With the increasing size of armies to accommodate the higher states of war, a new system was needed to control these forces. A new administration needed to be created to not only handle recruiting but to also manage troop and financial aspects. The only local power that was capable of this was the governments of the European states; therefore the armies came under the complete control of and loyalty to the state. This marked a power shift away from the feudal lords of Europe. The new state armies were more than capable of defeating Feudal forces, eliminating the threat of an uprising and diminishing the power they had over the states decisions. The size of the new armies also created the possibility of total war and annihilation victories. This turned military superiority into a tool of peace.
![Picture](/uploads/1/7/0/0/17002798/1529471.jpg)
Painting of a 1640 Dutch Soldier
The state funded armies also had a significant effect on the lives of the peasant and serf population because the state can enforce any law or tax they would like without the threat of the people standing against them.
The size of the new armies and the training required led to the creation of the professional soldier. The massive standing armies were for the most part composed of career soldiers rather than the peasant and feudal armies of the previous centuries. This required a very large amount of people to be paid by the state. The massive financial needs of a standing army were also one of the reasons that governments had to take over control of armies because the governments were the only existing institutions that were capable of handling the financial needs.
The size of the new armies and the training required led to the creation of the professional soldier. The massive standing armies were for the most part composed of career soldiers rather than the peasant and feudal armies of the previous centuries. This required a very large amount of people to be paid by the state. The massive financial needs of a standing army were also one of the reasons that governments had to take over control of armies because the governments were the only existing institutions that were capable of handling the financial needs.
Because the armies needed to be trained, and training cost money, it was thought that the dismantling of armies after war was no longer economical because each soldier was an investment on the government’s behalf. The common foot soldier was not the only new government employee; the governments employed the local aristocrats as officers. This introduced the social prestige associated with high ranking military members and also eliminated the threat of the super rich raising their own armies.