d under one ruler who is responsible for the well being of his
people, thus appealing to a nationalistic sense of pride. Emperor of France
alienates the ruler from his people creating a feeling of inferiority.
The Napoleonic wars were in them a unifying factor as well. Because
Napoleon was at war with the majority of Europe, a sense of the "French
verses Europe" was created. This ideology unified the French through great
national pride, and, at the same time, unified the other nations of Europe
The fact that so many nations eventually fell under French control creates
the problem of the French presence either being accepted of rejected. A
majority of the European people tended to be classified under the latter;
however, some individuals did opt, or were forced by conscription, to join
the French army. Due to this fact, Napoleon was able to construct armies
that rivaled any other armies seen prior to that time. In Napoleon's
Russian Campaign, Napoleon was said to have entered Russia with an army of
"20 nations and 12 languages". The total number of troops was around
650,000 men. (Godechot et al 193) It is clear that this was an important
change in warfare in European history. Such large troops changed both the
preparation and fighting style during warfare.
With such large armies it was necessary for the troops to be well trained
so as authority could be more easily obtained. The organization of such
large armies marks a major accomplishment of the Napoleonic period. A great
nation with military patriotism greatly aided in the formation of such large
military forces. This patriotism was greatly assisted by the use of
conscription in the French military. "Between 1793 and 1798 the new regime
moved over to conscription justified by revolutionary universalism and the
new ideology of nationalism"(Black #1 202). The...