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Summary War- levée en masse
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Notes about war and the levée en masse in the French Revolution
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War & Levée en Masse At the same time the Republic was trying to deal with the Vendée revolt (from March 1793)
+ the Federalist revolt (from early June) the military situation continued to deteriorate
Defeats created a sense of fear and urgency among the sans-culottes
Demanded retribution for the military generals who had betrayed their trust and a chance
for the people to rise up against their enemies
23rd August 1793: these pressures led to a decree for a levée en masse, proposed by
Bertrand Barere for the Committee of Public Safety, which ordered all to help
- All men without immediate dependants (bachelors + childless widowers age 18-25) were
to be given immediate military service
- Married men were to ‘forge weapons + transport supplies’
- Women were to ‘make tents and serve in hospitals’
- Children were to ‘shred old linen for lint’
- The old were to go to public squares to ‘excite the courage of the warriors, preach
hatred of kings and the unity of the Republic’
Decision to call up only the young men was tactical- France more in need of weapons +
supplies than men
Lazare Carnot and Louis-Antoine de Saint-Just responsible for carrying out this legislation;
they set up a commission of technicians and scientists, supported the development of the
telegraph to carry dispatches from the war + established a company of balloonists to
observe the enemy from the air
A new manufacturing process was developed to increase the supply of gunpowder, +
factories + workshops around the country were issued with manuals on how to manufacture
steel
October: weapons manufacture began in Paris + a professional training centre for 800
students was set up at Meudon in its south-west suburbs
André-Jeanbon Saint-André was given the responsibility of naval defences
Everywhere materials were requisitioned; food and animals reallocated; military recruitment
and training stepped up
France had over a million men in arms by 1794 and its 14 armies were well trained and
supplied
Discipline was tight and the representants-en-mission kept morale high + ensured that
troops and generals remained loyal
Military defeat and failure to follow through a victory became political crimes
Carnot and Saint-Just replaced the aristocratic generals and those associated with the
Ancien Regime with younger commanders (roturier, not of noble birth) who supported the
revolution
17 generals were executed in 1793 including:
- General Custine in August (accused of passing secrets to the enemy)
- General Houchard in November (failing to pursue the enemy )
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan (31) now in command of the Army of the North
Louis-Lazare Hoche (25) in charge of the Army of the Moselle
Jean-Charles Pichegru (32) commander of the division of the Upper Rhine
Distinction between regulars and volunteers no longer made- all men now wore blue
Under Carnot the armies were sent on the offensive and the situation began to improve
September 1793: siege of Dunkirk is lifted
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