THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1789-1815)

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• THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1789-1815)
• AND NAPOLEON

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SOURCES

• Dupuy, The Evolution of Weapons and Warfare, pp.
  154-168
• Dupuy and Dupuy, The Encylopedia of Military
  History pp. 730-769
• Fuller, A Military History of the Western World,
  Vol. II, Chronicles 12, 13, 14, 15 ch. 12-15
  pp.370-542
• Montross, War Through the Ages, pp. 459-554
• Paret, Makers of Modern Strategy, pp123-142 (1986
  Sequel)
• Jones, The Art of War in the Western World,
  pp.320-358
• Preston and Wise, Men in Arms, pp. 157-173
• Mathews, French Revolution, pp. 2-15
• Roberts, The French Revolution, pp. 21-40

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Know and trace the transition from limited war to
  unlimited war during the French Revolution
• Comprehend the uniqueness of the Revolution Army,
  the role of ideology in the levee en masse, the
  problems of controlling such an army
• Comprehend and relate the rise of Napoleon to the
  failure of the French Revolution
• Know and discuss the impact of new technology on
  warfare in the Napoleonic period

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PERIODS OF THE REVOLUTION

• Five sub-periods distinguished by form of
  government
• Estates
• Legislative Assembly
• National Convention
• Directory
• Consulate
• First Empire

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ESTATES

• General and Constituent Assembly
• 5 May 1789 - 30 Sep 1791
• Government a limited, constitutional monarchy
• Dominance of upper middle class

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LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

• 1 Oct 1791 - 21 Sep 1792
• Monarchy continued as before until suspended
• Rising power of the lower class

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NATIONAL CONVENTION

• 21 Sep 1792 - 25 Oct 1795
• Height of revolution
• Convention called to frame new constitution
• Abolished monarchy
• Supported reign of terror, then overthrew it
• Led resistance to foreign foes
• War with Austria Prussia politically endued
  toward democracy

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DIRECTORY

• 26 Oct 1795 - 9 Nov 1799
• Middle classes recovered influence
• Party divisions
• General Bonapartes coup d-etat
• Formed republic with Napoleon as Emperor

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CONSULATE

• At first provisional, then definitive
• 25 Dec 1799 - 20 May 1804
• Civil and military role, virtually of one man
• Progress of French arms
• Form still nominally republican

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FIRST EMPIRE

• 20 May 1804 - 22 Jun 1815
• Napoleon made France the controlling power on the
  continent, but was finally overthrown

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BACKGROUND

• Spirit of 18th Century
• devoted to destruction and reformation of
  existing institutions
• most notable manifestations the attacks of
  French writers upon church and state
• Agrarian conditions - peasantry mostly free but
  highly taxed not downtrodden, but well-off
  enough to wish to better themselves

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BACKGROUND

• Rise of the middle class
• generally excluded from politics growing richer
  read and listened to philosophies
• Unwieldy and inefficient machinery of government
• irresponsible and unsuited to needs of state
• taxation was inequitable
• no representative assembly
• Letters de Cachet - imprisoning without habeas
  corpus served as anti-government propaganda

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BACKGROUND

• Ever-growing deficit
• proved impossible of reduction
• May 1789 Louis XVI convened meeting of Estates
  General (represented 3 estates of French society
  - Nobles, Clergy and Commons)
• Commons assumed title of National Assembly and
  undertook to reform government by formulating a
  constitution for a constitutional monarchy

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

• 5 May 1789
• Meeting of Estates General
• National Assembly formed by Commons
• Members of Nobles and Clergy invited to join
• Many joined the assembly

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

• 23 Jun 1789
• Fruitless royal sitting
• King ordered assembly to meet in 3 houses
• Mirabeau (Provencial nobleman) elected principal
  orator of assembly by 3rd estate
• King requested nobles clergy join 3rd estate

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

• 14 Jul 1789
• Concentration of troops near Paris
• Rumors of kings intention to dissolve National
  Assembly
• Necker was dismissed
• Storming and destruction of the Bastille

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

• Necker recalled
• Lafayette commander of newly established National
  Guard
• Rising of peasants against feudal lords
• Beginning of emigration of nobles

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

• 4 Aug 1789
• Voluntary surrender by representatives of nobles
  of all feudal rights and privileges to occur over
  period of years
• 27 Aug 1789
• Declaration of rights of man, a bill of rights
  compounded from English and American precedents
  and from political theories current with the
  philosophies

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

• 5-6 Oct 1789 - Outbreak of the mob of Paris
• Liberal monarchical constitution king could not
  declare war and conclude peace without consent of
  chamber
• Ecclesiastic estates declared public property and
  notes issued under security of public lands

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

• 14 Jul 1790
• National federation in Paris
• Constitution accepted by king
• Abolished hereditary nobility, titles, and coats
  of arms

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

• Power of clubs grow
• Jacobins under Robespierre
• Cordeliers under Danton, Marat, Desmoulins,
  Hebert
• Feuillants - moderate monarchists separated from
  Jacobins - Lafayette and Bailly

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

• Sep 1790
• Fall of Necker
• alliance between Mirabeau and court, who
  endeavored to stem revolution and prevent
  overthrow of throne
• 2 Apr 1791 - Death of Mirabeau
• 20 - 25 Jun 1791 - Flight of the king

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

• 14 Sep 1791
• King accepts constitution
• Annexation of Avignon and Benaissin to France
• 30 Sep 1791
• Dissolution of Assembly

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LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

