Professional Military Officer List
A viewset for viewing and editing Professional Military Officers.
GET /api/sc/professional-military-officers/?format=api&page=8
{ "count": 473, "next": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/professional-military-officers/?format=api&page=9", "previous": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/professional-military-officers/?format=api&page=7", "results": [ { "id": 351, "polity": { "id": 615, "name": "ni_nok_2", "long_name": "Middle and Late Nok", "start_year": -900, "end_year": 0 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Inferred from the following quote. \"In sum, we have not found unambiguous evidence of social complexity and the often suggested highly advanced social system of the Nok Culture. [...] As demonstrated by the uniformity of their material culture and their presumed belief system, most prominently reflected by the terracotta sculptures, external contacts within their culture must have existed. However, such a larger social network apparently was not organised and maintained in a way as to infer social inequality, social hierarchies or other signs of internal demarcation traceable by available archaeological data. None of the numerous excavations brought to light architectural remains of specified buildings or the spatial organisation of housing areas that might have been occupied by high-ranking members of the community. Further, among the admittedly few features interpreted as graves there is no evidence of any heterogeneity pointing to a difference between burials of elite members or commoners. Nowhere, an accumulation of valuable objects neither of iron nor any other materials signifying inequality in terms of property or prosperity was found.\" §REF§(Breunig and Ruppe 2016: 252) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/ES4TRU7R.§REF§" }, { "id": 352, "polity": { "id": 624, "name": "zi_great_zimbabwe", "long_name": "Great Zimbabwe", "start_year": 1270, "end_year": 1550 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Full-time specialists likely absent. Given the tendency for most public functions to be concentrated in the hands of the local chiefs and different social leaders in Karanga society, it seems reasonable to infer that Great Zimbabwean military leadership would have been distributed similarly, if Chirikure’s proposition that Great Zimbabwe’s social organization was similar to that of the Karanga is correct. “Great Zimbabwe is a ruined Shona city or guta which controlled a sizeable territory…. As a collection of homesteads and misha, the guta had no formalised bureaucracy, no formalised division of labour or occupational specialisations… // …In general [in Karanga society], imba…, was the smallest and lowest level social unit. A collection of dzimba formed misha…. A group of misha formed dunhu…. A group of matunhu formed a state (nyika) under a chief (ishe/mambo/changamire)…. Each level performed administrative, economic, religious, and political roles consistent with rank.” §REF§ (Chirikure 2021, 258-267) Shadreck Chirikure, Great Zimbabwe: Reclaiming a ‘Confiscated’ Past (Routledge, 2021). Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/MWWKAGSJ/collection §REF§. " }, { "id": 353, "polity": { "id": 655, "name": "ni_proto_yoruba", "long_name": "Proto-Yoruba", "start_year": 301, "end_year": 649 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Full-time specialists. The following quote suggests that there may have been conflict between the Proto-Yoruboid and the aboriginal populations of the lands they moved into, but the consulted literature does not otherwise provide information on military organization at this time, such as it may have been. \"The landscape that these proto-Yoruboid ancestors were moving into, however, was not devoid of human populations. The Later Stone Age (LSA) populations had occupied the region as early as the ninth millennium BC as shown by the findings at Iwò Elérú, near Àkúré. [...] Nevertheless, the proto-Yorùbá migrants seem to have gained the upper hand in their southward radiation. They displaced, and also integrated, with these aboriginal LSA populations, who were already practicing a combination of agriculture, horticulture, and hunting, similar to what the proto-Yorùbá and their descendant migrants were familiar with in their Niger-Benue ancestral homeland.\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2020: 44-45)§REF§" }, { "id": 354, "polity": { "id": 666, "name": "ni_sokoto_cal", "long_name": "Sokoto Caliphate", "start_year": 1804, "end_year": 1904 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Though there were military commanders, these were part of the administration of the caliphate, so their role wasn’t purely military. “The political programmes of the Sokoto Caliphate are set out in a number of works written by the Shehu, Abdullahi dan Fodio and Muhammad Bello. One of their most important features was to outline the political structures of caliphal administration. The Caliphate was to be led by the Caliph as the amir al-muminin (Commander of the Faithful), assisted by his wazirai (advisers), alkalai (judges), a muhtasib (the officer charged upholding morals), the sa'i (in charge of the markets), the wali al-shurta (police chief), limamai, and military commanders.” §REF§Chafe, Kabiru Sulaiman. “Challenges to the Hegemony of the Sokoto Caliphate: A Preliminary Examination.” Paideuma, vol. 40, 1994, pp. 99–109: 101. