Question

The trends in military personnel and state revenue shown in the table are best understood in the context of which of the following changes in the relationship between states and local elites in the period 1450–1750 ?


States often relied on local elites to supervise provincial administration.

Option A,States often relied on local elites to supervise provincial administration.

a

Local elites began looking to the state to provide titles that demonstrated their legitimacy.

Option B,Local elites began looking to the state to provide titles that demonstrated their legitimacy.

b

States increasingly centralized their authority at the expense of local elites.

Option C,States increasingly centralized their authority at the expense of local elites.

c

Local elites began to command their own military forces.

Answer 1

Option C.

Rising state revenue and larger military forces in 1450–1750 reflect the emergence of fiscal‑military states that taxed more effectively and built standing, professional armies—functions that centralized authority and displaced many traditional local elites (their private retainers, tax farms, and judicial powers). This trend is visible in cases like France under the Bourbon monarchy and England after the Tudor/Stuart reforms, where bureaucracies and royal armies replaced earlier local military and fiscal autonomy.