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As I remember, after French revolution, there were coalitions of foreign monarchies with the goal of punishing France [1]. Also what surprises me, after years

As I remember, after French revolution, there were coalitions of foreign monarchies with the goal of punishing France [1]. Also what surprises me, after years of several revolutions and chaos in France, how could Napoleon gather such a large army. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_First_Coalition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_First_Coalition

itsnowandnever 11mo ago
he essentially invented the modern concept of conscription. there were press gangs and conscription-like things all through history but for the most part soldiers were professionals
- littlestymaar 11mo ago
  He didn't invent it, the revolutionary government did and Bonaparte then inherited a massive experimented army after the French Republic having been at war for a decade when he took power.
littlestymaar 11mo ago
> Also what surprises me, after years of several revolutions and chaos in France, how could Napoleon gather such a large army. Conscription + France was basically the China of Europe at that point: it was almost as populated as the rest of Europe combined. France then had a very, very, early demographic transition which dramatically limited its population. Had France followed the demographic path of England or Germany, France would have around 250M inhabitants today.
- mkl 11mo ago
  > France was basically the China of Europe at that point: it was almost as populated as the rest of Europe combined. That doesn't seem to be correct. From Wikipedia: "During the Middle Ages, more than one-quarter of Europe's total population was French;[8] by the seventeenth century, this had decreased slightly to one-fifth. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, other European countries, such as Germany and Russia, had caught up with France and overtaken it in number of people." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_France https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_France

itsnowandnever 11mo ago

he essentially invented the modern concept of conscription. there were press gangs and conscription-like things all through history but for the most part soldiers were professionals

littlestymaar 11mo ago
He didn't invent it, the revolutionary government did and Bonaparte then inherited a massive experimented army after the French Republic having been at war for a decade when he took power.

littlestymaar 11mo ago

> Also what surprises me, after years of several revolutions and chaos in France, how could Napoleon gather such a large army. Conscription + France was basically the China of Europe at that point: it was almost as populated as the rest of Europe combined. France then had a very, very, early demographic transition which dramatically limited its population. Had France followed the demographic path of England or Germany, France would have around 250M inhabitants today.

mkl 11mo ago
> France was basically the China of Europe at that point: it was almost as populated as the rest of Europe combined. That doesn't seem to be correct. From Wikipedia: "During the Middle Ages, more than one-quarter of Europe's total population was French;[8] by the seventeenth century, this had decreased slightly to one-fifth. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, other European countries, such as Germany and Russia, had caught up with France and overtaken it in number of people." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_France https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_France