Napoleon's Army: The Western Way Of War

He aggressively pursued the enemy to force them to engage . Napoleon would bring his entire force to bare once engaged with the enemy to overwhelming put pressure on them to break . In order for Napoleon to have a large army totaling near a million, he must have a way to finance it . The French Revolution took the Nobility from power and the military from Nobility. The army was no in the hands of the people of France. A new sense of French national pride compelled the people of France to join the army in masse. At this point there was no king to support the army. In some parts the army being composed of commoners already had the ability to live off the land. This was a principle called la guerra nourrit la guerre . It was not only the ability of the soldiers to fend for themselves, the new Revolutionary National Assembly ensured that the army would be publicly funded. This was a change from when the king would personally fund the army. A publically funded army that served the national interest and not the king’s interest was easier to collect

For Napoleon the unique way of financing his army was through legislative support, cheap conscripts willing to fight, and trusting his soldiers to take what they needed from conquered lands. Napoleon’s aggressive style of warfare of using combined arms tactics, forcing the enemy to fight and pursuing the enemy to destroy their army defines the aggressive aspect of the Western way of war. Looking at the Western way of war and determining the aspect that best characterizes Napoleon’s time can be by looking at innovation. Napoleon was not overly innovative in his techniques, but how he applied them. He also created new permanent formations above the regiment that are still used today. The aspects of unique finance, aggressiveness and innovation are easily characterized during Napoleon’s