1. Projecting Power in the Early Modern World

Lee, Wayne E.

doi:10.18574/nyu/9780814753088.003.0001

Cited by 3 publications

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“…As discussed later, the military revolution remains a live issue for historians, especially its global implications (Agoston, 2014;Andrade, 2013Andrade, , 2016Clulow, 2014;Eaton and Wagoner, 2014;Lee, 2011aLee, , 2011bLee, , 2015Parrott, 2012). However, does it really matter for IR and social scientists more generally?…”

Section: The Military Revolution and European Expansion In Irmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…He further observes that there were no officers and no formal chain of command in such forces. Nor was the private character of the Spanish military efforts in the Americas limited only to the initial encounters, with Lee (2011a: 6) noting of subsequent expansion that, “appeals to the king’s authority notwithstanding, throughout the seventeenth century virtually all of these actions were conducted as private-enterprise ventures.” For most of the time, there was no Spanish navy either, the crown relying exclusively on chartered private ships (Kamen, 2002: 170).…”

Section: The Irrelevance Of the Military Revolution For European Expansionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This was not true in the Americas as the demographic catastrophe caused by exposure to Old World diseases helped to bring about political collapse, but this had little to do with military factors as such. Spanish infantry forces in the Americas relied primarily on their steel swords and armor for their crucial early victories (Black, 1998; Hassig, 2006; Lee, 2011a). Cavalry charges, volley fire, naval broadsides, and field artillery were mainly absent.…”

Section: The Irrelevance Of the Military Revolution For European Expansionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Local sources from the time tended to see these campaigns as internecine Amerindian wars in which the Spanish played a cameo role (Restall, 2003: 46–50). Kamen (2002: 112) agrees that the single most important factor explaining Spanish expansion in the Americas was that “the conquerors always worked hand in hand with native peoples who opposed the ruling empire.” Lee (2011a: 11) goes even further in concluding that “in many ways we might explain European success and failures entirely as an issue of logistics, or, better, how well they succeeded in using indigenous aid to overcome the logistical challenges.”…”

Section: Explaining Early Modern European Expansion: Local Allies and Indigenous Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Myths of military revolution: European expansion and Eurocentrism

Sharman

2017

European Journal of International Relations

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This article critiques explanations of the rise of the West in the early modern period premised on the thesis that military competition drove the development of gunpowder technology, new tactics, and the Westphalian state, innovations that enabled European trans-continental conquests. Even theories in International Relations and other fields that posit economic or social root causes of Western expansion often rely on this “military revolution” thesis as a crucial intervening variable. Yet, the factors that defined the military revolution in Europe were absent in European expeditions to Asia, Africa, and the Americas, and conventional accounts are often marred by Eurocentric biases. Given the insignificance of military innovations, Western expansion prior to the Industrial Revolution is best explained by Europeans’ ability to garner local support and allies, but especially by their deference to powerful non-Western polities.

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