Daily Life During the French Revolution (39 page)

WAR, CONSCRIPTION, AND UPRISINGS

The French government’s declaration of war on Austria, in
April 1792, and Prussia’s declaration of war on France less than two months
later, on June 13, had strong repercussions in rural areas. France needed
soldiers. The lottery system used to induct young men from the regions became a
nightmare for many families. Farmers struggling to make a living could ill afford
to lose the labor their sons provided, and the young men of the country did not
want to go to fight in a distant war.

Preparing for the upcoming struggle, on February 24, 1793,
the Girondins ordered the recruitment of 300,000 more troops. Enrollment began
in March in the Vendée, the department on the Atlantic coast at the mouth of
the Loire. The region was one of the most wretched in France, with rocky hills,
deficient soil, and poverty-stricken, illiterate inhabitants. The locals were
also fiercely religious; they protected nonjuring priests, supported the
monarchy, and wanted no part of the revolution or the despised republic for
which they were being forced to fight. Enraged and encouraged by their priests,
they rose in revolt on March 11, 1793, a few days after France declared war on
Spain. At first using only farm implements for weapons, the rebels defeated a
detachment of National Guardsmen sent to deal with them. The aristocrats of the
Vendée, many about as poor as their peasants, joined the movement and helped
shape the rebels into a fairly efficient army of irregulars who, supplied with
hunting guns or stolen or captured weapons and knowing well the rugged terrain,
engaged in guerrilla tactics and easily put to flight additional National Guard
units sent to crush them. The counterrevolution spread rapidly as the Vendeans
cut the Guard to pieces in several towns, raided supply depots, and disrupted
enemy communication lines before retreating to their isolated farms and
hamlets. The Girondist government was faced with an internal threat as
dangerous as the foreign enemies of the revolution. The rebel force that called
itself the Royal and Catholic army was defeated by government troops in
December 1793; the army then carried out a scorched-earth policy against the
remnants of the peasant resistance. In Nantes, some 3,000 people accused of
participating in the rebellion were executed. Scattered conflicts continued for
years; the region lost a third of its population through fighting and the
subsequent Terror, with peace completely restored only in 1801, under Napoleon.

13 - MILITARY LIFE

For
some, life in the military was stimulating and carried out with purpose—to do
one’s duty and strive for advancement. As the baron de Besenval, commander of
the king’s Swiss Guard, expressed it,
“La guerre est une passion”
(war
is a passion). Through his taxes, the peasant bore the brunt of this passion
when the monarchy required an army both for foreign wars and to prevent civil
unrest.

About 1 in 20 men served in the army under the old regime,
and even in Paris there were barracks in the faubourgs, for about 8,000
soldiers patrolled the city at night.

The size of France’s armed forces had steadily declined
from the superb million-man army of Louis XIV, about a third of whom were
mercenaries, and much public dissatisfaction was focused on the dismal record
in the wars of the mid-eighteenth century. Under Louis XVI, soldiers were
volunteers, and 23 regiments were made up of foreigners, including Italians,
Germans, and Irish. The best regiments, the Swiss Guards, formed part of the
king’s household. But, swept from the seas by the British and far outclassed on
the battlefield by the Prussians, the military inspired little confidence.

Conscription was used only to recruit for the militia, a
reserve army for use in wartime. Potential recruits drew lots in each district,
and the unlucky ones were forced to enroll. Exemptions abounded, however, and
only the poorest of men were actually obliged to sign up; any military commitment
was bitterly resented in the rural areas. These reserve units, comprising about
75,000 men, performed a few weeks’ training a year in peacetime. Military life
and its so-called benefits seem to have had no appeal for even the most
destitute peasant.

A volunteer force, the regular Royal Army, contained about
250,000 men assigned to cavalry, infantry, and artillery units. Most of them
were drawn from the lowest echelons of society, generally from the northern
border districts, where invasion was most likely and where the recruiting
sergeant used the inducements of a life of adventure, better wages than many
were used to, the excitement of wine and women, and maybe even a chance to
plunder.

Before the revolution, it was nearly impossible for a poor
commoner or even for the poorer members of the provincial nobility to enter the
officer caste. In 1789, out of a total of nearly 10,000 army officers, more
than 6,500 were of noble birth. Many who had the appropriate ancestry simply
bought their commissions. In fact, the army law of 1781
(Loi Ségur)
stated
that anyone promoted to the rank of captain or above must have at least four
quarters of aristocratic blood in his veins, which excluded all commoners as
well as the newly ennobled.

Marquis de La Fayette (Lafayette), a French general who
had fought in the American War of Independence.

REVOLUTION

The Royal Army was intimately involved in the events of the
revolution from the beginning. Regular troops that were in sympathy with the
revolutionaries often disobeyed the orders of their aristocratic officers,
setting the pattern for insubordination and conflict. Defiant behavior became a
political issue tied to patriotism and was sanctioned by the revolutionary
government in the summer of 1789. Mutinies broke out in several places. In
Nancy, a revolt was put down by extreme force after bitter fighting. The king’s
flight to Varennes, in June 1791, and his subsequent arrest and suspension led
to a great exodus of military officers, who resigned, deserted, or emigrated.
Those that remained at their posts were subject to more intense resistance from
the soldiers, which encouraged a further exodus of officers. The defections
were worrisome for the revolutionary government and the military as the danger
of a foreign war intensified in early 1792. The three military field
commanders, Luckner, Lafayette, and Rochambeau, knew that the army was not
ready for war. When it came, on April 20, 1792, when France declared war on
Austria, they were proved right. The French assault on Tournai, in the Austrian
Netherlands, was a disaster. On April 29, the French troops panicked and
streamed back into Lille in an attempt to escape the slaughter.

