This chapter gives an overview and analysis of the consequences and localized effects of the period of endemic war between the Ottomans and Safavids along an extended front in eastern Anatolia over the thirteen years between 1578 and 1590. It assesses how the creation of a new militarised zone where large and very resource-demanding garrisons, constituting a key element of Ottoman military strategy, contributed to the stability or otherwise of the frontier regions in the post-war period. In particular, it evaluates (...) the impact of Ottoman military investment, deployment of resources and local cost-sharing and manpower provision arrangements on social relations, both in cities where the major garrisons were situated and in the surrounding countryside whose resources contributed to their maintenance. (shrink)