Trace italienne

Theories about role in the Military Revolution

According to Geoffrey Parker in his article, The Military Revolution 1560–1660: A Myth?, the appearance of the trace Italienne in early modern Europe, and the difficulty of taking such fortifications, is what resulted in a profound change in military strategy, most importantly, Parker argued, an increase in army sizes necessary to attack these forts. "Wars became a series of protracted sieges", Parker suggests, and open-pitch battles became "irrelevant" in regions where the trace Italienne existed. Ultimately, Parker argues, "military geography", in other words, the existence or absence of the trace Italienne in a given area, shaped military strategy in the early modern period. This is a profound alteration of the Military Revolution thesis.