OLD DUFFER'S BOOK CORNER:

The Twilight of a Military Tradition

Gregory Hanlon for UCL

Not the snappiest of titles but one of the best reads since the Black "how wars start" book. The subject is the demilitarisation of the Italian nobility (and by extrapolation the Italian 'nation'). In the 30 Years War Italian officers constituted 25% of the Imperial officer corps (Italians were involved in the murder of the Friedlander for example), Breda fell to a Spinola, St Quentin was won by a Savoy, a Farnese nearly invaded England, Strozzis served France, and Medicis fought in Hungary. By the end of the 18th century they were gone - a veritable Silent Spring.

Although that is Hanlon's topic he fortunately decides to illustrate the position by exhaustively going through what the Italian contribution to war was from 1560 to 1800. This means he has to provide lots of details and maps from books otherwise not accessible to anglos - oh dear what a pity, we'll just have to put up with all this detail won't we!! He opens with tales of the Mediterranean warfare against the Turk, a very useful adjunct to Guilmartin and Braudel. Off then to the Peninsula itself to see Italy during the Spanish hegemony up to 1620. The willingness of the Italian nobility to serve the Spanish King both militarily and financially clearly arose from a symbiotic relationship.

Although Italian forces were assumed to be less docile than Germans (being motivated by honour alone) they were widely used in both Flanders, France and Hungary. The latter is particularly interesting as the immediate effect of the Turks in Hungary on (say) Tuscany was not sufficient (I think) to explain the number of volunteer units Italian princes sent. This "happy time" came to a close when Piedmont and Venice slipped the leash into anti-Habsburg alliances. The Thirty Years War (called Forty Years here) covered the period when Spanish hegemony slipped and Austria and France fought for control. In addition there were quite a number of minor-power wars (the Castro War of 1642-9) for example. Venice is given a separate chapter covering the wars for Cyprus, Candia (one of the longest sieges ever, decades from memory) and the campaigns in the Morea which so nearly cleared part of Greece of Turkish control. There is a lot of detail here without descending from historical writing to list-making.

The period of Austrian hegemony is then considered and the lack of Italian contribution of men (but a greatly increased contribution of money) is obvious. Apart from the Austrian Succession campaigns matters settled down for fifty years of peace with a mixture of Habsburg and Bourbon control. The rearming of the minor states following the Piedmontese model is also considered. Savoy-Piedmont receives its own chapter to consider the difficult task by means of which the House of Savoy sought to slip from Spanish control to French and then to independence. An astonishing piece of minor-power card play.

This is a well written interesting book which wears its massive scholarship lightly. Recommended for anyone with an interest in the topic (£ 15 for the paperback).

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