The famous emperor of France, a wise commander, a resolute statesman and an ambitious politician, Napoleon Bonaparte became famous all over the world thanks to his desire to expand the borders of France, turn it into a great empire, subordinating European monarchies to the political and economic interests of the country.
Napoleon commanded a huge army that was multinational.
How can you explain the multinational composition of Napoleon's army?
The army of the French emperor was called the "army of the twelve languages". Conquering more and more new territories, Napoleon Bonaparte forced the conquered peoples to pay a tax in blood, supplying his soldiers to his army.
This fact is what explains the multinational composition of Napoleon's army.
Some of the soldiers joined the army voluntarily, some were subjects of satellite states or allied countries. However, most foreigners were forced into the army, so they were hostile to the French command, its actions and orders. This significantly affected the discipline, not allowing it to be maintained at the proper level. But, despite this, the commander's army had experienced commanders, was distinguished by good combat training and was a formidable force for neighboring states.
In Napoleon's army, the Italians, Poles, part of the Germans were well trained (the combat capability of the representatives of this 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 the Kingdom of Bavaria joined the alliance with Napoleon. In this regard, Napoleon's army was replenished with 10 linear regiments, the number of which increased to 13 in 1811. However, in 1813 Bavaria took an anti-Napoleonic position, joining the coalition of states hostile to France due to its defeat near Leipzig. Thanks to this, Bavaria managed to keep most of the newly annexed territories.
By 1812, the composition of the great army of Napoleon included Polish regiments, which were perhaps the most militant and loyal to the commanders of a different nationality. This fact is explained by the fact that, having broken up into separate territories due to internal strife and being divided by Russia, Prussia and Austria, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw sought to restore statehood and sought support from the French emperor. ATunlike many allies, the Poles did not abandon Napoleon until the very end, until his last battle at Waterloo. The desire to restore a single state (which can explain the multinational composition of Napoleon's army) is one of the important reasons for the entry into the army of different nationalities.
In addition to the Germans and Poles, the emperor's army also included representatives of Italy, Prussia, Austria, Saxony, Baden, Westphalia, Württemberg, the Kingdom of Naples, Spain, Holland, Hesse-Darmtstadt.
All of them had certain goals or were simply forced to join the ranks of the army, submitting to the onslaught of Napoleon.
The French army by the beginning of the Patriotic War of 1812 was distinguished by a motley national composition, which, on the one hand, weakened it, and on the other hand, it allowed to replenish the ranks with new soldiers, bringing the emperor closer to achieving his goal.
The role of multinationality in Napoleon's army
Thanks to a strong multinational army, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte conquered the countries of Western Europe (except England), and 1807-1812 were the heyday of France. However, despite numerous successes, the ambitious emperor was never able to subdue his main opponent - Russia, which stood in the way of France's domination of the world.
Everything that can explain the multinational composition of Napoleon's army also explains another fact - the defeat at the decisive stage of the war.
