France Military
In 1783 a French foreign office report stated that if France continued down its long line of defeat after defeat, it would soon become “a power of secondary rank limited to Continental Europe”. Indeed, France in the years before the revolution could be considered a failure in war and all things having to do with the military. In 1763 The Seven Years’ War ended, depriving France of much of its colonial holdings in Canada and India. On the continent, the war saw an inferior Prussian army of 22,000 defeat a French army of 34,000. France’s support of the American Revolution beginning in 1778 ended in success for the Americans, but in bankruptcy for the French. Every French initiative during the conflict ended in failure. In 1779 a British fleet of 30 ships turned back a French fleet twice that size bound for an invasion of England. Attacks on the island of Jersey in 1779 and 1781, as well as an attempted siege if Gibraltar in 1783, likewise ended in failure. Why was the most populous, culturally influential, and richest nation in Europe losing battle after battle? Perhaps a more interesting question would be how did this nation in decline rise to conquer all of continental Europe a few decades later? Yet
Lefebvre, Georges. The Coming of the French Revolution. Pinceton, NJ: Light infantry was first used by Austria to stop Fredrick of Prussia when he invaded the Hapsburg Empire in 1740. As is often in the case in new developments in the art of war, necessity was the mother of invention in this case. Austria had been caught by surprise and forced to scrape together retired veterans and arm them with only the basics. This lightly armed, more mobile soldier, highly trained in the use of his only weapon, the rifle, amassed an impressive record in battle and soon became standard to any army. The French were introduced to light infantry during their attack on Savoy in 1743. Soon the French saw the need for light infantry in its own armies. They acted as “skirmishers” who stayed out in front of their army while it was marching forward, and stayed behind when it was in retreat. Often skirmishers were decisive in deciding when and where on the landscape the main armies would fight. Adelman, Jonathan R.. Revolution, Armies, and War, A Political History. Boulder, Parker, Geoffrey. The Military Revolution, Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. With these changes taking place, why did the French army remain so incompetent? The answer lies in the leadership and the motivation of the troops. With the growth of the absolute monarchy grew the idea that only nobles should be in charge of France’s army. By 1751 proof of nobility was required to attend the best military school in the country, the Ecole Militaire. In 1772 it was required to attend the artillery schools, and in 1776 the engineering schools. By 1789 nobility comprised 90 percent of all officers in France. Even worse, was that the system had nothing to do with merit. “With or without merit it was traditional that a young court noble, after a few years as a nominal captain, for form’s sake, should be appointed colonel and have a regiment”. Noble birth, especially high noble birth, was the single most important factor in promotion and appointment. A court noble could expect to become a general officer by age 39, a provincial noble by age 58, regardless of their talent. With this system little could be done to promote professionalism. Officers preferred to stay at home and enjoy their luxuries
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1595
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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