ABSTRACT
Two factors characterize the emergence of the modern armed force: the substitution of technical proficiency for personal prowess; and the transformation of military operations from a self-liquidating form of venture capitalism into a systematically budgeted branch of public administration. The first, the main subject of this essay, has involved the creation of objective standards for training and commanding fighting men. The second has entailed abandoning the notion of war as an activity the value of whose immediate conquests was expected to equal or surpass its costs. Both these changes have been critical in the breakdown of feudalism and the construction of the modern state.
