Canton system (Prussia)
The Canton System (
Historical context
Upon his accession in 1713, King Frederick William I abolished the provincial militias, obligated his soldiers to lifelong service and transferred all responsibility for recruitment from civilian authorities to regimental officers.[2] This system, which remained in place until the introduction of the cantons, occasioned much abuse and even bloodshed.[3]
In February and March 1721 the king prohibited coercive recruiting, which only increased the competition between recruiters. On 14 September 1722 he published a "Sharpened Edict against the Flight of Subjects and their Children in Western and Eastern Pomerania" and on 11 November a "Patent, that the Property of those Subjects and Native Children who flee from Fear of Recruitment shall be Confiscated", but the solution to the conflict between the army—which required peasant recruits—and the royal finances—which required the peasants' agrarian labour—was only solved by the self-interest of the regimental commanders. In order to meet their recruitment obligations while following the king's strictures on domestic recruiting, they were forced to seek more recruits abroad. To cover the higher expenses of foreign recruitment, they gradually extended the furloughs of those recruits taken from their own estates (commanders were invariably either estate owners—Junkers—or close relatives of owners) so that the latter were only obligated to undertake basic training in peacetime. The practice of regular furloughs was gradually extended to all recruits. The commanders also introduced enrollment (Enrollierung): male children too young to serve were added to the enlistment rolls and given furlough passes to prevent them from being recruited by other regiments when they were old enough.[4]
Establishment of the system
In 1733, Frederick William converted these widespread practices into a universal system. By a series of three Cabinet Orders (Allerhöchste Kabinetts-Ordre, AKOs) of 1 and 8 May and 15 September, the country was divided into cantons and the "enrollment of [all] male youth" mandated within the cantons. As a result, recruitment was technically replaced by enrollment and underage male peasants converted into cantonists (Kantonisten).
Number of soldiers
The average canton comprised about 5000 hearths, but the number of soldiers varied considerably. In the
1792 reform
On 12 February 1792, on the eve of the
Obsolescence
A series of reforms, such as the introduction of a progressive legal code, the
On 9 February 1813, following Prussia's participation in the disastrous French invasion of Russia and in preparation for her declaration of war against France, the canton system was suspended "for the duration of the war" and universal conscription introduced through a Cabinet Order.[7][9] Men between the ages of 17 and 24 could enter the army voluntarily and choose their regiment; all who did not remained eligible to be drafted. Those between 25 and 40 could be drafted into the newly formed Landwehr. On 27 May 1814 the Cabinet Order of 9 February 1813 was rescinded, but the old regiment-based system of enrollment and exemptions was not reintroduced. Instead, on 3 September 1814 the Gesetz über die Verpflichtung zum Kriegsdienst (law on the obligation of military service) was introduced, and all men over 20 years of age were compelled to serve three years in the army and a further two in reserve.[7]
Notes
- composite state prior to 1806. The Prussian king held several fiefs of the Holy Roman Empire in addition to the Kingdom of Prussiaproper, which lay outside the Empire. In the 18th century, all the lands of the Prussian king were gradually administratively unified and the Canton System embraced almost all of them.
- ^ Dwyer 2013, pp. 13–14.
- ^ Büsch 1997, p. 4.
- ^ Büsch 1997, p. 5.
- ^ a b Büsch 1997, p. 6–7.
- ^ Büsch 1997, p. 28.
- ^ a b Dwyer 2013, pp. 63–64.
- ^ a b c d e f Schmidt 2003, pp. 7–8.
- ^ Dwyer 2013, p. 60.
- ^ Hofschröer 1984, p. 9.
Sources
- Büsch, Otto (1997). Military System and Social Life in Old Regime Prussia, 1713–1807: The Beginnings of the Social Militarization of Prusso-German Society. Studies in Central European Histories. Translated by Gagliardo, John G. Boston: Humanities Press International. Originally published as Militärsystem und Sozialleben im alten Preußen 1713–1807: Die Anfänge der sozialen Militarisierung der preußisch-deutschen Gesellschaft (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1962).
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: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - Dwyer, Philip G. (2013) [2000]. The Rise of Prussia, 1700–1830. Routledge.
- Hofschröer, Peter (1984). Prussian Line Infantry, 1792–1815. Men-at-Arms. Oxford: Osprey.
- Schmidt, Oliver H. (2003). Prussian Regular Infantryman, 1808–15. Oxford: Osprey.