• 1 Oct 1791
• Legislative Assembly, 745 members elected by
  active citizens
• still represented primarily middle class
• 7 Feb 1792
• Alliance of Austria and Prussia against France

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NATIONAL CONVENTION

• War of First Coalition against France
• 20 Apr 1792 - France declares war on Austria -
  increases revolutionary excitement in Paris
• 10 Aug 1792 - Storming of Tuileries by mob - king
  suspended from functions and confined
• 20 Aug 1792 - Lafayette, impeached and
  proscribed, fled from army - Verdun taken by
  Prussians
• 2-7 Sep 1792 - September massacres at Paris
• 20 Sep 1792 - Battle of Valmy - French, under
  Dumouriey and Kellermann, defeated Prussians

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NATIONAL CONVENTION

• 21 Sep 1792
• National Convention convened
• Abolition of Monarchy - France declared a
  Republic
• Dec 1792 - Trial of Louis XVI
• 21 Jan 1793 - Execution of Louis XVI
• 1 Feb 1793 - War declared against Great Britain,
  Holland, Spain

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NATIONAL CONVENTION

• Reign of Terror - Robespierre gradually came to
  dominate the whole government
• 23 Aug 1793-Levy of males 14 armies raised
• 16 Oct 1793 - Execution of Marie Antoinette
• Nov 1793 - New army under Jourdan, Hoche
  Pichegru
• Dec 1793 - Retreat of Allies across the Rhine.
  French captured Worms and Speier, and took Toulon
  from British (first appearance of Napoleon
  Bonaparte as young artillery officer)

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NATIONAL CONVENTION

• Mar 1794 - Robespierre succeeded in crushing
  rival powers
• 27 Jul 1794 - Fall of Robespierre
• 5 Mar 1795 - Treaty of Bassel between France and
  Prussia

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NATIONAL CONVENTION

• 22 Aug 1795 - Constitution of 1797 - 3rd of
  revolution
• Executing power Directory of five, Council of
  Elders, and Council of 500
• First Term 2/3 of each council taken from Nat.
  Conv.
• General Bonaparte placed in charge of troops

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NATIONAL CONVENTION

• 5 Oct 1795
• Paris royalists instigated outbreak of sections
  in opposition of 2/3 self protection measure of
  convention for 1st term council
• Napoleons whiff of grapeshot led to complete
  victory for convention
• 26 Oct 1795
• Convention dissolved
• 1797 - Moderate legislative elected
• End of war - coup detat

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IMPACT OF REVOLUTION

• Larger armies led to unlimited warfare
• Emergence of democratic ideal emphasis on
  individual freedom, equality popular government
• John Locke
• Jean Jacques Rousseau - citizen had
  responsibility to fight in defense of country
  (not a logical thought for 18th century
  monarchies)
• American Revolution and apologists
• Conscription is unthinkable without this ideology
  (governed were now governing, had affirmative
  obligation to defend government)

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IMPACT OF REVOLUTION

• Ability to man, control, arm, feed large armies
• Larger populations
• Improved communications systems
• Beginnings of mass production
• Improved agricultural methods
• Line formation of battle vs. the column
• Line provided more firepower (muskets)
• Column could break the line

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IMPACT OF REVOLUTION

• Military theories of Comptee Jacques de Guibert
• Ordre mixte combo of column (approach and
  maneuver) and line (fighting)
• Breaking army into smaller units or divisions
• advance along several routes
• mass forces at precise time and place
• Dispersion then concentration at critical time
  and place

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IMPACT OF REVOLUTION

• 13 Jul 1789
• Crowd seizes 28,000 muskets and some cannon from
  military storage depot
• 14 Jul 1789
• Bastille stormed and governor lynched
• Jul 1792
• Paris mob storms palace, massacres Swiss guard
• Lafayette tries to get men to save king, they
  refuse and Lafayette goes over to Austrians
• Louis XVI executed in 1793

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IMPACT OF REVOLUTION

• Lazare Carnot succeeded in gaining control of
  Revolutionary Army
• Aug 1793 in charge of military affairs for
  committee of Public Safety
• Emphasis on offensive in mass
• Organized National Army
• Foraging enhanced mobility
• By 1794 French Army enjoyed both Mass and
  Mobility, Napoleon and 8 of his future marshals
  made general _at_ average age of 33

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IMPACT OF REVOLUTION

• Armies created by revolution eventually made
  Bonaparte Emperor of France (back to autocracy)
• Moderate legislature elected in 1797 desired end
  of war
• 3 radical directors conspired with Bonaparte to
  arrange coup detat
• In ensuing coup, Carnot escaped to Switzerland

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IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY

• Gribeauvals artillery reforms
• interchangeable parts
• improved cartridges (ball and charge packed
  together)
• Tangent sight
• Ammunition wagons
• By time of revolution, constant drill had made
  French clearly superior

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IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY

• Mobility and communication enhanced by improved
  roads and maps and signal telegraph
• Napoleon, resistant to new weapons and
  technology, failed to make use of balloons and
  shrapnel

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IMPACT OF NATIONALISM

• Mass citizen army fueled by nationalism
• Felt necessary to defend ones own country
• Indoctrination of soldiers in Revolutionary
  Patriotism
• Ideological Warfare

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OTHER MILITARY IMPACTS

• The Organization of an army into a Division
• The Generalship became more complicated
• Staff work became more important
• Maps became essential

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SUMMARY

• Transition from limited war to unlimited war
  during the French Revolution
• Revolution Army unique, the role of ideology in
  the levee en masse, problems of controlling such
  an army
• Impact of new technology on warfare in the
  Napoleonic period

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QUESTIONS?