Naslov
The 'Small War' that helped save the Monarchy: A Maria Theresian Military Revolution?

Autori
Buczynski, Alexander

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, neobjavljeni rad, znanstveni

Skup
'King' Maria Theresia

Mjesto i datum
Zagreb, Hrvatska, 10-11.04.2017

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Nije recenziran

Ključne riječi
Habsburg Monarchy ; War of the Austrian Succession ; 1748 ; Vienna ; irregular warfare ; Maria Theresia ; Frederick II

Sažetak
Confronted with a formidable Prussian military force that seemingly unstoppable overran Silesia, one of her most precious possessions, Queen Maria Theresia was compelled to find a way to prevent further loss of territory and the dismemberment of a Monarchy she had just inherited. King Frederick’s unexpected swift military attack forced her hand to save the day with measures that were unconventional to say the least and some of which could even be qualified as a desperate last resort. The mobilization of irregular troops from the Military Frontier and Slavonia certainly seemed to correspond to that conception. Undisciplined and unbridled as they appeared to be, not even the highest Austrian military command was convinced any lasting impact could be expected of them. They were regarded as cannon fodder at the best and altogether inferior to regular German and Hungarian infantry of the line. The Military Frontier had come into existence long before Maria Theresia’s rise to power during a period when the military system of the Ottoman Empire was still the most sophisticated in Europe. The centuries-old struggle for survival in the territories bordering this empire transformed the Grenzer that inhabited them into hardened warriors that excelled at “small war”. The Ottoman defeat at Vienna in 1683 was followed by a substantial territorial expansion of the Habsburg Monarchy that made a large part of the Military Frontier obsolete. However, the Court and the War Council in Vienna instead of demilitarizing the Frontier decided to expand and convert it into a “giant barracks”. The purpose of the Military Frontier only changed nominally: The Grenzer were still expected to defend the Monarchy with small-war tactics not at home, admittedly, but in distant theaters of war. This paper will discuss to what extend Maria Theresia’s wars warranted that decision, whether the Monarchy profited from it and if it had a revolutionary impact.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Povijest

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