French: [ɑ̃sjɛ̃ ʁeʒim] ; lit.   ' old rule ' )

5915-438: The recommendations of the Military Savings Commission in 1826, one infantry regiment was converted into two Jäger battalions, and the Grenadier Guard regiment into an Infantry lifeguard regiment. The Garde du Corps became the 1st Cuirassier Regiment, and the former 1st Cuirassier Regiment was merged into the 2nd Regiment. The mobilisation of the army for the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 was only concluded on 22 June, by which time

6006-556: The regular Bavarian troops had been demobilised after the war to the extent that most of the fighting against the Red Army was done by Freikorps units and other German troops from outside Bavaria. During World War I, around 200,000 soldiers of the Royal Bavarian Army were killed. Bavaria placed at first two and later three army corps in the army of the German Empire: Corps Divisions Bavarian cavalry: Bavarian infantry: Bavarian reserve: Bavarian Landwehr: Bavarian Ersatz: Mountain Troops: The Bavarian Army had

6097-1875: The revolution, there were 36 généralités , the last two being created in 1784. 1. Généralité of Bordeaux , ( Agen , Guyenne ) 2. Généralité of Provence , or Aix-en-Provence ( Provence ) 3. Généralité of Amiens ( Picardy ) 4. Généralité of Bourges ( Berry ) 5. Généralité of Caen ( Normandy ) 6. Généralité of Châlons ( Champagne ) 7. Généralité of Burgundy , Dijon (Burgundy) 8. Généralité of Grenoble ( Dauphiné ) 9. Généralité of Issoire , later of Riom ( Auvergne ) 10. Généralité of Lyon ( Lyonnais , Beaujolais and Forez ) 11. Généralité of Montpellier ( Languedoc ) 12. Généralité of Paris ( Île-de-France ) 13. Généralité of Poitiers ( Poitou ) 14. Généralité of Rouen ( Normandy ) 15. Généralité of Toulouse ( Languedoc ) 16. Généralité of Tours ( Touraine , Maine and Anjou ) 17. Généralité of Metz ( Trois-Évêchés ) 18. Généralité of Nantes ( Brittany ) 19. Généralité of Limoges (divided in two parts: Angoumois & Limousin – Marche ) 20. Généralité of Orléans ( Orléanais ) 21. Généralité of Moulins ( Bourbonnais ) 22. Généralité of Soissons ( Picardy ) 23. Généralité of Montauban ( Gascony ) 24. Généralité of Alençon ( Perche ) 25. Généralité of Perpignan ( Roussillon ) 26. Généralité of Besançon ( Franche-Comté ) 27. Généralité of Valenciennes ( Hainaut ) 28. Généralité of Strasbourg ( Alsace ) 29. (see 18) 30. Généralité of Lille ( Flanders ) 31. Généralité of La Rochelle ( Aunis and Saintonge ) 32. Généralité of Nancy ( Lorraine ) 33. Généralité of Trévoux ( Dombes ) 34. Généralité of Corsica , or Bastia ( Corsica ) 35. Généralité of Auch ( Gascony ) 36. Généralité of Bayonne ( Labourd ) 37. Généralité of Pau ( Béarn and Soule ) The desire for more efficient tax collection

6188-416: The royal intendant . Taxation districts had gone through a variety of mutations since the 14th century. Before the 14th century, oversight of the collection of royal taxes had fallen generally to the baillis and sénéchaux in their circumscriptions. Reforms in the 14th and the 15th centuries saw France's royal financial administration run by two financial boards, which worked in a collegial manner:

6279-442: The same initial goal of facilitating the introduction of royal power into the newly assimilated territories, but as the parlements gained in self-assurance, they started to become sources of disunity. By the end of 1789 the term Ancien Régime was commonly used in France by journalists and legislators to refer to the institutions of French life before the Revolution. It first appeared in print in English in 1794 (two years after

6370-406: The side of France . Following defeat at the Battle of Blenheim , the Bavarian Army ceased to exist as a coherent fighting force, though small remainders continued to fight until the end of the war. Bavaria was occupied by Austrian forces during the war, which led to a rising of the people, bloodily put down at the so-called "Murderous Christmas of Sendling" ( Sendlinger Mordweihnacht ). By 1701,

6461-463: The system, new divisions were created. The recettes générales , commonly known as généralités , were initially only taxation districts (see "state finances" below). The first 16 were created in 1542 by edict of Henry II . Their role steadily increased, and by the mid-17th century, the généralités were under the authority of an intendant and were a vehicle for the expansion of royal power in matters of justice, taxation and policing. By

