engleski

‘Small War’ in a ‘World War’ Context: The Introduction of Regular Light Troops from the Austrian Military Frontier in the Third Silesian War

During the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) the Court and the War Council in Vienna decided to deploy thousands of irregular troops from the Military Frontier on the battlefields in Silesia, Bohemia, Bavaria, Northern Italy, Alsace and Flanders on account of their small-war expertise. Even though many commanders and ministers did not expect a lasting impact of these apparently undisciplined and unbridled soldiers they regarded as altogether inferior to regular German and Hungarian infantry of the line, this decision that almost started as a desperate, last-resort order proved game-changing in changing not only the course of Austrian military history but also triggering yet another burst of rapid change during the process of military innovation or “revolution” that marked the Early Modern period. Small-war tactics were used on a scale as never before and forever changed the standard ancien regime type of warfare characterized by a line-ahead manoeuvres. As of 1745 irregular Grenzer militias from different parts of the Military Frontier were successively transformed into regular Grenzer infantery and hussar regiments and consequently deployed in tens of thousands in the course of the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763). What had still been ‘irregular’ during the Second Silesian War (1744-1745) was introduced for the first time as ‘regular’ in the Third Silesian War. This paper will discuss how this transformation into ‘new model’ Grenzer took place, whether a broader “revolutionary” meaning can be ascribed to this development and to what extend this topic might be relevant for historical research on Russian light troops like the Cossacks.

Habsburg Monarchy ; War of the Austrian Succession ; Seven Years' War ; Habsburg Monarchy ; Military Frontier ; Grenzer ; Maria Theresa ; Military Revolution ; light infantry

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