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According to Peter Wilson's The Thirty Years' War the number of mercenaries recruited in England (mostly East Anglia) during the 30 years war was equal to the number of conscripts from Sweden and Finland during the whole conflict.
Now my question is this, what could happen to make the English want or need a fairly large army by the late 1600s? If Scotland isn't in Union? What if a Hannoverian analogue occurs quicker than OTL forcing England to get involved in continental affairs?