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZANHCUFH/collection§REF§ “The Shaykh had neither a standing army nor an organized structurally based military. Every able bodied was a contingent.” §REF§Okene, Ahmed Adam, and Shukri B. Ahmad. “Ibn Khaldun, Cyclical Theory and the Rise and Fall of Sokoto Caliphate, Nigeria West Africa.” International Journal of Business and Social Science, vol. 2, no. 4, 2011, pp. 80–91: 85. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/H7J2NC37/collection§REF§ “The armies of the Caliphate and its emirates were organised in a completely different fashion. There was no single army and no commander-in-chief who enjoyed respect on the basis of his seniority, experience and expertise. The armies of the emirates were also far from being neatly structured and lacked the cohesion of their enemies. Each emirate had its general and a more or less numerous corps of military commanders, but the commanders did not co-ordinate their movements and never had as much control over their troops as did their British counterparts. Lack of co-ordination and a clear chain of command was a crucial reason for the extremely poor performance of most emirate troops against the British. Differences in training were equally important.”§REF§Ubah, Chinedu N. “The British Occupation of the Sokoto Caliphate: The Military Dimension, 1897-1906.” Paideuma, vol. 40, 1994, pp. 81–97: 85. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SQX8BRCP/collection§REF§ " }, { "id": 355, "polity": { "id": 667, "name": "ni_igala_k", "long_name": "Igala", "start_year": 1600, "end_year": 1900 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " “The Igala kingdom had no standing army but there was initiation preparedness where adults were initiated and weapons were amassed awaiting any eventuality. Weapons such as arrows, bows, cutlasses, spears, shields and charms were abundantly stored in the armory. In the absence of standing army, servants, attendants, slaves and a large number of local farmers were mobilized and deployed for operation during wars. In the Igala political kingdom, Attah’s chief were at the head of those local armies but in serious wars such as the one between the Igalas and Jukuns, Attah himself would lead the battle.” §REF§Jacob, Audu. “Pre-Colonial Political Administration in the North Central Nigeria: a Study of the Igala Political Kingdom.” European Scientific Journal, vol. 10, no. 19, 2014, pp. 392–402: 399. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5AN8R7UW/collection§REF§ “Igala (with its capital at Idah) was another major political and commercial power in the Lower Niger. Igala's importance in the Niger trading system was based on its control of the Niger-Benue confluence. Consequently, it was the meeting-point of trade from the upper reaches of both rivers and, in the case of the Benue, this was specifically through Adda Kuddu which was its vassal. In addition, Igala had the military strength to enforce order on the Niger. In 1832, the Ata of Igala sent his gunboats to punish the Kakanda for disrupting trade; Budon was paying a tribute of one horse a year to Idah, and the Ata's word was law at Ikiri.” §REF§ Nwaubani, Ebere. “The Political Economy of Aboh, 1830-1857.” African Economic History, no. 27, 1999, pp. 93–116: 108. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZIM9AVA/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 356, "polity": { "id": 668, "name": "ni_nri_k", "long_name": "Ọ̀ràézè Ǹrì", "start_year": 1043, "end_year": 1911 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " “The Kingdom of Nri (1043–1911) was the West African medieval state of the Nri Igbo, a subgroup of the Igbo people, and is the oldest kingdom in Nigeria. The Kingdom of Nri was unusual in the history of world government in that its leader exercised no military power over his subjects.” §REF§Ngara, C. A. (n.d.). An Ethnohistorical Account Of Pre-Colonial Africa, African Kingdoms And African Historical States. 25:11. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/UJG3ED8W/collection§REF§ “Although bloodshed is inherent in this historical charter, for many centuries the people of Nri have had a strong commitment to peace, rooted in the belief that it is an abomination to pollute the sacred Earth. “The white men that came started by killing those who did not agree with their rules. We Nri never did so”.” §REF§ Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 246. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 357, "polity": { "id": 622, "name": "bf_west_burkina_faso_yellow_6", "long_name": "West Burkina Faso Yellow II", "start_year": 501, "end_year": 700 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests the emergence of social differentiation in this period, but little appears to be understood about this phenomenon apart from the appearance of specialised smiths and the formation of senior and cadet social segments. \"During Yellow II, the inhabitants of Mound 4 began a process that eventually led to centralization of iron production, as described in detail above. Iron ore extraction involves profound digging in the earth, the realm of spirits, and historically in Bwa society the practice is reserved solely for specialized smiths, who also excavate burials (see discussions below). The mid first millennium A.D. therefore witnessed a transformation from redundant social and economic roles for houses to specialization in at least one craft activity. While houses were still highly independent, even producing their own pottery, a formalized village structure was likely present with both cadet and senior social segments, founded upon common descent with a common ancestor.