Conscription in the Napoleonic Era: A Revolution in Military Affairs? (Cass Military Studies)

240 Pages·2008·0.8 MB·English

by  Donald J. Stoke

Conscription in the Napoleonic Era
This edited volume explores conscription in the Napoleonic era, tracing the
roots of European conscription and exploring the many methods that states
used to obtain the manpower they needed to prosecute their wars.
The levée en masse of the French Revolution has often been cited as a
“Revolution in Military Affairs,” but was it truly a “revolutionary” break
with past European practices of raising armies, or an intensification of the
scope and scale of practices already inherent in the European military
system? This international collection of scholars demonstrate that European
conscription has far deeper roots than has been previously acknowledged,
and that its intensification during the Napoleonic era was more an “evolu-
tionary” than “revolutionary” change.
This book will be of much interest to students of Military History, Stra-
tegic Studies, Strategic History and European History.
Donald Stoker is Professor of Strategy and Policy for the US Naval War
College’s Monterey Program in Monterey, California. Frederick C. Schneid
is Professor of History at High Point University. Harold D. Blanton is
Professor of Strategy and Policy and Associate Chairman of the US Naval
War College’s Monterey Program.
Cass military studies
Intelligence Activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the
Ancient Rome Second World War
Trust in the gods, but verify Enver Redzic
Rose Mary Sheldon
Leaders in War
Clausewitz and African War West Point Remembers the 1991
Politics and strategy in Liberia Gulf War
and Somalia Edited by Frederick Kagan and
Isabelle Duyvesteyn Christian Kubik
Strategy and Politics in the Khedive Ismail’s Army
Middle East, 1954–60 John Dunn
Defending the northern tier
Michael Cohen Yugoslav Military Industry
1918–1991
The Cuban Intervention in Amadeo Watkins
Angola, 1965–1991
From Che Guevara to Corporal Hitler and the Great
Cuito Cuanavale War 1914–1918
Edward George The List Regiment
John Williams
Military Leadership in the British
Civil Wars, 1642–1651 Rostóv in the Russian Civil War,
‘The genius of this age’ 1917–1920
Stanley Carpenter The key to victory
Brian Murphy
Israel’s Reprisal Policy,
1953–1956 The Tet Effect, Intelligence and
The dynamics of military retaliation the Public Perception of War
Ze’ev Drory Jake Blood
The US Military Profession into Gender and the Military
the 21st Century Women in the armed forces of
War, peace and politics western democracies
Edited by Sam C. Sarkesian and Helena Carreiras
Robert E. Connor, Jr.
Social Sciences and the Military
Civil–Military Relations in An interdisciplinary overview
Europe Edited by Giuseppe Caforio
Learning from crisis and
institutional change Cultural Diversity in the Armed
Edited by Hans Born, Forces
Marina Caparini, Karl Haltiner and An international comparison
Jürgen Kuhlmann Edited by Joseph Soeters and
Jan van der Meulen
Strategic Culture and Ways
of War Railways and the Russo-Japanese
Lawrence Sondhaus War
Transporting war
Military Unionism in the Felix Patrikeeff and Harold Shukman
Post Cold War Era
A future reality? War and Media Operations
Edited by Richard Bartle and The US military and the press from
Lindy Heinecken Vietnam to Iraq
Thomas Rid
Warriors and Politicians
U.S. civil–military relations Ancient China on
under stress Postmodern War
Charles A. Stevenson Enduring ideas from the Chinese
strategic tradition
Military Honour and the Thomas Kane
Conduct of War
From Ancient Greece to Iraq Special Forces, Terrorism and
Paul Robinson Strategy
Warfare by other means
Military Industry and Regional Alasdair Finlan
Defense Policy
India, Iraq and Israel Imperial Defence, 1856–1956
Timothy D. Hoyt The old world order
Greg Kennedy
Managing Defence in a
Democracy Civil–Military Cooperation in
Edited by Laura R. Cleary and Post-Conflict Operations
Teri McConville Emerging theory and practice
Christopher Ankersen
Military Advising and Assistance The Military and Domestic
From mercenaries to privatization, Politics
1815–2007 A concordance theory of
Donald Stoker civil-military relations
Rebecca L. Schiff
Private Military and Security
Companies Conscription in the
Ethics, policies and civil–military Napoleonic Era
relations A revolution in military affairs?
Edited by Andrew Alexandra, Edited by Donald Stoker,
Deane-Peter Baker and Frederick C. Schneid and
Marina Caparini Harold D. Blanton
Military Cooperation in
Multinational Peace Operations
Managing cultural diversity and
crisis response
Edited by Joseph Soeters and
Philippe Manigart
Conscription in the
Napoleonic Era
A revolution in military affairs?
Edited by Donald Stoker,
Frederick C. Schneid and
Harold D. Blanton
First published 2009
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2009 Selection and editorial matter Donald Stoker, Frederick C.
Schneid and Harold D. Blanton; individual chapters, the contributors
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-203-67404-9 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0-415-34999-0 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0-203-67404-9 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-34999-4 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-203-67404-8 (ebk)
Dedicated to:
Paul G. Halpern
Donald D. Horward
Jan K. Tanenbaum
and
Gunther E. Rothenberg
– Mentors and historians

Contents
List of tables xi
Notes on contributors xii
1 Introduction 1
FREDERICK C. SCHNEID
2 Conscription in France during the era of Napoleon 6
HAROLD D. BLANTON
3 Meeting the French challenge: conscription in
Prussia, 1807–1815 24
DIERK WALTER
4 Conscription in Russia in the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries: “for faith, Tsar and
Motherland” 46
ALEXANDER MIKABERIDZE
5 Conscription in the Habsburg Empire to 1815 66
ARTHUR MARK BOERKE
6 The recruitment of seamen for the British Navy,
1793–1815: “Why don’t you raise more men?” 84
KEVIN MCCRANIE
7 Conscription in Spain in the Napoleonic era 102
CHARLES J. ESDAILE