Military Supply without the Military? Supplying the Spanish Army in the 18th Century

Abstract

Great progress has been made over the last decade in knowledge of the various systems of military supply used by the different European states in the 18th century. There is thus a clear institutional differentiation between the model of relations with the private market established by the British parliamentary monarchy or the Dutch republic and the model characteristic of absolute monarchies, such as those in France or Spain. This article undertakes an initial assessment of the Spanish trend of asiento general as the preferred option for procurement, clearly connected to the French case. Without ruling out the influence of political organisation, we aim to refine the institutional approach, endeavouring to locate other factors of an economic, administrative or social nature which likewise appear to be determinants of the model of military supply. These arguments are related to the encouragement of national industry and the administrative modernisation of the state, which can end up leading to the desire to separate the military organisation from this type of business.

Keywords:

• provision businesses
• army and navy
• contractor state
• national economies
• economic growth
• public finances
• private market
• economic history
• Europe pre–1913

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 Peter G.M. Dickson, The financial revolution in England: A Study in the Development of Public Credit, 1688–1756 (London: MacMillan, 1967); John Brewer, The Sinews of Power: War, Money and the English State, 1688–1783 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989).

2 The case of the Royal Navy and the management of its supplies is often used as an example: Richard Harding, The Emergence of Britain's Global Naval Supremacy. The War of 1739–1748 (Suffolk: Boydell Press, 2010); Roger Knight and Marti Wilcox, Sustaining the Fleet, 1793–1815. War, the British Navy and the «Contractor State» (Suffolk: Boydell Press, 2011); Roger Morris, The Foundations of British Maritime Ascendancy: Resources, Logistics and the State, 1755–1815 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011). In recent times this analysis has expanded to the general effect of war on the British economy: Huw V. Bowen, ‘Forum. The «Contractor State», c. 1650–1815’, International Journal of Maritime History, 25, no. 1 (2013), 239–74; Gordon Bannerman, ‘The impact of war: new business network and small-scale contractors in Britain, 1739–1770’, Business History, 60, no. 1 (2018), 87–104.

3 Pepijn Brandon, War, Capital, and the Dutch State, 1588–1795 (Leiden: Brill, 2015).

4 For France: John-Francis Bosher, ‘Financing the French Navy in the Seven Years War: Beaujon, Goossens et Compagnie in 1759’, Business History, 28, no. 3 (1986), 115–33; Jöel Félix, ‘Los historiadores y los financieros de la Francia del Antiguo Régimen’, Mélanges de la Casa de Velázquez. Nouvelle série, 46, no. 1 (2016), 21–31; David Plouviez, ‘The French navy and war entrepreneurs: identity, business relations, conflicts, and cooperation in the eighteenth century’, Business History, 60, no. 1 (2018), 87–104; Pierrick Pourchasse, ‘Military entrepreneurs and the development of the French economy in the eighteenth century’, Business History, 60, no. 1 (2018), 87–104. For Spain: Agustín González Enciso, Rafael Torres Sánchez and Sergio Solbes Ferri, ‘XVIIIth Century Spain as a Contractor State’ International Journal of Maritime History, 25, no. 1 (2013), 253–57; Agustín González Enciso, War, Power and the Economy: Mercantilism and State Formation in XVIIIth Century Europe (London and New York: Routledge, 2016); Rafael Torres Sánchez, Military entrepreneurs and the Spanish Contractor State in the Eighteen Century (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016).

5 For comparisons of different business models in relation to the war and the growth of the state: Jan Glete, War and the State in Early Modern Europe (London and New York: Routledge, 2002); David Parrott, The Business of War: Military Enterprise and Military Revolution in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012); Jeff Fynn-Paul, Marjolein ‘t Hart and Griet Vermeesch, ‘Entrepreneurs, military supply, and state formation in the late medieval and early modern period: new directions’, in War, Entrepreneurs, and the State in Europe and the Mediterranean, edited by Jeff Fynn-Paul, (Leiden: Brill, 2014), 1–13; Rafael Torres Sánchez, Pepijn Brandon and Marjolein ‘t Hart, ‘War and Economy. Rediscovering the Eighteenth-Century Military Entrepreneurs’, Business History, 60, no. 1 (2018), 1–19.

6 Jöel Felix, ‘La monarquía francesa y los financieros en el Antiguo Régimen. El ejemplo de los traitants durante la Guerra de los Nueve Años, 1689–1697’, Tiempos Modernos, 30, no. 1 (2015), 1–27.

7 Rafael Torres Sánchez, ‘Administración o asiento. La política estatal de suministros militares en la Monarquía española del siglo XVIII’, Studia Histórica. Historia Moderna, no. 35 (2013), 159–99; Sergio Solbes Ferri, ‘Secretarías, asentistas y militares. Política y negocio en la provisión del ejército español del siglo XVIII’, in Comercio, guerra y finanzas en una época en transición (siglos XVII–XVIII), edited by Antonio Rodríguez Hernández, Julio Arroyo Vozmediano and Juan Sánchez Belén (Valladolid: Castilla Ediciones, 2017), 159–94.

