1.2 the impact of the quality of soldiers
The ‘quality’ of soldiers may refer to:
Size of armies
Level of training of soldiers
Morale of soldiers (ideological element)
Equipment of troops
Experience of troops
Soldiers in the dynastic era
Soldiers in the dynastic era served the aims of their monarch
o They were led by aristocrats
o Their aim was not to serve the nation but the dynasty
Armies were not used to destroy rival dynasties – instead to gain territories/establish
colonies/suppress internal results
Costs involved in maintenance meant armies were relatively small
Based in barracks away from the civilian population
o Clear + absolute distinction between civilian and soldier
th
18 century battles placed emphasis on drills and discipline
o Soldiers were not expected to think for themselves
There was little to no ideological element; armies were there to reflect the glory of the
monarch
o No room for promotion of talented officers if they were of lower birth
o No belief in a national cause
o Loyalty was to the regiment, one's comrades or one's general
The French Revolutionary Wars
Major change in the nature of armies brought about by the French Revolution:
o Rise in nationalism
o Soldiers fighting for the very survival of the Republic against the professional armies
of the European monarchs
Revolution swept away aristocratic privilege + allowed for promotion of commanders based
on talent and success
The size of armies
Quality of soldiers naturally decreased as size of armies increased
o Conscription gave rise to the ‘citizen army’
Size of armies grew continuously throughout the period….
France:
o Peak number of soldiers raised by French Republic who could actually serve in the
Revolutionary Wars: approx. 390,000
o WW1 – France had mobilised 3.58 million men by late summer 1914
America:
o American Civil war involved 1.5 million Union soldiers (6% conscripted) and 750,000
Confederates (12% conscripted)
, o WW2 – 4 million US soldiers served
Russia:
o War of 1812: a force of 410,000 fought Napoleon
o WW2 – 35 million Soviet soldiers served
Prussia/Germany:
o Prussia raised 1.2 million men to fight France in 1870
o It mobilised 3.8 million in 1914
o 13 million German soldiers served in WW2
Quality of soldiers in the French Revolutionary Wars
Hastily recruited army raised by Levee en Masse involved a change in tactics, because years
of intensive training in drill + musket technique could not be crammed into basic training
o Rigid line formation gave way to dense columns of men used like a battering ram
against enemy lines
o Columns would rush across and attack the enemy with shock tactics
Columns were a way of coping with the quality of soldiers – no longer professionals but a
citizen army
o Quick training complemented revolutionary enthusiasm
o Columns were quick and easy to train new recruits in, taking just 2 months
Against well-trained armies, the columns could suffer high casualties
o The size of the French army meant they could accept a level of casualties that the
enemy could not
o Battle of Jemappes 1792
40,000 French soldiers fought 13,000 Austrians
French suffered 2,000 casualties to the Austrians’ 1200
Victories at Wattignies, Jemappes, Fleurus showed that overwhelming size of the French
army was enough to overcome the higher quality soldiers in the armies they faced
French Revolutionary armies were highly motivated – revolutionary ‘élan’
o French soldiers were fighting for a national cause (the survival of the Republic)
unlike the professional armies they faced
o The enthusiasm for the Revolution appeared to enable the citizen army to withstand
trained professionals
Battle of Valmy 1792: overwhelming élan of the French forces was a factor
in persuading the cautious Prussian general Brunswick to spare himself a
loss of manpower (though in reality the Prussian retreat was mainly down to
French artillery).
French troops sang ‘Ca ira’ and ‘La Marseillaise’ – Valmy exemplified eager
participation of politically motivated civilians
Quality of soldiers in the Napoleonic Wars
National enthusiasm important for Napoleon
o By the time of his later campaigns his armies were increasingly made up of foreign
conscripts who did not share the same nationalist fervour or motivation as soldiers
of French origin = less successful
E.g. in 1812, the army Napoleon took into Russia was a multinational force
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