210:) resident in Prussia and any sons or servants they brought with them and (vii) the Prussian-born sons of foreigners provided their fathers had either built a house or cultivated a wasteland. One could also be exempted if he was studying at a school or if active on his own in commerce or agriculture, but this exemption ended the moment one left his occupation or was found to be leading an "unstable lifestyle". The student exemption was especially widely abused and after 24 May 1793, one claiming it had to provide proof of studies.
74:. The system was distinctly Prussian. Every male was from the youngest possible age enrolled in the army, and by 1740 the Prussian army, with a strength of 3.6% of the total population, was proportionately the largest in Europe. The new system replaced coercive recruiting, which in turn replaced the hiring of undependable and expensive mercenary forces. It allowed the army to double from 38,000 to 76,000, making it the fourth largest in Europe, and it linked the local population more closely to the royal government.
134:). The term "recruitment" thereafter applied to the hiring of foreign mercenaries only; cantonists were said to be inducted into service when they came of age, but the practice of forcibly and illegally impressing peasants into service continued on a small scale throughout the 18th century, and was the source of numerous complaints. Soldiers were also sometimes sold by one regimental commander to another, but this practice was outlawed by
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with France made the canton system increasingly obsolete. A Cabinet Order of 21 November 1808 reassigned the regiments of the new
Prussian army—limited to 42,000 men by Tilsit—to their cantons. On 6 June 1809, the sons of foreigners lost their exemption and on 8 September the sons of soldiers born in
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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
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abolished the provincial militias, obligated his soldiers to lifelong service and transferred all responsibility for recruitment from civilian authorities to regimental officers. This system, which remained in place until the introduction of the cantons, occasioned much abuse and even bloodshed.
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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
128:, AKOs) of 1 and 8 May and 15 September, the country was divided into cantons and the "enrollment of male youth" mandated within the cantons. As a result, recruitment was technically replaced by enrollment and underage male peasants converted into cantonists (
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introduced through a
Cabinet Order. 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
108:—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 (
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issued a revised regulation for the canton system. It laid out the classes that were unconditionally exempt from service: (i) the nobility, (ii) commoners who owned estates valued at over 12,000
255:. 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
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proper, 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.
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114:): 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.
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263:(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.
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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
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it consisted of about 5900. The canton system did not cover all of
Prussia. Certain regions inherited exemptions from before 1733, but by 1808 only the cities of
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and their sons provided that none were craftsmen or peasants, (iv) civil servants, (v) the sons of university professors, (vi) foreigners (
439:. Studies in Central European Histories. Translated by Gagliardo, John G. Boston: Humanities Press International. Originally published as
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and in preparation for her declaration of war against France, the canton system was suspended "for the duration of the war" and universal
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Militärsystem und
Sozialleben im alten Preußen 1713–1807: Die Anfänge der sozialen Militarisierung der preußisch-deutschen Gesellschaft
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Military System and Social Life in Old Regime
Prussia, 1713–1807: The Beginnings of the Social Militarization of Prusso-German Society
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In 1733, Frederick
William converted these widespread practices into a universal system. By a series of three Cabinet Orders (
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The average canton comprised about 5000 hearths, but the number of soldiers varied considerably. In the
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recruits—and the royal finances—which required the peasants' agrarian labour—was only solved by the
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of those recruits taken from their own estates (commanders were invariably either estate owners—
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between 1733 and 1813. The country was divided into recruiting districts called
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A series of reforms, such as the introduction of a progressive legal code, the
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On 9 February 1813, following
Prussia's participation in the disastrous
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in edicts of 1743 and 1748, although it was already in decline by 1740.
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a regiment typically consisted of 5000 soldiers, while in the
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prior to 1806. The Prussian king held several fiefs of the
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222:Allgemeines Landrecht fĂĽr die PreuĂźischen Staaten
16:1733–1813 military recruitment system in Prussia
70:), and each canton was the responsibility of a
259:Gesetz ĂĽber die Verpflichtung zum Kriegsdienst
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527:1733 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
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522:1810s disestablishments in Prussia
443:(Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1962).
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532:1813 disestablishments in Germany
477:Prussian Line Infantry, 1792–1815
82:Upon his accession in 1713, King
517:1730s establishments in Prussia
542:Frederick William I of Prussia
464:The Rise of Prussia, 1700–1830
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125:Allerhöchste Kabinetts-Ordre
488:Schmidt, Oliver H. (2003).
118:Establishment of the system
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475:Hofschröer, Peter (1984).
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156:Duchy of Further Pomerania
152:Margraviate of Brandenburg
240:French invasion of Russia
184:French Revolutionary Wars
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537:Military recruitment
435:BĂĽsch, Otto (1997).
228:abolition of serfdom
188:Frederick William II
287:in addition to the
84:Frederick William I
289:Kingdom of Prussia
226:, in 1794 and the
146:Number of soldiers
78:Historical context
52:) was a system of
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244:conscription
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214:Obsolescence
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140:Frederick II
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111:Enrollierung
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56:used by the
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34:Kantonsystem
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201:Reichstaler
194:Reichstaler
178:1792 reform
164:Brandenburg
136:Frederick I
131:Kantonisten
54:recruitment
506:Categories
492:. Oxford:
407:Dwyer 2013
372:Dwyer 2013
357:BĂĽsch 1997
345:BĂĽsch 1997
330:BĂĽsch 1997
318:BĂĽsch 1997
306:Dwyer 2013
468:Routledge
449:cite book
207:Ausländer
102:furloughs
26:‹See Tfd›
251:Landwehr
72:regiment
428:Sources
186:, King
172:Potsdam
168:Breslau
138:and by
106:Junkers
93:peasant
67:Kantone
62:cantons
494:Osprey
481:Osprey
160:Berlin
30:German
267:Notes
42:) or
455:link
170:and
19:The
36:or
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