\"§REF§(Dueppen 2012: 28)§REF§ " }, { "id": 358, "polity": { "id": 663, "name": "ni_oyo_emp_1", "long_name": "Oyo", "start_year": 1300, "end_year": 1535 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " \"Contexts that could shed light on the dynamics of social structure and hierarchies in the metropolis, such as the royal burial site of Oyo monarchs and the residences of the elite population, have not been investigated. The mapping of the palace structures has not been followed by systematic excavations (Soper, 1992); and questions of the economy, military system, and ideology of the empire have not been addressed archaeologically, although their general patterns are known from historical studies (e.g, Johnson, 1921; Law, 1977).\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2005: 151-152)§REF§ Regarding this period, however, one of the historical studies mentioned in this quote also notes: \"Of the earliestperiod of Oyo history, before the sixteenth century, very little is known.\"§REF§(Law 1977: 33)§REF§ Law does not then go on to provide specific information directly relevant to this variable." }, { "id": 359, "polity": { "id": 570, "name": "es_spanish_emp_2", "long_name": "Spanish Empire II", "start_year": 1716, "end_year": 1814 }, "year_from": 1716, "year_to": 1814, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": "To the high honors associated with the military profession, were joined three other characteristics which help to explain the predominance that military officers acquired in governmental positions during the reigns of Philip V. The first one was that military officers, perhaps more than any other class, owed all their promotions and rewards to the king alone. With the reduction of the Council of War to the role of a military appeal court and the exclusion of viceroys and captains-general from appointing or recommending individuals for promotions above the rank of sargento, the position of military officers was made increasingly dependent upon direct decisions from the king, a situation which was accentuated for members of the royal guards.”<ref>(Eissa-Barroso 2017: 109) Eissa-Barroso, Francisco A. 2017. The Spanish Monarchy and the Creation of the Viceroyalty of New Granada (1717–1739). Leiden: Brill. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XNET89MW</ref> “The creation of a new army and navy was an impressive achievement. During the centuries of world predominance the nation, like others in Europe, had no permanent military forces and recruited armies only when required. Now, for the first time in its history, it began to maintain a powerful standing army. The new Bourbon army, recruited with great difficulty because of the objections everywhere (especially in the Crown of Aragon) to military service, inevitably involved important administrative and fiscal reforms. We have seen that the poor condition of the Spanish forces in the War of Succession made it necessary at every stage to have the support of foreign troops and foreign generals. Philip had decreed a few limited reforms during the war, mainly in order to obtain recruits. But the problem of securing a good standing army remained unresolved. Fortunately, many of the foreign soldiers and officers who had served in the war continued their career under the Spanish crown. As a result, in the 1720s up to one third of the infantry of Spain consisted of foreigners who chose to continue the old tradition of serving the Spanish crown. In 1734 there were thirty thousand foreigners in service, mainly Belgians, followed in number by Swiss and then by Irish. In effect, the astonishing number of Belgians serving in the Spanish army meant that the famous Army of Flanders had reconstituted itself in the peninsula. The annual cost of the army in 1725 was nearly five and a half million escudos, a massive sum that had no precedent in the history of the Spanish treasury.”<ref>(Kamen 2003: 451) Kamen, Henry. 2003. Empire: How Spain Became a World Power, 1492-1763. New York: Harper Collins. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YRK2VXUS</ref>" }, { "id": 360, "polity": { "id": 632, "name": "nl_dutch_emp_1", "long_name": "Dutch Empire", "start_year": 1648, "end_year": 1795 }, "year_from": 1648, "year_to": 1672, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"The government measures introduced in July 1673 meant that the company commanders were no longer forced to commit fraud in order to be able to maintain their units, as had been the case at the time of Maurits and Frederik Hendrik. The captains and rittmasters were transformed from suppliers and leaders of mercenaries into professional officers employed by the state.\"§REF§(Nimwengen 2010: 342) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/P4FWE8NE/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 361, "polity": { "id": 632, "name": "nl_dutch_emp_1", "long_name": "Dutch Empire", "start_year": 1648, "end_year": 1795 }, "year_from": 1673, "year_to": 1795, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"The government measures introduced in July 1673 meant that the company commanders were no longer forced to commit fraud in order to be able to maintain their units, as had been the case at the time of Maurits and Frederik Hendrik. The captains and rittmasters were transformed from suppliers and leaders of mercenaries into professional officers employed by the state.