8th century, including France’s. Three major changes were made in France’s military in the years directly preceding the French Revolution: the introduction of light infantry, the restructuring of large armies in to divisions, and the revolution in artillery technology.
             Light infantry was first used by Austria to stop Fredrick of Prussia when he invaded the Hapsburg Empire in 1740. As is often in the case in new developments in the art of war, necessity was the mother of invention in this case. Austria had been caught by surprise and forced to scrape together retired veterans and arm them with only the basics. This lightly armed, more mobile soldier, highly trained in the use of his only weapon, the rifle, amassed an impressive record in battle and soon became standard to any army. The French were introduced to light infantry during their attack on Savoy in 1743. Soon the
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