ABSTRACT
The thoughts and actions of rulers in early modern Europe are perfectly expressed in the famous words of Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz: “War is nothing but a continuation of politics, with the admixture of other means”. Permanent warfare was strictly related to the “military revolution”. The extraordinary rise in the cost of warfare was mainly connected with the growth of armies and fleets, and constituted a central element in the formation of the pre-modern state. Wars were therefore conducted on an extremely large scale in Europe. The military revolution extended to the seas, where cannons played an even more decisive role. The advent of warships armed with cannons radically changed naval warfare. The military revolution was one element in the long and general process of European modernisation. The exceptional growth of Europe’s merchant fleet between 1470 and 1820 was enabled by continual improvements to rigging systems and shipbuilding, together with technical progress achieved for military purposes.
