Warfare in the Old Regime 1648–1789

Conflicts in the old-regime period of European history are almost universally thought of as more sedate, narrow and limited in comparison with earlier and later wars. Like many other accepted generalisations about European development, the concept of old-regime warfare as limited is based primarily on French and German historiography. In this chapter, the author examines old-regime warfare from the perspectives of eastern and southern European historiography, and argues that the traditional picture painted of old-regime warfare crumbles when analyzed from a pan-European perspective.