subject: The First Modern Armies [print this page] The first signs of modern military organization appeared in the 15th century. The Turks invaded Europe and took many young boys as prisoners. They trained these young captives as soldiers. These soldiers became known as the Janizaries. The Janizaries were the first real standing, or permanent, army of modern history. During the 17th century, many nations in Europe began to have standing armies, trained and organized into regiments. The soldiers in each regiment were subject to rules and discipline. They began to wear regular uniforms. Each regiment was commanded by a noble with the rank of colonel. These nobles often knew little about fighting. In battle the general would have to give orders to each separate colonel, and this often caused much confusion. Frederick the Great, king of a German country called Prussia, in the 18th century, was one of the first commanders to train his army thoroughly. He made his small army the best in Europe. Napoleon, whom some consider the greatest of all army commanders, invented much of the system that is used in armies today. He had infantry, artillery and cavalry soldiers in each division. Two or more divisions formed a corps. Napoleon could give commands through an organized organized system of officers, heading corps, divisions, nd regiments. Army c ;ganization continued to develop in the 19th century. By that time almost all of the European nations had universal military service. This meant that every young man in these countries had to give a year or two of his life to military training and duty. Before this, most of the soldiers were volunteers. In the American Civil War, the draft was used by the United States for the first time. Every young man picked in the draft had to serve unless he was unfit for duty. The 19th century also saw the rise of the great German army. The Germans used railroads to transport the soldiers from one place to another. They were the first to have a general staff. This meant they had a group of high officers who made plans for battle, and made sure that all the groups in the army worked together. In World War II, all the armies had general staffs.
