Introduction: the military revolution at sea

Abstract

The 36th annual conference of the International Commission of Military History featured a roundtable debate entitled ‘The military revolution at sea: trends and developments in early modern naval historiography’. Four scholars debated whether early modern naval warfare witnessed a revolution similar to the one some specialists believe took place in land-based warfare, and, if so, what its characteristics were. John Guilmartin argues that there were in fact four revolutions at sea that proceeded sequentially at times and in parallel at others, and were essentially driven by technological innovations. Gijs Rommelse focuses on the relationship economic change, state formation and maritime warfare. Michel Vergé-Franceschi explored the psychological and social dimensions of the naval revolution. Nicholas Rodger argues that the concept of ‘fiscal-naval state’ is a much more appropriate term to describe developments in early modern naval warfare than ‘naval revolution’.