Empire and Military Revolution in Eastern Europe - (Bloomsbury Studies in Military History) by Brian Davies (Paperback)

About the Book

Explores Russia's military and demographic competition with the Crimean Khanate and Ottoman Empire for control of the Black Sea steppe in the eighteenth century.

Book Synopsis

In terms of resource mobilization and devastation the wars between Russia, the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire were some of the largest of the eighteenth century, and had enormous consequences for the balance of power in Eastern Europe.

Brian Davies examines how these conflicts characterized the course of Russian military development in response to Ottoman and Crimean Tatar threats and to determine under what circumstances and in what ways Russian military power experienced a "revolution" awarding it clear preponderance over the Ottoman-Crimean system.

A central part of Davies' argument is that identifying and explaining a Military Revolution must involve examining the role of factors not purely military. One must look not only at new military technology, new force and command structure, new tactical thinking, and new recruitment and military finance practices but also consider the impact of larger demographic, economic, and sociopolitical changes.

About the Author

Brian Davies is Professor of History at the University of Texas at San Antonio, USA.