6552-477: The tax was generally "personal" and so was attached to non-noble individuals. In the pays d'état ("provinces with provincial estates"), Brittany , Languedoc , Burgundy , Auvergne , Béarn , Dauphiné , Provence and portions of Gascony , such as Bigorre , Comminges and the Quatre-Vallées , recently acquired provinces that had been able to maintain a certain local autonomy in terms of taxation,

6643-470: The term généralité appears only in the late 15th century). The areas were named Languedoïl, Languedoc, Outre-Seine-and-Yonne, and Nomandy (the last was created in 1449, the other three earlier), with the directors of the "Languedoïl" region typically having an honorific preeminence. By 1484, the number of généralités had increased to six. In the 16th century, the kings of France, in an effort to exert more direct control over royal finances and to circumvent

6734-886: The throne in 1799: hardly any of the units were at full strength, the Rumford uniforms were unpopular and impractical, and the troops were badly-trained. The young Prince-Elector, who had served under the Ancien Régime in France as a colonel in the Royal Deux-Ponts regiment, made the reconstruction of the army a priority. The line infantry was reduced to ten regiments, which were made up to their full strength. The two Jäger regiments were divided into four light infantry battalions. The cavalry consisted of three regiments of light cavalry and two each of dragoons and cuirassiers. The infantry returned to their traditional light blue and, in 1801, all branches of service introduced

6825-748: The two Bavarian army corps on 14 July. The Bavarian Army Corps fought in the Franco-Prussian War as part of the III Army under Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm (the I Army Corps under von der Tann, and the II Army Corps under Jakob Freiherr von Hartmann ). The Bavarians under Jakob von Hartmann stormed Wissembourg and took part in the Battles of Wörth , Beaumont , Sedan and the Siege of Paris . Over 5,000 Bavarian soldiers died during

6916-572: The western forces of the Confederation under Prince Alexander of Hesse , so the Bavarian troops withdrew to Bad Kissingen . After fierce fighting, the Bavarians withdrew to Schweinfurt and Würzburg (of which only the fortress and part of the city could be held). On 1 August, a Prussian reserve corps occupied Nuremberg . The difficulties of the Bavarian Army were attributed mainly to the Bavarian Landtag (parliament), and to

7007-414: The whole of Alsace , but was forced to return Lorraine to its ruler and to give up any gains on the right bank of the Rhine. Also, Louis XIV accepted William III as the rightful King of England, and the Dutch acquired their barrier fortress system in the Spanish Netherlands to help secure their own borders. However, with the ailing and childless Charles II of Spain approaching his end, a new conflict over

7098-572: Was a strict career separation between officers and NCOs. This led to substantial social problems during World War I, because qualified NCOs were blocked from promotion to officer ranks. According to the Constitution of 1808, recruitment was according to a system of conscription . The system offered the possibility for men to buy exemption from conscription by means of paying a substitute, called an Einsteher ("Proxy") or Einstandsmann ("Stand-In"), to serve in their place (which had to be for

7189-546: Was already in wide use among the Bavarian infantry and would be used throughout from 1684. The cuirassiers and artillery wore light grey tunics, while the dragoons wore red or blue tunics. The army distinguished itself under Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria during the Great Turkish War , particularly during the Siege of Belgrade . During the War of the Spanish Succession , Bavaria fought on

7280-574: Was anathema. Furthermore, the prospect of capturing Spanish territories in the New World proved very attractive. France's enemies formed a Grand Alliance, led by the Holy Roman Empire's Leopold I , which included Prussia and most of the other German states, the Dutch Republic, Portugal , Savoy (in Italy ) and England . The opposing alliance was primarily France and Spain but also included

7371-566: Was distinct from his Imperial Army ( Kaiserliche Armee , emerged in the 17th century), as it could only be deployed by the Imperial Diet . The last Imperial Defence Order ( Reichsdefensionalordnung ), entitled Reichsgutachten in puncto securitatis , of 13/23 May 1681, completed the military constitution of the Holy Roman Empire. The first Imperial Register was drawn up at the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg in 1422. The proposal of

7462-407: Was gone and replaced by a small sickly child, the last Bourbon survivor. This death had the potential to throw France into another round of warfare. Louis XV lived until the 1770s. France's main foreign policy decisionmaker was Cardinal Fleury , who recognised that France's need to rebuild and so pursued a peaceful policy. France had a poorly-designed taxation system in which tax farmers kept much of

