Between the outbreak of war with Austria in 1792 and Napoleon's final debacle in 1814, France remained almost continously at war, recruiting in the process some two to three million frenchmen--a level of recruitment unknown to previous generations and widely resented as an attack on the liberties of rural communities. Forrest challenges the notion of a nation heroically rushing to arms by examining the massive rates of desertion and avoidance of service as well as their consequences on French society--on military campaigns and the morale of armies, on political opinion at home, on the social f.
Publisher:New York : Oxford University Press, 1989.
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-289).
Formatted Contents Note:
The problem and its context -- The weight of military recruitment -- The extent of evasion -- The roots of resistance -- The deserter and civilian society -- Desertion and criminality -- Desertion and counterrevolution -- Desertion and the French armies -- The build-up of state repression -- Desertion, the state, and the people.
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