The Changing Nature of Warfare 1792–1945 - Unit Y315
A complete and thorough set of thematic revision notes covering every theme within Topic 4 of the Changing Nature of Warfare course (the relationship between domestic factors and warfare). Includes themes such as State Organisation for War,...
KEY ISSUE 4: The relationship between domestic factors and warfare.
1. How did the state organise itself for war? How did this change?
How did this impact on the nature and conduct of warfare?
French Revolutionary Wars
Mass recruitment: Levee en masse 1793: French frontline forces grew to c.800,000, with a total of 1.5m in
all services - the first time an army in excess of a million had been mobilized in Western history. Impact –
greater size of forces = new tactics
+ Political indoctrination by the state:
● 7.5m revolutionary journals were supplied to maintain devotion to the cause,
○ + 100,000 republican song sheets containing morale boosting songs (e.g. the Marseillaise).
● Deputies on mission helped to ensure that troops remained loyal
○ Impact – revolutionary zeal in battles. E.g. Valmy 1792 the first victory of a citizen army,
inspired by liberty and nationalism (unexpected élan).
State control over generals:
● brutal but effective policy of maintaining control over the generals.
○ 17 were executed in 1793 and 67 in 1794.
● Replaced by men of talent (meritocracy in France due to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the
Citizen 1789).
State intervention and control over production and supplies:
● Lazare Carnot and the CPS had developed an excellent system of supplying troops
○ Established 20 new sword and bayonet factories, and 12 new gun factories
■ (the biggest in Paris produced as many muskets as the rest of Europe put together).
3000 workers manufactured 700 muskets a day by 1794
○ workers in some industries were forced to work for the state
■ cobblers who were forced to produce 10 pairs of boots for the army per week
State power / repression:
● The state assumed greater powers than even absolutist kings.
○ Internal opposition was met with the Terror:
● restriction of legal rights (e.g. criticism of the regime, breaking price control restrictions).
● A new paper currency (the Assignat) was introduced to ensure that the necessary money was
available. When inflation threatened, prices were controlled by direct order.
Napoleonic Wars
When Napoleon rose to power (1799) total unity of military command and the civilian state in the hands of
th
one person (similar to 20 century dictator commanders Hitler and Stalin).
● Napoleon created a militarised state (a model for Prussian development from 1806).
The scale of warfare grew, battlefields became larger:
● Mass conscription:
○ e.g. 1812 – Napoleon took 600,000 men into Russia.
○ E.g. In the Peninsular War (1806-14) some 300,000 French troops and several hundred
thousand Spanish, Portuguese and British regulars were fighting incessantly.
Distinction between soldier and civilian increasingly blurred:
● e.g. Targeting of women and children by Spanish guerillas in Peninsular campaign
● e.g. 1812 the Russians destroyed infrastructure and agriculture in their retreat in order to hamper the
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