Detailed document of battles from the French Revolutionary Wars to the Second World War. Includes key facts, links to the themes (e.g. generalship) and casualty figures.
For the Changing Nature of Warfare exam, they may ask a question on the battles throughout the period. Therefore, it's importan...
Carnot attempted to use his shock tactics at Valmy. The tactics involved using a mass of
soldiers to overwhelm and storm the enemy troops - involved full frontal assaults.
However, at Valmy there were heavy casualties as a result of the tactic - 500.
The use of new lighter artillery was a huge reason for victory at Valmy.
The Battle of Wattignes 1793:
Numbers determine the outcome of the battle - the French 3:2 superiority in troops
enabled Carnot to suffer a considerably higher number of casualties in comparison to
Coburg.
The Napoleonic Wars
The Ulm Campaign 1805:
Considered one of Napoleon’s greatest victories.
Napoleon’s corp system was used at Ulm - organised armies in corps of around 3000.
The weaknesses of the enemies gave the French an advantage - the Russians arrived late
because they were using different calendars to their Austrian allies.
Mass conscription (levee en masse) played a key role - Napoleon’s superiority of 210,000
men against 72,000 Austrians allowed him to use tactics such as enveloping, and he
managed to capture the Austrian’s army.
Battle of Austerlitz 1805:
Considered one of Napoleon’s greatest victories.
Napoleon utilised the concentration of forces, outflanking and innovative tactics which
were decisive in overwhelming the inferior Russian generals.
Napoleon deliberately weakened his right flank and enticed the enemy into launching a
major assault.
His Grand Armee at Austerlitz were highly skilled which enabled them to perform the
complex battlefield manoeuvres.
, Battle of Jena 1806:
Decisive battle - knocked Prussia out of the Coalition
Napoleon’s strategic aim to achieve a decisive battle and to achieve the quickest possible
destruction of the enemy forces was successful at Jena.
The Peninsular War, 1806-14:
Coalition victory
Around 300,000 French troops were kept permanently occupied by an enormous and
sustained guerrilla insurgency. This meant that the civilians were in a more vulnerable
position, and caused the lives of 100 French a day, including women and children.
In 1812 the Russians destroyed infrastructure and agriculture in their retreat in order to
hamper the French and strip them of adequate supplies. This ensured greater control as
targeting the people shows the threat they pose, making the wars more brutal.
Morale of the troops and civilians were severely affected
The Invasion of Russia 1812:
Russian victory
The Russians were able to withhold from Napoleon’s aim to achieve a decisive victory.
This made the battle shorter and resulted in devastating casualties - estimates of 500,000
French dead in Russia in 1812.
The Battle of Borodino 1812:
French tactical victory
Bloodiest single day in the history of warfare until the first day of the Marne in 1914.
Poor generalship - Napoleon: cautious, irresponsive, failed to employ his reserves at the
decisive moment.
The limited media in the NW meant there was less public awareness. There was the
‘Bulletins de la Grande Armee’ which kept the public informed, but was extremely one sided
and served to glorify their leader and army. Therefore, Napoleon was free to make tactical
decisions without fear of negative public reaction - which led to 35,000 deaths in one day at
Borodino.
Battle of Leipzig, 1813:
French defeat
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