Rwcruitment capacity :2
Enables research of:
Enables recruitment and reppenishment of
A barracks allows a selection of military units to be recruited.
Barracks provide housing, armouries, and stabling for most kinds of soldiers and their
mounts, along with the space necessary for them to be trained in the basics of military
life. Sensibly, they are usually also designed to be defensible, even if there are town
walls, and an imposing symbol of government solidity and power. The barracks are a
bulwark for the power of the ruling classes: the local authorities can send men to deal
with all enemies, foreign and domestic. The place can even serve as a prison, should the
locals prove troublesome!
Many governments at the start of the 19th Century were still using troops for
domestic policing duties, particularly against troublemakers in the new industrial factory
towns that were appearing. Soldiers were there to keep order and, in doing so, protect
the property of the wealthy middle and upper classes. This did not mean that having
troops barracked in a town was popular, even among those they were defending. While
it might be acceptable to invite a captain of dragoons to dine, soldiers were a group
apart and considered a necessary, sometimes very necessary, evil. The popularity of
soldiers was always tied to the perceived threats from foreign nations.
