The famous emperor of France, a wise commander, a decisive statesman and ambitious politician Napoleon Bonaparte became famous throughout the world thanks to his desire to expand the borders of France, turn it into a great empire, subjugating the European monarchies to the country's political and economic interests.
Napoleon commanded a huge army, distinguished by multinationality.
How can we explain the multinational composition of the army of Napoleon?
The army of the French emperor was called the "army of twelve languages." Conquering more and more territories, Napoleon Bonaparte forced the conquered peoples to pay the tax in blood, putting his soldiers in his army.
This fact is what can explain the multinational composition of Napoleon's army.
Some of the soldiers entered the army voluntarily, some were subjects of satellite states or allied countries. However, most foreigners were forcibly included in the army, so they were hostile to the French command, its actions and orders. This significantly influenced the discipline, not allowing to maintain it at the proper level. But, despite this, the army of the commander had experienced commanders, was distinguished by good combat training and was a formidable force for neighboring states.
In the army of Napoleon, Italians, Poles, and some Germans had good training (the combat effectiveness of representatives of this nation depended on the region of residence).
The 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 a coalition of states hostile to France because of its defeat at Leipzig. Thanks to this, Bavaria managed to preserve most of the newly annexed territories.
By 1812, the composition of the great army of Napoleon included the Polish regiments, which were perhaps the most belligerent and loyal to 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. Unlike many allies, the Poles did not leave 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 joining troops of different nationalities.
In addition to the Germans and Poles, the emperor’s army also included representatives from Italy, Prussia, Austria, Saxony, Baden, Westphalia, Württemberg, the Kingdom of Naples, Spain, Holland, and Hesse-Darmtstadt.
All of them had specific goals or were simply forced to join the ranks of the troops, subject to the onslaught of Napoleon.
The French army at the beginning of the Patriotic War of 1812 was distinguished by a variegated national composition, which, on the one hand, weakened it, and on the other, it allowed to replenish the ranks with new soldiers, bringing the emperor closer to achieving his goal.
The role of multinationality in the army of Napoleon
Thanks to a strong multinational army, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte conquered the countries of Western Europe (except England), and 1807-1812 was 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 over the world.
All the same, which can explain the multinational composition of Napoleon’s army, gives an explanation to another fact - the defeat at a crucial stage of the war.