Organisation stratégique et bénéfices économiques. Les garnisons à Gorinchem et Doesburg pendant la révolte des Pays-Bas (1572-1648)'

In the course of the early modern period the financial and organizational conditions to enable warfare on a massive scale were gradually fulfilled. The military transformations cannot be examined without taking into account the political-institutional transformations of the early modern era. Rulers instigated central administrations and taxation in order to finance the increasing burden of defence. As a result, the fiscal-military state emerged. This type of state was most successful in combining an efficient taxation with an elaborate organization of defence. However, it took many centuries for rulers to achieve 'success in bureaucratising organized violence and encapsulating it within civil society'. The problems concerning the housing of troops illustrate the tensions between the civilians and the military.
A valuable point of departure is the analysis of the regulations regarding the financing and organization of the quartering of troops. The experiences of the inhabitants of garrison towns varied greatly across Europe. The arrangements between armed forces and civilians were often disadvantageous for the latter in the Southern Netherlands and France. In England the quartering of troops was not popular either. In parts of the Northern Netherlands, the immediate cause for towns to revolt against the Spanish sovereign was a strong reluctance to host troops in the 1570's. However, after the initial phase of the Dutch Revolt, the rulers of the new state were successful in organizing and financing the boarding of troops in an efficient way. The coming about of these arrangements paralleled the early transformation of the Dutch Republic into an efficient fiscal-military state.