\"§REF§(Nimwengen 2010: 342) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/P4FWE8NE/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 362, "polity": { "id": 695, "name": "ug_nkore_k_2", "long_name": "Nkore", "start_year": 1750, "end_year": 1901 }, "year_from": 1750, "year_to": 1838, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"Following the Nyoro invasion, Ntare also began to engage in military innovation, organizing the first regiments (emitwe) of trained warriors rather than relying upon a hasty call-up of able-bodied men. [...] The system of standing regiments (emitwe) under the command of royal appointees begun by Ntare IV was revived by his successors and became fully operational under the command of royal appointees begun by Ntare IV was revived by his successors and became fully operational under Mugabe Mutambuka (1839-67) a century later.\"§REF§(Steinhart 1978: 138, 144) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/D3FV7SKV/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 363, "polity": { "id": 695, "name": "ug_nkore_k_2", "long_name": "Nkore", "start_year": 1750, "end_year": 1901 }, "year_from": 1839, "year_to": 1901, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"Following the Nyoro invasion, Ntare also began to engage in military innovation, organizing the first regiments (emitwe) of trained warriors rather than relying upon a hasty call-up of able-bodied men. [...] The system of standing regiments (emitwe) under the command of royal appointees begun by Ntare IV was revived by his successors and became fully operational under the command of royal appointees begun by Ntare IV was revived by his successors and became fully operational under Mugabe Mutambuka (1839-67) a century later.\"§REF§(Steinhart 1978: 138, 144) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/D3FV7SKV/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 364, "polity": { "id": 579, "name": "gb_england_plantagenet", "long_name": "Plantagenet England", "start_year": 1154, "end_year": 1485 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Soldiers and officers were employed by Dukes in their territories and for the King’s army.§REF§Coss 2019: 40-42) Coss, Peter. ‘Andrew Ayton, the Military Community and the Evolution of the Gentry in Fourteenth-Century England’, in Military Communities in Late Medieval England: Essays in Honour of Andrew Ayton, ed. Craig L. Lambert, David Simpkin, and Gary P. Baker, vol. 44 (Boydell & Brewer, 2018), 31–50, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781787442221.007. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/WIE6TS8M§REF§§REF§(Simpkin 2018: 50-60) Simpkin, David. 2018. ‘Knights Banneret, Military Recruitment and Social Status, c. 1270–c. 1420: A View from the Reign of Edward I’, in Military Communities in Late Medieval England: Essays in Honour of Andrew Ayton, ed. Craig L. Lambert, David Simpkin, and Gary P. Baker, vol. 44 (Boydell & Brewer, 2018), 51–76, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781787442221.008. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4V56P62M§REF§" }, { "id": 365, "polity": { "id": 575, "name": "us_united_states_of_america_reconstruction", "long_name": "Us Reconstruction-Progressive", "start_year": 1866, "end_year": 1933 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 366, "polity": { "id": 563, "name": "us_antebellum", "long_name": "Antebellum US", "start_year": 1776, "end_year": 1865 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 367, "polity": { "id": 567, "name": "at_habsburg_2", "long_name": "Austria - Habsburg Dynasty II", "start_year": 1649, "end_year": 1918 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Habsburg grand strategy is also reflected in the institutions that Austria developed for conceiving of and implementing decisions about means and ends in both their conceptual and material dimensions.39 These included a court war council with specialized roles to prepare for war on a standing basis, a professional and highly competent diplomatic corps, an intelligence bureau, and a general staff.”§REF§(Mitchell 2018: 15) Mitchell, A. Wess. 2018. The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire. Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TESFCKPW§REF§ “Reversals at the start of the war also prompted refinements in Habsburg planning at the operational level. In 1757, the foundation was laid for a professional General Staff, with a separate reporting structure from that of the civilian- dominated Hofkriegsrat.71 These changes, together with the improved education for military officers and heightened emphasis on maps and planning, had an unmistakable effect on the army’s performance in the field.§REF§(Mitchell 2018: 180) Mitchell, A. Wess. 2018. The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire. Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TESFCKPW§REF§ " }, { "id": 368, "polity": { "id": 295, "name": "tm_khwarezmid_emp", "long_name": "Khwarezmid Empire", "start_year": 1157, "end_year": 1231 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Military officers and commanders were always from elite families or ranks in the court.§REF§Buniyatov 2015: 71-73. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SAEVEJFH§REF§" }, { "id": 369, "polity": { "id": 360, "name": "ir_saffarid_emp", "long_name": "Saffarid Caliphate", "start_year": 861, "end_year": 1003 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Officers were employed full time into the Saffarid army and given a salary which was paid every three months, plus additional payments upon particular successes.§REF§Frye 2007: 110, 127. