OCR - A2-CHANGING NATURE OF WARFARE - NAPOLEONIC WARS - ORGANISATION OF STATE FOR WAR

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Organization of state for war

  • Some say this period was the start of total war, where all of a state's resources and personell are mobilized to ensure a total victory on the opponent. 
  • It began with the levee en masse decree of 23rd August, 1793 which conscripted 1 million men, displaying a degree of ideological and military mobilisation that was unprecedented
  • In order to supply this huge force, the whole nation had to rally behind the war effort. Ruthless discipline and totalitarian control was imposed on both the military and civilian population: soldiers were publicly executed for defeat, hesitation or suspected political unreliability and civilians were subject to equally harsh measures. This period came to be infamously known as 'The Terror.' 

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