The
Canton System (
German:
Kantonsystem or
Kantonssystem) or
Canton Regulation (
Kantonreglement) was a system of
recruitment used by the
Prussian army between 1733 and 1813. The country was divided into recruiting districts called
cantons (
Kantone), and each canton was the responsibility of a
regiment. The system was a Prussian distinctive. Every male was from the youngest possible age enrolled in the army, and by 1740 the Prussian army, with a strength of 3.6% of the total population, was proportionately the largest in Europe.