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Canton system
(921 words)

The term canton system denotes the recruitment system of the Prussian army, which from the 1730s to 1806 assigned to each regiment an exclusive domestic recruiting district (canton). After the recruitment of foreign mercenaries was stopped, the canton system was the sole recruitment system in Prussia from 1806 to 1813, when it was replaced by universal conscription. It lived on to some extent in administrative usage until the late 19th century. The canton system developed like comparable recruitment systems in smaller territories of the Old Holy R…

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Winter, Martin, “Canton system”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_021911>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160907



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