Conscription in the Napoleonic Era ─ A Revolution in Military Affairs?

This edited volume explores conscription in the Napoleonic era, tracing the roots of European conscription and exploring the many methods that states used to obtain the manpower they needed to prosecute their wars.

The levee-en-masse of the French Revolution has often been cited as a ‘Revolution in Military Affairs’, but was it truly a ‘revolutionary’ break with past European practices of raising armies, or an intensification of the scope and scale of practices already inherent in the European military system? This international collection of scholars demonstrate that European conscription has far deeper roots than has been previously acknowledged, and that its intensification during the Napoleonic era was more an ‘evolutionary’ than ‘revolutionary’ change.

This book will be of much interest to students of Military History, Strategic Studies, Strategic History and European History.

Donald Stoker is Professor of Strategy and Policy for the US Naval War College’s Monterey Program in Monterey, California.

Harold D. Blanton is Professor of Strategy and Policy and Associate Chairman of the US Naval War College’s Monterey Program.

Frederick C. Schneid is Professor of History at High Point University.