the role of the state in raising, organizing, and paying them grew enormously as the military entrepreneur disappeared. Increasing state control led to a gradual improvement in discipline, and plunder and wanton destruction declined. War, however, had a limited effect on economic progress and growth. In much of central and eastern Europe the harsh imperatives of the quest for military strength were supremely important in moulding society as a whole and giving it a distinctive character. War and Society in Europe of the Old Regime provides a detailed account of how the rise of nationalism and people's armies prepared the way for the dawning of a new age.

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