8 Stephen Conway and Rafael Torres Sánchez, eds, The Spending of the States. Military expenditure during the long Eighteenth Century: patterns, organization and consequences, 1650–1815 (Saarbrücken: VDM Verlang, 2012); Richard Harding and Sergio Solbes Ferri, eds, The «Contractor State» and its implications, 1659–1815 (Las Palmas de GC: MICIIN-ULPGC, 2012); Iván Valdéz-Bubnov, Sergio Solbes Ferri and Pepijn Brandon, eds, Redes empresariales y administración estatal: movilización de recursos y producción de materiales estratégicos en el mundo hispánico durante el largo siglo XVIII (Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, forthcoming).

9 Rafael Torres Sánchez, ‘Cuando las reglas de juego cambian. Mercados y privilegio en el abastecimiento del ejército español en el siglo XVIII’, Revista de Historia Moderna, 20 (2002), 487–512.

10 This relationship can be observed in Sergio Solbes Ferri, ‘The Spanish monarchy as a contractor state in the eighteenth century: Interaction of political power with the market, Business History, 60, no.1 (2018), 72–86.

11 Torres, Brandon and ‘t Hart, 12. A combination of resource reservation and market weakness tends to favour a tendency toward monopoly as the only available way of dealing with this.

12 Anne Dubet, ‘Entre razón y ciencia de la Hacienda: la conflictiva construcción de un modelo de buen gobierno de la Real Hacienda en España en la primera mitad del siglo XVIII’, Espacio, Tiempo y Forma, 28 (2015), 187–209; Anne Dubet, La Hacienda Real de la Nueva Planta (1713–1726), entre fraude y buen gobierno. El caso Verdes Montenegro y las reformas de la Hacienda (Madrid: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2015).

13 Torres Sánchez, Military entrepreneurs, 96–111 and 210–29.

14 For example: Sergio Solbes Ferri, ‘El asiento general en la provisión del vestuario militar. La compañía de Bacardí, Mestres y Sierra (1763–1784)’, Redes empresariales, 181–217.

15 These periodical changes are analysed in Solbes Ferri, ‘The Spanish monarchy’, 82–3.

16 Ibid., 84–5.

17 It is possible to speak of ‘regimental agents’ as a provision procedure commonly used in much of Europe: Torres, Brandon and ‘t Hart, 9.

18 Eduard Martí Fraga, ‘Detrás del asentista. Los contratistas militares de Felipe V en Cataluña (1715–1720)’, in Redes empresariales, 106–38.

19 Torres, Brandon and ‘t Hart, 14.

20 This is based on the classification defined within the General Treasury of the Spanish monarchy studied by Anne Dubet and Sergio Solbes Ferri, El rey, el ministro y el tesorero. El gobierno de la Real Hacienda en el siglo XVIII español (Madrid: Marcial Pons, 2019), 402, 436–45.

21 Rafael Torres Sánchez, ‘Los navarros en la provisión de víveres a la Armada española durante el siglo XVIII’, in Volver a la hora navarra. La contribución navarra a la construcción de la monarquía española en el siglo XVIII, edited by Rafael Torres Sánchez, (Pamplona: Eunsa, 2010), 213–62.

22 Rafael Torres Sánchez, ‘Los Cinco Gremios Mayores y el abastecimiento de víveres al Ejército Español en el siglo XVIII’, Studia Historica. Historia Moderna, no. 34 (2012), 407–32.

23 Dubet and Solbes, 436–45.

24 Agustín González Enciso, ‘War contracting and artillery production in Spain’, Business History, 60, no. 1 (2018), 87–104.

25 Solbes Ferri, ‘El asiento general’, 187–8.

26 For more details: Solbes Ferri, ‘The Spanish monarchy’, 82–3.

27 For a general comparison: David J. Smith, ‘Army Clothing Contractors and the Textile Industries in the Eighteenth Century’, Textile History, 14, no. 2 (1983), 153–64.

28 Pere Molas Ribalta and Mª Adela Farga, ‘Gremios y asentistas del ejército de Cataluña del siglo XVIII’, in La ilustración en Cataluña. La obra de los ingenieros militares, edited by Juan Carrillo de Albornoz y Galbeño, Carlos Díaz i Capmany, and Mariela Fargas Peñarrocha (Barcelona: Ministerio de Defensa, 2010).

29 Eduard Martí Fraga, ‘Cataluña y la movilización de recursos militares para la expedición a Sicilia, 1718’, Cuadernos de Historia Moderna, 44, 1 (2019), 129; Martí Fraga, ‘Detrás del asentista’, 106.

30 Archivo Histórico Nacional (AHN), Diversos-Colecciones, 160, nº 22.

31 Dubet and Solbes, 171–83.

32 Sergio Solbes Ferri, ‘Campillo y Ensenada: el suministro de vestuarios para el ejército durante las campañas de Italia (1741–1748)’, Studia Histórica. Historia Moderna, no. 35 (2013), 201–34.

33 Solbes Ferri, ‘The Spanish monarchy’, 80–81.

34 Sergio Solbes Ferri, ‘Mecanismos financieros para el control de la provisión del vestuario de Guardias de Corps y Alabarderos (1716–1785)’, in Comercio y cultura en la Edad Moderna, edited by Juan José Iglesias, R. M. Pérez and M. F. Fernández (Sevilla: Universidad, 2015), 447–60.