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/7XE9P8HB§REF§" }, { "id": 370, "polity": { "id": 587, "name": "gb_british_emp_1", "long_name": "British Empire I", "start_year": 1690, "end_year": 1849 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Military officers were posted across the empire.§REF§(Chambers and Chambers 1847: 274) Chambers, Robert and Chambers, William. eds. 1847. History and Present State the British Empire. London: W.R.Chambers. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/K77JRGEL§REF§" }, { "id": 371, "polity": { "id": 566, "name": "fr_france_napoleonic", "long_name": "Napoleonic France", "start_year": 1816, "end_year": 1870 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 373, "polity": { "id": 305, "name": "it_lombard_k", "long_name": "Lombard Kingdom", "start_year": 568, "end_year": 774 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " All freemen were expected to carry out military service as and when their duke or king summoned them. However there does not seem to have been a standing professional army.§REF§Christie 1998: 118. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/975BEGKF§REF§§REF§Clayton 2021: 162. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4N2ZFRX8§REF§" }, { "id": 374, "polity": { "id": 797, "name": "de_empire_1", "long_name": "Holy Roman Empire - Ottonian-Salian Dynasty", "start_year": 919, "end_year": 1125 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Professional officers are not mentioned in the sources, however it is likely that they performed the same duties as the soldiers and were called upon by their monarch or lord when needed as most rulers did not have a standing army. §REF§Wilson 2016: 5-7. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N5M9R9XA§REF§§REF§Power 2006: 21. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4V4WE3ZK§REF§" }, { "id": 375, "polity": { "id": 561, "name": "us_hohokam_culture", "long_name": "Hohokam Culture", "start_year": 300, "end_year": 1500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 376, "polity": { "id": 573, "name": "ru_golden_horde", "long_name": "Golden Horde", "start_year": 1240, "end_year": 1440 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " The elite classes made up the officer ranks of the army but they were not necessarily professionals. The sources have not confirmed this. §REF§Khakimov and Favereau 2017: 259-260. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QL8H3FN8§REF§" }, { "id": 377, "polity": { "id": 786, "name": "gb_british_emp_2", "long_name": "British Empire II", "start_year": 1850, "end_year": 1968 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Military officers were posted across the empire. In 1881 British India had an imperial army of 63,000, with 4,400 officers. §REF§(Smith 1881: 4, 9) Smith, George. 1882. The Geography of British India, Political & Physical. London: J. Murray. http://archive.org/details/geographybritis00smitgoog. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/AW5H8NPI§REF§" }, { "id": 378, "polity": { "id": 601, "name": "ru_soviet_union", "long_name": "Soviet Union", "start_year": 1918, "end_year": 1991 }, "year_from": 1923, "year_to": 1991, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": "The Red Army was recruited exclusively from among workers and peasants and immediately faced the problem of creating a competent and reliable officers’ corps. Trotsky met this problem by mobilizing former officers of the imperial army. Up to 1921 about 50,000 such officers served in the Red Army and with but few exceptions remained loyal to the Soviet regime. Political advisers called commissars were attached to all army units to watch over the reliability of officers and to carry out political propaganda among the troops. As the Russian Civil War continued, the short-term officers’ training schools began to turn out young officers who were regarded as more reliable politically.\r\nThe number of Communist Party members increased among the Red Army’s ranks from 19 to 49 percent during 1925–33, and among officers this increase was much higher. Moreover, all commanders were graduates of Soviet military academies and officers’ training schools, admission to which was limited to those recommended by the Communist Party.\r\n\r\n§REF§“Red Army,” Encyclopedia, Encyclopædia Britannica, last modified 2023, accessed November 22, 2023.<a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/FZC67C4G\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: FZC67C4G</b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 379, "polity": { "id": 571, "name": "ru_romanov_dyn_2", "long_name": "Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty II", "start_year": 1776, "end_year": 1917 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": "The period saw significant efforts to restructure officer-enlisted relations and recruit officers in tune with changing political and societal contexts. There were large-scale purges of officers post-1906 for various reasons, including age and perceived incompetence. Despite attempts to base promotions on merit, these were often resisted or poorly implemented. The officer corps was influenced by political and nationalistic considerations, with a range of political views among the officers. Younger officers and rising generals advocated for military reforms, emphasizing education, equal treatment, and merit-based promotions.§REF§Roger R. Reese, The Imperial Russian Army in Peace, War, and Revolution, 1856-1917, Modern war studies (Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2019).