| The rulers of
northern Germany did not possess sufficient money to recruit the
necessary number of soldiers in a critical moment, as it was done in
France. Therefore the country pursued a policy of creating a strong
national army. Electors tended to join efforts in the struggle against
their common enemy. The Thirty Years' War resulted in the formation of
the Brandenburg-Prussian army. The main principle of its management was
division by districts. Each district was obliged to take care of the
army within its territory. If a district did not supply the required
resources, the army simply took them. Such interaction of military and
civil managerial staff gradually created a system that allowed the army
to be supplied without plundering the country. One of the problems was a
lack of people. During the Thirty Years' War, obligatory conscription
was introduced, and grew to a much larger scale during the reign of
Frederick William I. Officers snatched any fit people and recruited them
to the regiments by force. But at last this process was brought to some
degree of order, and a fair recruitment system was created. This
resulted in a strong army by the second half of the 18th century. |
