famous Emperor of the French, a wise leader, a statesman resolute and ambitious politician, Napoleon Bonaparte became famous around the world due to its desire to expand the boundaries of France, to turn it into a great empire, subordinating political and economic interests of the country's European monarchies.
Napoleon commanded a huge army, distinguished multinational.
What can explain the multi-ethnic composition of the army of Napoleon?
army of the French emperor was called "a motley array of the army."Gaining more and more territory, Napoleon Bonaparte conquered peoples made to pay a tax in blood, supplying the soldiers in his army.
This fact is something that can be explained by the multinational composition of the army of Napoleon.
Some soldiers joined the army voluntarily, are often the subjects of satellite or allied countries.However, most of the foreigners were incorporated into the army by force, so they were hostile to the French commanders, his actions and orders.This greatly influenced the discipline of not allowing it to maintain a proper level.But despite this, the army commander had experienced chiefs differed good combat training and was a formidable force for neighboring states.
in Napoleon's army had a good schooling Italians, Poles, some Germans (the fighting capacity of the representatives of the nation depended on the region of residence).
National composition of the army of Napoleon Bonaparte
1806 was marked by the defeat of Austria at Austerlitz, and an alliance with Napoleon joined the Kingdom of Bavaria.In this regard, Napoleon's army has replenished 10 linear shelves, the number of which in 1811 increased to 13. However, in 1813, Bayern won antinapoleonovskoy position, joining a coalition hostile to the French State because of its defeat at Leipzig.With this Bavaria managed to keep most of the newly annexed territories.
By 1812 the composition of the Grand Army of Napoleon included and Polish regiments, which were perhaps the most militant and loyal to the commander of another nationality.This fact is explained by the fact that, split into separate territories because of internal strife and being divided by Russia, Prussia and Austria, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw sought to restore statehood and seek support from the French emperor.Unlike many allies, the Poles did not leave until the end of Napoleon to his last battle at Waterloo.The desire to restore a single state (which may explain the multi-ethnic composition of the army of Napoleon) - one of the important reasons for becoming a part of the troops of different nationalities.
addition to Germans and Poles, the army of the emperor also included representatives of Italy, Prussia, Austria, Saxony, Baden, Westphalia, Württemberg, the Kingdom of Naples, Spain, the Netherlands, Hesse-Darmtshtadta.
They all had certain goals or were simply forced to join the army, succumbing to the onslaught of Napoleon.
French army to the beginning of the War of 1812 different multi-national composition, which, on the one hand, weakens it, and on the other - allowed to join the ranks with new soldiers, bringing the emperor to achieve this goal.
role of multinational army of Napoleon
Thanks to a strong multi-national army of the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte won the Western Europe (except England) and 1807-1812 years were the heyday of France.However, despite many successes, the ambitious emperor could not conquer his main opponent - stand in the way to the domination of France over the world to Russia.
All the same, which may explain the multi-ethnic composition of the army of Napoleon, gives explanations and other facts - the defeat in the decisive phase of the war.