<a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/WS82YGDU\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: WS82YGDU</b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 380, "polity": { "id": 600, "name": "ru_romanov_dyn_1", "long_name": "Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty I", "start_year": 1614, "end_year": 1775 }, "year_from": 1614, "year_to": 1699, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "absent", "comment": null, "description": "Peter the Great's Military Reforms: Before Peter the Great, the Russian military largely comprised villagers and a few professional units like the Streltsy and Cossacks, often officered by foreigners. Peter initiated comprehensive reforms, introducing a standing army in 1699. He modernized the army, enforcing uniform training for all soldiers and creating elite Guards regiments. By 1725, the Russian army had expanded to 130,000 men, significantly professionalizing its ranks.§REF§Frederick W. Kagan and Robin Higham, eds., The Military History of Tsarist Russia (New York, NY: Palgrave, 2002).<a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/28NSCAIL\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 28NSCAIL</b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 381, "polity": { "id": 600, "name": "ru_romanov_dyn_1", "long_name": "Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty I", "start_year": 1614, "end_year": 1775 }, "year_from": 1699, "year_to": 1775, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": "" }, { "id": 382, "polity": { "id": 251, "name": "cn_western_han_dyn", "long_name": "Western Han Empire", "start_year": -202, "end_year": 9 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": "“In order to understand the nature and significance of these changes, one must first examine the Western Han military system carried forward, in modified form, from the Qin. Every adult male between the ages of 23 […] and 56 was required to give two full years of military service, one in the capital or at the frontier and one as a regular soldier in his own commandery. Selected individuals were trained as ‘Skilled Soldiers’ (cai guan) who were expert in using the crossbow, ‘Cavalrymen’ (ji shi), or sailors on a ‘Towered Warship’ (lou chuan), all of whom received higher status and better treatment. […] Each year in the eighth month every commandery was supposed to hold an inspection in which the commandery troops under the direction of the Commandant (du wei), the local military official, demonstrated their skills to the Grand Administrator (tai shou), the head of local government.\r\n\r\n“There are two essential features in this system that must be noted. First, while all free adult males were obligated to provide military service, campaign armies were based on the three categories of elite troops: the ‘Skilled Soldiers’, ‘Cavalrymen’ and ‘Towered Warships’. Other soldiers served as porters, guards, and (literally) spear carriers, but the burden of combat against substantial, armed enemies was born by the elite categories of warriors. The division of armed forces—well-trained, crack units who were responsible for significant combat as opposed to partially-trained conscripts who provided support and the weight of massed bodies—was inherited from the Warring States period. Second, for local government the key feature was the annual training session and inspection under the supervision of a specialist military official.”§REF§(Lewis 2000, 34-36) Lewis, M. E. 2000. The Han Abolition of Universal Military Service. In H. J. Van De Ven (ed.) Warfare in Chinese History pp. 33-76. Brill. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/the%20han%20abolition/titleCreatorYear/items/UKM7G8B8/item-list§REF§" }, { "id": 383, "polity": { "id": 418, "name": "in_gurjara_pratihara_dyn", "long_name": "Gurjar-Pratihara Dynasty", "start_year": 730, "end_year": 1030 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Standing armies.\r\n\r\n\"The feudal levies due from subordinates to the Gurjara king were supplemented by standing armies garrisoned on the frontiers.\"§REF§(Deyell 2001, 397) Deyell, J. 2001. The Gurjara-Pratiharas. In R. Chakravarti (ed) Trade in Early India. OUP. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/MF59EW5P/library§REF§" }, { "id": 384, "polity": { "id": 439, "name": "mn_shiwei", "long_name": "Shiwei", "start_year": 600, "end_year": 1000 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "absent", "comment": null, "description": "The \"tribal leaders\" mentioned in the following quote likely served as the non-professional equivalent to military officers. “The Shiwei, in the periods of the Sui and Tang, were relatively weak in the northwestern Manchuria. Their form of social organization appeared fairly loose and still remained at tribal level. Clans and tribes were the basic social patterns. The productive activities were organized by the tribal leaders, as described in the Xin Tangshu, \"in hunting (the tribes) were banded together, and dispersed afterward; the tribes did not rule over one another or submitted to one another\".”§REF§(Xu 2005, 180)§REF§" }, { "id": 385, "polity": { "id": 507, "name": "ir_elymais_2", "long_name": "Elymais II", "start_year": 25, "end_year": 215 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"The military potential of Elymais was definitely greater (an army of 15,000 is attested for it in 124 bc), but the Arsakids forfeited the country intermittently.\"§REF§(Olbrycht 2016. 309) Olbrycht, M. J. 2016. MANPOWER RESOURCES AND ARMY ORGANISATION IN THE ARSAKID EMPIRE. Ancient Society 46: 291-338. