TY - RPRT Y1 - 2012/10// TI - Technology and the Era of the Mass Army N2 - We investigate how technology has influenced the size of armies. During the nineteenth century the development of the railroad made it possible to field and support mass armies, significantly increasing the observed size of military forces. During the late twentieth century further advances in technology made it possible to deliver explosive force from a distance and with precision, making mass armies less desirable. We find strong support for our technological account using a new data set covering thirteen great powers between 1600 and 2000. Contrary to what is so often suggested, we find little evidence that the French Revolution was a watershed in terms of levels of mobilization. N1 - Updated on November 2013 A1 - Onorato, Massimiliano Gaetano A1 - Scheve, Kenneth A1 - Stasavage, David ID - eprints1420 M1 - imt_eic_working_paper SN - 2279-6894 AV - public KW - JEL classification: F52 KW - N4 KW - N7 KW - O33; Keywords: Military KW - Security KW - Soldiers KW - Technological Change KW - Technology KW - Technology Adoption KW - War KW - Warfare UR - http://eprints.imtlucca.it/1420/ EP - 47 PB - IMT Institute for Advanced Studies Lucca ER -