The Livonian War in the context of the 16th century East European wars
The Livonian War in the context of the 16th century East European wars

Summary/Abstract: Regarding the development of warfare, the Livonian War was multifaceted for the participating countries. It was the interaction of multiple variations of warfare. It was a combination of major conquest wars and local conflicts; a combination of archaic medieval warfare tactics with modern tactics of mercenary armies of the period which began with “the military revolution”. In tactical terms, it was a combination of a war around strongholds (fortresses) and campaigns and raids. Livonian War was quite traditional. But on the other hand, Livonian war had direct relation with the first steps of the «military revolution» in Russia. It’s influence to the development of the Russian (and not only Russian!) warfare wasn’t so ostensible for contemporaries, but crucial in the long run. The necessity of the development of the bastion system in the Russian fortifications became obvious, and so it started to be actively used in the North-West of Russia. The European participants of war became very much aware of the dominance of the mercenary soldier over the nobleman militia on a battlefield. The inextricable link between the military actions and politics in the affiliated lands became much more apparent. It became clear that the models based on earlier historical experience in the new socio-economic and political contexts were not always effective. The Livonian War brought many new experiences (first Russian conquest of a European urbanized state, first experience of the evacuation of troops out of a foreign country, etc.). This experience would be taken into account.

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