7553-1592: Was greatly curtailed. 1. Île-de-France ( Paris ) 2. Berry ( Bourges ) 3. Orléanais ( Orléans ) 4. Normandy ( Rouen ) 5. Languedoc ( Toulouse ) 6. Lyonnais ( Lyon ) 7. Dauphiné ( Grenoble ) 8. Champagne ( Troyes ) 9. Aunis ( La Rochelle ) 10. Saintonge ( Saintes ) 11. Poitou ( Poitiers ) 12. Guyenne and Gascony ( Bordeaux ) 13. Burgundy ( Dijon ) 14. Picardy ( Amiens ) 15. Anjou ( Angers ) 16. Provence ( Aix-en-Provence ) 17. Angoumois ( Angoulême ) 18. Bourbonnais ( Moulins ) 19. Marche ( Guéret ) 20. Brittany ( Rennes , parlement briefly at Nantes ) 21. Maine ( Le Mans ) 22. Touraine ( Tours ) 23. Limousin ( Limoges ) 24. Foix ( Foix ) 25. Auvergne ( Clermont-Ferrand ) 26. Béarn ( Pau ) 27. Alsace ( Strasbourg , cons. souv. in Colmar ) 28. Artois (cons provinc. in Arras ) 29. Roussillon (cons. souv. in Perpignan ) 30. Flanders and Hainaut ( Lille , parliament first in Tournai , then in Douai ) 31. Franche-Comté ( Besançon , formerly at Dole ) 32. Lorraine ( Nancy ) 33. Corsica (off map, Ajaccio , cons. souv. in Bastia ) 34. Nivernais ( Nevers ) 35. Comtat Venaissin ( Avignon ),

7644-592: Was in very poor physical and mental health. As King Charles II had no children, the question of who would succeed to the Spanish throne unleashed a major war. The Vienna-based Habsburg family, to which Charles II belonged, proposed its own candidate for the throne. However, the Bourbons, the ruling family of France, instinctively opposed expansions of Habsburg power within Europe and had their own candidate : Philip ,

7735-607: Was incapable of self-modernization". The Nine Years' War (1688–97), between France and a coalition of Austria and the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, Spain, England and Savoy, was fought in continental Europe and on the surrounding seas, and in Ireland, North America and India. It was the first truly global war . Louis XIV emerged from the Franco-Dutch War in 1678 as the most powerful monarch in Europe and an absolute ruler with numerous military victories. Using

7826-466: Was never reached in the field. While the Lifeguard regiment had three battalions, only two stood in the field. Ten battalions of infantry were made available to the Habsburgs according to Bavaria's Imperial military obligations. They fought unsuccessfully at Schweidnitz, Breslau and Leuthen in 1757, as well as at Troppau, Olmütz and Neiße in 1758. The unification between the Wittelsbachs and

7917-442: Was one of the major causes for French administrative and royal centralisation during the early modern period. The taille became a major source of royal income. Exempted were clergy and nobles (except for non-noble lands held in pays d'état , see below), officers of the crown, military personnel, magistrates, university professors and students, and certain cities ( villes franches ) such as Paris. The provinces were of three sorts,

8008-422: Was poor. Spain had to import practically all of its weapons and its large army was poorly trained and poorly equipped. Spain had a small navy since seamanship was a low priority for the elites. Local and regional governments and the local nobility, controlled most of the decisionmaking. The central government was quite weak, with a mediocre bureaucracy, and few able leaders. King Charles II reigned 1665 to 1700, but

8099-471: Was smaller than it is today, and numerous border provinces (such as Roussillon , Cerdagne , Conflent , Vallespir , Capcir , Calais , Béarn , Navarre , County of Foix , Flanders , Artois , Lorraine , Alsace , Trois-Évêchés , Franche-Comté , Savoy , Bresse , Bugey , Gex , Nice , Provence , Dauphiné and Brittany ) were autonomous or belonged to the Holy Roman Empire , the Crown of Aragon or

8190-520: Was the political and social system of the Kingdom of France that the French Revolution overturned through its abolition in 1790 of the feudal system of the French nobility and in 1792 through its execution of the king and declaration of a republic . "Ancien régime" is now a common metaphor for "a system or mode no longer prevailing". The administrative and social structures of

8281-513: Was threatened by an unstable throne, since the Stuart pretenders, long supported by Louis XIV, threatened repeatedly to invade through Ireland or Scotland and had significant internal support from the Tory faction. However, Sir Robert Walpole was the dominant decision-maker from 1722 to 1740, in a role that would later be called prime minister. Walpole strongly rejected militaristic options and promoted

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