military officials. Personal nobility was automatically conferred on all civil and military officials starting with the corresponding rank of captain. Hereditary nobility was conferred on all officials with the rank of colonel (Any given military post had an equivalent civil one, rank-wise). The system was later extended to merchants and industrialists that with a successful career managing a business of moderate size would achieve personal or hereditary nobility. References See also Battlefield commission, modern equivalent to ennoblement for valor or knighting on the battleground in the ancien régime Fount of honour Gaetano Mosca's sociological concept of the "circulation of elites" Meritocracy, or political order "open to talents" Novus homo Peerage Promotion (rank) Social mobility Nobility