Porumbăcean, Claudiu (szerk.): Satu Mare. Studii şi comunicări. Seria istorie-etnografie-artă 32/2. (2016)

Istorie

REFORMA MILITARĂ HABSBURGICĂ DIN 1798 REFLECTATĂ ÎN COLECŢIA ARMELOR DE FOC A MUZEULUI IUDEŢEAN SATU MARE

Matei CIURICĂ

Abstract: At the end of the War of the First Coalition the shortcomings of the Austrian army were obvious at every level of it’s leadership. Thus, a profound reform was needed in order to secure the competitive level required in the new “napoleonic” reality. Our paper analyses the roots of the Habsburg military apparatus, it’s development and tensions within the Empire’s national identities, with special attention given to the austrian-hungarian polemic and eventual cooperation. The second part of our article focuses on the technical results of the reform, on the characteristics of the different typologies and models of firearms that 1798 birthed.

Keywords: Firearms, military reform, Napoleonic Warfare, conscriptions, Satu Mare

Ceea ce a ajuns să fie denumit drept Războiul Primei Coaliţii (1792-1797), la capătul căruia Franţa, deja într-o anumită măsură „napoleoniană”, a reuşit să prevaleze asupra unei Europe cvasiunite împotriva ei, a reprezentat în acelaşi timp şi semnalul de alarmă privind limitările militare ale Imperiului Habsburgic.

Dacă din punct de vedere politic şi diplomatic tratatul de la Campo Formino (octombrie 1797) a fost, pentru Austria, doar o înfrângere şi nu un dezastru de proporţii1, devenea evident că sistemul de organizare a armatei avea nevoie de o reformă în profunzime, asfel încât să se menţină relevant în noile condiţii.

1 “Territorially the treaty was still surprisingly favorable for Austria. It gave her most of Venice’s former territory... in exchange for Belgium and Lombardy, and exchanged minor Austrian holdings in south-west Germany for the Archbishopric of Salzburg and the Bavarian Inn quarter, witch rounded out the Austrian heartland. Austria did not have to give formal recognition to the French annexation of the entire Rhine frontier... Yet, the treaty was a grave defeat for Austria...Militarily and strategically, France secured the keys to Germany, northern Italy and the Near East by acquiring Mainz, Mantua, and the Ionian Isles and Venetian Albania". Paul W. Schroeder, The Transformation of European Politics, 1763-1848, Clarendon Press, 1996, p. 171-172.

Satu Mare - Studii şi Comunicări, nr. XXXII/II, 2016, p. 17-24