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Vestes Bellica Military history archive

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The History of the Uniforms of the Old Prussian Cuirassiers (Pohl) - K 7

The Individual Regiments

K 7 - Roster
K 7 - Roster
K 7 - Uniforms I
K 7 - Uniforms I
K 7 - Uniforms II
K 7 - Uniforms II
K 7 - Uniforms III
K 7 - Uniforms III
K 7 - Uniforms IV
K 7 - Uniforms IV

Recommended Articles

Uniformierung & Ausrüstung

The Prussian Army under Frederick William I (1713 - 40) - Chapter 16 - The Colorful Coat (The Infantry).

The uniform, as a standardized military garment precisely defined by detailed regulations, determines the wearer's belonging to a particular army, to a particular branch of service and to a particular regiment. The soldier's clothing standardized in cut, color, insignia and manner of wearing arose — apart from some isolated medieval attempts — only with the emergence of standing armies, and the process of introducing uniforms in the various states could span from the mid-17th into the 18th century. A prerequisite for the uniform clothing of entire armies was on the one hand the emergence of the princes' centralized authority while at the same time securing the financing of the army's needs against the resistance of the estates, and on the other hand the advent of early-capitalist production methods within manufactories. The standing army — that is the miles perpetuus — was an expression of princely governmental authority. Already in the Thirty Years' War the economic benefit of mass-producing military clothing and weapons was recognized. Besides this economic aspect, the introduction of a uniform military dress also had rational reasons. Through the increased use of firearms the massive smoke development of the muzzle-loaders on the battlefield became a problem. For this reason the different troop units had to be made recognizably distinct by color; camouflage was completely foreign to the mindset of contemporary European soldiers. In addition, uniform clothing acted sociologically as a group-bonding element, i.e., the psychological effect of the uniform on friend and foe was fully acknowledged. In this sense color was the trump card1.