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/MANPOWER%20RESOURCES%20AND%20ARMY%20ORGANISATION%20IN%20THE%20ARSAKID%20EMPIRE/titleCreatorYear/items/3HUSBQ3E/item-list§REF§ \r\n\r\nBetween this information and likely continuity with the Seleucids, it seems reasonable to infer the existence of a well-organised army with likely professional soldiers and officers. \r\n\r\nA regular force of soldiers and mercenaries were employed by the Seleucid kings. §REF§Aperghis, G. G. 2004. The Seleukid Royal Economy: The Finances and Financial Administration of the Seleukid Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p197§REF§" }, { "id": 386, "polity": { "id": 548, "name": "it_italy_k", "long_name": "Italian Kingdom Late Antiquity", "start_year": 476, "end_year": 489 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"By the time the Western Empire collapsed in 476 AD, the army was primarily a mercenary barbarian force.\"§REF§(Morgan 2012) Morgan, James F. 2012. The Roman Empire. Fall of the West; Survival of the East. AuthorHouse. Bloomington.§REF§" }, { "id": 387, "polity": { "id": 546, "name": "cn_five_dyn", "long_name": "Five Dynasties Period", "start_year": 906, "end_year": 970 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"The fubing system had originally preserved the Chinese ideal of the farmer-soldier, but after the early Tang soldiers became increasingly a separate, professional class. By the tenth century, soldiers, to the intense consternation of statesmen, were wholly divorced from any productive activities and earned their livings by skill at arms. Despite many attempts to replace this \"mercenary\" system, it remained in place until the end of imperial times.\"§REF§(Lorge 2005, 7)§REF§" }, { "id": 388, "polity": { "id": 547, "name": "cn_wei_k", "long_name": "Wei Kingdom", "start_year": 220, "end_year": 265 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"By the end of the Eastern Han the system of universal military service, developed during the Warring States period and maintained into Western Han, had been abandoned, as China’s rulers found smaller, more professional forces to be of greater utility in guarding the steppe frontier and also less of a threat to the central authority (they were, for example, less susceptible to being suborned by local elites). These forces included highly effective cavalry contingents recruited from among steppe peoples, such as the Wuhuan of the Northeast. The trend toward the creation of a long-serving, professional soldiery culminated during the multi-cornered civil wars at the end of the second century and crystallized in the form of new military institutions during the Three Kingdoms period.\"§REF§(Graff 2019: 294) Graff, D. A. 2019. The Art of War. In Dien and Knapp (eds) The Cambridge History of China Volume 2: The Six Dynasties, 220–589 pp. 275-295. Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/8I4JZ4PC/library§REF§" }, { "id": 389, "polity": { "id": 250, "name": "cn_qin_emp", "long_name": "Qin Empire", "start_year": -338, "end_year": -207 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": "Paid standing army. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/A3BV6R7W\">[Davidson 2018, p. 69]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 390, "polity": { "id": 426, "name": "cn_southern_song_dyn", "long_name": "Southern Song", "start_year": 1127, "end_year": 1279 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": "\"The prestige of military officials was almost entirely eclipsed by that of government officials.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/WN3JCFXA\">[Gernet 1962, p. 70]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 391, "polity": { "id": 423, "name": "cn_eastern_zhou_warring_states", "long_name": "Eastern Zhou", "start_year": -475, "end_year": -256 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": "Generals existed in contemporary polities: \"Wu Qi, a military general who arrived [in Chu] from Wei in 390 BC....\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/CSPZPNV5\">[Hui 2005]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 392, "polity": { "id": 506, "name": "gr_macedonian_emp", "long_name": "Macedonian Empire", "start_year": -330, "end_year": -312 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Phillip II learned from observing Thebans the superiority of organizing army in trained units and having a professional officer corps. §REF§(Gabriel 2010, 24, 46)§REF§" }, { "id": 393, "polity": { "id": 711, "name": "om_busaidi_imamate_1", "long_name": "Imamate of Oman and Muscat", "start_year": 1749, "end_year": 1895 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "absent", "comment": "First Omani standing army established in 1954. \"At the end of 1954 we can observe, with retrospect, several processes under way: the extension of the Sultan’s infl uence to parts of the interior in which he had not previously held sway; the persistence of Imamate ambition directly to contest control of the interior in the name of a potential independent state; and initial steps, on the Sultan’s part, towards the establishment of a standing army, conventionally one of the key attributes of a modern state.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/EHPCHGDM\">[Jones_Ridout 2015]</a> Note that Ibadi Islam forbids the existence of a standing army: \"Because it is the absolute obligation of every true Muslim to support the just Imam and render aid against the community's enemies, the Imam has no need for a standing army; indeed he may not have such a force under his command for that way lies the slippery path to despotic power (sultan al-jawr).