I'm thinking about how the French Revolution brought more meritocracy to the military, allowing the young state to defeat the more established powers.
I asked a similar question a few years ago, and got a very interesting answer from /u/CrossyNZ: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/13ac6b/question_about_the_sale_of_commissions/
I have a follow-up question, which is: What did those buying commissions get out of it? It seems like they would already be wealthy, and not "need" work, and so it seems like they were paying a large sum to do a job they didn't really need. So, was it social status? Perks that officers were given by the state? The ability to rub elbows with people you wouldn't otherwise?