that wholesale reform of the Swedish state was necessary in order to guarantee the security of the Swedish Empire. In 1680 he therefore instituted absolutism, overthrowing the previous system of semi-constitutional monarchy under the 1634 Instrument of Government, restored the royal finances by means of the so-called Great Reduction (confiscation of property embezzled by the aristocracy from the crown), and set about rebuilding the army, most notably through an overhaul of the allotment system. New Allotment System Since the sixteenth century, the Swedish army had used the so-called allotment system (; ) to raise troops. In 1682, Charles completely reformed it, establishing what modern historians refer to as the "new allotment system" (). Under the new system, Swedish farmers were to provide the crown with regiments of 1,000 or 1,200 men, complete with weapons and uniforms. Either independently or as rotes (groups) of no more than five, farmers would contract with the crown, with each rote providing and supporting one soldier, including giving the soldier a cottage and a garden plot. Each cavalryman was additionally provided with a horse. In exchange for these burdensome policies, each rote was granted a reduction in taxes. The allotment system provided Charles XI with a professional army of 18,000 infantrymen and 8,000 cavalrymen. The system also provided for the deployment of 6,600 seamen, bolstering Sweden's navy. Adding to Sweden's numbers, Finland provided an additional 7,000 infantrymen, 3,000 cavalrymen, and 600 seamen. Equipment Uniforms Carolean soldiers wore the Swedish Standard Uniform introduced by Charles XI—which featured blue great coats with yellow cuffs, white breeches, and yellow vests—with many regiments wearing variants thereof. For example, the dragoons of Bohuslän had green coats, and the regiment of Närke-Värmland had red cuffs. The artillery had grey coats with blue cuffs. As headgear, most Caroleans wore tricorne hats or a special cap called a karpus. Members of the elite Drabant Corps along with other cavalry regiments wore steel breastplates. Weaponry Most of the infantry were musketeers equipped with modern flintlock muskets—with bags for ammunition—although older versions were still in use, as well as rapiers. About one-third of each company were equipped with pikes. Twelve men of each company—typically the strongest and tallest—were grenadiers, who were the only soldiers to have bayonets affixed to their muskets, as regular musketeers were meant to use their rapiers for hand-to-hand combat. Grenadiers were often placed on the flanks of a unit to protect