Decline
Szlachta from regions like the Commonwealth's eastern and southern borderlands, where combat was common, created fairly competent units, while those from peaceful regions of the Commonwealth lacked battle experience and training compared to regular-military troops or mercenaries. In time, pospolite ruszenie became increasingly amateurish and inefficient when compared to professional soldiers; Bardach notes that this process can be seen as early as the Thirteen Years' War (1454–66). In addition to the lack of training, discipline and unstandardized equipment, the time it took for a pospolite ruszenie to be called to arms and gathered in a designed spot (often, close to a month) was also a problem. Some attempts at reform the situation, including a mass wave of estate confiscations at 1497, and a requirement for yearly gatherings and reviews, did little to ameliorate the situation.
From the 15th century, pospolite ruszenie levies were used less often than were professional military troops. By mid-16th century, pospolite ruszenie could, in theory, have fielded about 50,000 troops.
By the 17th century, the military value of the pospolite ruszenie was very limited, and was last called to participate in the Battle of Warsaw of 1656 during The Deluge (the battle ended with a Polish defeat). Nonetheless, the szlachta continued to believe they formed an elite army, and that their participation in the defense of the country was an important reason for their privileged position in it. As this was used as a justifications for lower taxation, the Commonwealth treasury found itself increasingly starved for funds to pay to regular, standing army. With the Commonwealth Army reduced by that time to around 16,000, it was easy for its neighbors to overpower its armies (the Imperial Russian Army numbered 300,000; the Prussian Army and Imperial Austrian Army, 200,000).
Read more about this topic: Pospolite Ruszenie
Famous quotes containing the word decline:
“Families suffered badly under industrialization, but they survived, and the lives of men, women, and children improved. Children, once marginal and exploited figures, have moved to a position of greater protection and respect,... The historic decline in the overall death rates for children is an astonishing social fact, notwithstanding the disgraceful infant mortality figures for the poor and minorities. Like the decline in death from childbirth for women, this is a stunning achievement.”
—Joseph Featherstone (20th century)
“Our achievements speak for themselves. What we have to keep track of are our failures, discouragements, and doubts. We tend to forget the past difficulties, the many false starts, and the painful groping. We see our past achievements as the end result of a clean forward thrust, and our present difficulties as signs of decline and decay.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)
“We have our little theory on all human and divine things. Poetry, the workings of genius itself, which, in all times, with one or another meaning, has been called Inspiration, and held to be mysterious and inscrutable, is no longer without its scientific exposition. The building of the lofty rhyme is like any other masonry or bricklaying: we have theories of its rise, height, decline and fall—which latter, it would seem, is now near, among all people.”
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881)