35 Royal Order of 9 January 1763; see Solbes Ferri, ‘The Spanish Monarchy’, 80.

36 Bannerman, 23–4. For this reason, war supply was well-integrated with, and drew upon, many different sectors of the British economy.

37 Torres, Brandon and ‘t Hart, 4.

38 Martí Fraga, ‘Detrás del asentista’, 112.

39 Solbes Ferri, ‘El asiento general’, 195–7.

40 Real Orden 12/02/1767. Solbes Ferri, ‘El asiento general’, 190 and 196.

41 Instrucción 10/12/1753. AGS, SSH, leg. 271. Dubet and Solbes, El rey, el ministro’, 223–243.

42 Dubet and Solbes, 367–93; Sergio Solbes Ferri, ‘Contracting and Accounting: Spanish Army Expenditure in Wardrobe and the General Treasury Accounts in the Eighteenth Century’, The «Contractor State», 273–93.

43 Agustín González Enciso, ‘La historiografía y los arrendatarios de impuestos en la España del siglo XVIII’, Mélanges de la Casa de Velázquez, 46, no. 1 (2016), 65–75. This distinctive feature characterized the 18th-century businessman throughout Europe; Torres, Brandon and ‘t Hart, 8.

44 Dubet and Solbes, 207–43.

45 Agustín González Enciso, ‘La supresión de los arrendamientos de impuestos en la España del siglo XVIII’, Tiempos Modernos, 30, no. 1 (2015), 1–27.

46 Solbes Ferri, ‘El asiento general’, 195.

47 Ibid., 202–4.

48 Something similar took place in Britain: Bannerman, 24.

49 The Spanish navy always enjoyed higher levels of self-management than the army; Sergio Solbes Ferri, ‘El control del gasto de la Marina española en las Secretarías de Estado y del Despacho. Los pagos dependientes de la Tesorería General en la primera mitad del XVIII’, in El Estado en guerra. Expediciones navales españolas en el siglo XVIII, edited by María Baudot (Madrid: Polifemo, 2014), 147–94.

50 We are currently working on a paper on the provision of uniforms through the National Bank of San Carlos, the provisional conclusions of which are given below.

51 Solbes Ferri, ‘The Spanish Monarchy’, 82–3; Solbes Ferri, ‘El asiento general’, 193–8.

52 Solbes Ferri, ‘El asiento general’, 202–3.

53 There is an important study for this institution as a whole: Pedro Tedde de Lorca, El Banco de San Carlos, 1782–1829 (Madrid: Banco de España-Alianza Editorial, 1988). The provision of military uniforms was one of the many businesses in which the bank took part.

54 Archivo Histórico del Banco de España (AHBE), Actas de la Junta de Dirección (AAJD), book 132, page 253–84.

55 AHBE, AAJD, 140, 144–53.

56 AHBE, AAJD, 131. 253–254v (13/09/1783); 131, 257v–259v. (16/09/1783); 132, 255v–256v (29/05/1784).

57 AHBE, AAJD, 132, 258–258v (29/05/1784).

58 Tedde de Lorca, 163.

59 AHBE, AAJD, 139, passim (from 20/12/1786 to 18/08/1787).

60 AHBE, AAJD, 140, 144–153 (RD 15/10/1787; 20/10/1787); 140, 211 (10/11/1787).

61 Only the general inspector of provincial militia protested against the decision taken. AHBE, AAJD, 141, 155 (14/04/1788).

62 AHBE, AAJD, LIBRO 142, 270v–272 y 292 (25/10/1788).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the IATEXT funds and a grant from Gobierno de Canarias (ACIISI), convocatoria 2017, CEI2018-5, Patrimonio Cultural Tangible e Intangible: Fortificaciones, Milicias y Ejército en la Historia de Canarias.

Notes on contributors

Sergio Solbes Ferri

Sergio Solbes Ferri is Associate Professor of History and Economic Institutions at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain) and member of the Research Institute of Text Analysis and Applications (IATEXT). His research focuses on public finance in the eighteenth century. He published widely on fiscal policies, the tobacco monopoly, state formation, the promotion of national economies, war and military contracts. His recent publications include: El rey, el ministro y el tesorero. El gobierno de la Real Hacienda en el siglo XVIII español (Madrid: Marcial Pons, 2019, with Anne Dubet); La diferencia insular. El modelo fiscal de Canarias en perspectiva histórica (Valencia: Tirant lo Blanch, 2020, with Daniel Castillo Hidalgo.​

Eduard Martí Fraga

Eduard Martí Fraga is Associate Professor at the International University of Catalonia. He belongs to different research groups as ‘Spain and France: dynastic interests and national interests (1701–1733)’ and ‘Group of study of Institutions and political cultures (XVI–XXI centuries)’. His lines of research focus on the study of Catalan and European institutions in the Modern Age, the social changes of the European elites and the economic, political and social effects of the military policy of Philip V. orcid.org/0000-0002-9231-903X.