\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/RIM8EFNG\">[Wilkinson 1976]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 394, "polity": { "id": 708, "name": "pt_portuguese_emp_1", "long_name": "Portuguese Empire - Renaissance Period", "start_year": 1495, "end_year": 1579 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "absent", "comment": "The following quote shows that, as late as the 18th century, Portugal still lacked professional military officers. \"João V’s government did pay some attention during the early years of his reign [i.e. late 1600s/early 1700s] to military re-organisation. [...] [S]uch reforms as were carried out did little in practice to enhance the power of the monarchy, either internally or externally. As in the past, senior military commands were filled by prominent nobles – and there is no indication that much was done in Joanine Portugal to bring about officer professionalisation.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TKKDT5CZ\">[Disney 2009]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 395, "polity": { "id": 709, "name": "pt_portuguese_emp_2", "long_name": "Portuguese Empire - Early Modern", "start_year": 1640, "end_year": 1806 }, "year_from": 1640, "year_to": 1750, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "absent", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 396, "polity": { "id": 709, "name": "pt_portuguese_emp_2", "long_name": "Portuguese Empire - Early Modern", "start_year": 1640, "end_year": 1806 }, "year_from": 1751, "year_to": 1806, "tag": "UND", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "uncoded", "comment": "Note that the following quote does not specify when the professionalization of the army began. It is advisable to look for more specialised sources in the interest of greater accuracy. \"The last years of the eighteenth century saw the beginning of fundamental change spilling out from the city into the rural districts north and south of Lisbon. [...] Another change of long-term significance was the professionalisation of the armed forces. The ragged militias and personal battalions of the aristocratic estates were replaced by permanent regiments with formal ranks which recognised competence as well as social status. The promotion of career officers in what had been a noble profession created a military class which sometimes identified with the growing merchant and bureaucratic élite. Officers also gained technical training designed for military defence but incidentally applicable to industrial projects. The new officers were later to play an important role in the politics of revolution and some looked back on the temporarily disgraced Marquis of Pombal as their hero.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NNKB4C26\">[Birmingham 2003]</a>", "description": "" }, { "id": 397, "polity": { "id": 337, "name": "ru_moskva_rurik_dyn", "long_name": "Grand Principality of Moscow, Rurikid Dynasty", "start_year": 1480, "end_year": 1613 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Full-time specialists<br>“Through the introduction of pomest’e, the grand princes were able to maintain a group of cavalry (estimated at around 17,500 by the time of the reign of Ivan IV)20 who were ready at a moment’s notice” §REF§Perrie 2006: 225§REF§" }, { "id": 398, "polity": { "id": 710, "name": "tz_tana", "long_name": "Classic Tana", "start_year": 1000, "end_year": 1498 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "absent", "comment": "The following quote suggests that the professionalization of the military in Zanzibar began in 1877, meaning that the same might have been the case across the Swahili Coast more broadly. \"While Christian converts in the Sultanate of Zanzibar were in a very difficult position which British protection could revert only with the utmost difficulty, for liberated persons an opportunity to raise one’s social status was to join the Sultan’s regular army. It was created in 1877 under the direction and command of a British officer.\" (Pawełczak 2020: 64) NB can no longer reconstruct the full reference!", "description": null }, { "id": 399, "polity": { "id": 535, "name": "ug_bunyoro_k_2", "long_name": "Bito Dynasty", "start_year": 1700, "end_year": 1894 }, "year_from": 1700, "year_to": 1870, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "absent", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 400, "polity": { "id": 535, "name": "ug_bunyoro_k_2", "long_name": "Bito Dynasty", "start_year": 1700, "end_year": 1894 }, "year_from": 1871, "year_to": 1894, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "present", "comment": "\"Kabarega is also credited with military reforms that created a standing army with companies (barusura) of soldiers who were often under the leadership of foreign mercenaries appointed directly by the king.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/WMEMW3T7\">[Robertshaw_Espinova_Lane 2016, p. 211]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 401, "polity": { "id": 534, "name": "ug_bunyoro_k_1", "long_name": "Cwezi Dynasty", "start_year": 1450, "end_year": 1699 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_military_officer", "professional_military_officer": "absent", "comment": "Referring to a late-19th century monarch: \"Kabarega is also credited with military reforms that created a standing army with companies (barusura) of soldiers who were often under the leadership of foreign mercenaries appointed directly by the king.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/WMEMW3T7\">[Robertshaw_Espinova_Lane 2016, p. 211]</a>", "description": null } ] }