Invading armies now entered France, and more officers
became
émigrés.
Noncommissioned officers with solid military experience
replaced the aristocrats, and there was a large influx of recruits from urban
areas to fight against the foreign threat to the revolution. Nearly every
aspect of daily life in France during this period of the revolution was deeply
influenced by war and the concomitant military demands.

The sans-culottes did all in their power to prevent the
wearing of any distinctive uniform in the army. They believed that privileged
units, such as the grenadiers and infantry, should not be singled out by their
special clothes—equality was the rallying cry. Both militants and journalists
emphasized the importance of equality in the army. In his newspaper,
L
’
Ami
du Peuple,
on August 14, 1793, Jean-Théophile-Victoire Leclerc suggested
that the revolutionary army provide the same pay for commanders, officers, and
soldiers, who should all eat the same bread so that differences in rank would
not lead to vanity on the part of those who had the better situation.

THE NATIONAL GUARD

The National Guard was formed by popular mobilization in
the early summer of 1789 and was ratified by decree of the Constituent Assembly
a few months later, on August 10, inspired by the Great Fear and by the
gathering of the king’s troops in the vicinity of Paris. Municipal councils
were ordered to oversee the creation of National Guard companies. Made up of
volunteers, they were created as a defensive force against counterrevolutionary
backlash and also served to keep order among the unruly masses. Placed in charge
of this body was the popular and liberal marquis de Lafayette.

All over France, the district municipal councils were
charged with recruiting, equipping, and organizing the volunteers. On Sunday,
June 26, registers were opened at town halls to record the names, ages,
professions, and residence of those wishing to join. The frenzied activity went
on for several weeks as young men and their families discussed the pros and
cons of enrolling and made their decisions.

The recruit supplied his own uniform of royal blue with
scarlet and white trimmings, as well as his own weapons. The guard was made up
primarily of sons of the bourgeoisie and, at first, only active citizens, those
who each year paid the equivalent in taxes of at least three days’ work. Many
rushed to join. This patriotic gesture posed little threat to their well-being.
They could strut around wearing the national cockade on their caps, stop
civilians for questioning, and attend the fêtes looking smart in their
uniforms. They elected their own officers, and each battalion carried a flag
reading on one side “For the People of France” and on the other side “For
Liberty or Death.”

When little skirmishes, fracases, or street demonstrations
occurred in Paris, the National Guard was sent out to quell the disturbance.
They were responsible for firing on the crowd in the Champ de Mars, July 17,
1791, killing about 50 people. Most of the time they were idle, spending time
in their favorite cafes, where they congregated.

Other cities and towns soon created their own National
Guards, especially during the Great Fear of late summer 1789. In the provinces,
they were used to parade at local celebrations, show a martial spirit in
accordance with the changes taking place in the capital and in the government,
and, if required, protect the town officials and local property.

Following the king’s attempt to escape the country, in
1791, the National Assembly ordered mobilization of all National Guardsmen in
the frontier zones and asked for a further 100,000 Guard volunteers from other
regions to mobilize and protect the nation.

When the dispatch calling for volunteers reached the
villages of the northern frontier, church bells rang. The National Guard
assembled there, bearing arms; police and detachments of regular army blocked
the roads; many people barricaded themselves in their houses or fled to the
woods— all expecting an invasion of Austrians, which royalist sympathizers had
predicted was imminent.

In the west, the danger seemed less threatening, and the
recruiting went on in a festive atmosphere. The mayor of one village, for
example, went down to the meadow where the townsfolk were dancing (since it was
the feast day of the town’s patron saint). Beating a drum, he read the
mobilization order, exhorting the young men to enlist. They were promised good
pay, higher than that of the regular army, a one-year tour of duty, relaxed
discipline, holidays, and rapid promotion. Within a few months of the king’s
attempted flight, the 100,000 had been enrolled. Many could not afford to buy
their boots, rifles, and clothes, so collections were taken to help them, while
administrators from city to hamlet tried to find money and purchase equipment.
Once outfitted, the men were given a little training by former military men,
and, with the blessings of constitutional bishops (those who had signed loyalty
oaths) and supplied with their new flags and colorful uniforms, the men were
sent off toward the frontier, finding a party in every town on the way to
welcome them.

The volunteers now included the spectrum of society, from
middle-class lawyers, merchants, artisans, priests, and workers to even a few
noblemen, but few young farmer peasants answered the call. Taking care of their
land was more important than fighting in distant places.

The regular army (or whites) and the volunteer army (the
blues) were generally hostile to each other. The regulars considered the
volunteers overpaid, inept, poorly trained, badly equipped, and, sometimes,
incompetently led. In the opening campaigns against Prussia and Austria, in the
summer of 1792, they proved to be correct. The blues were driven back in
Belgium, and the fall of the fortress town of Longwy opened the road to Paris.
The popular slogan
“la patrie en danger!”
swept the nation, and the
sans-culottes joined the army and the National Guard in droves. Forty thousand
enlisted in the departments close to the frontier, and another 20,000 were
brought from Paris to halt the Prussian advance. The famous battle of Valmy, on
September 20, 1792, turned the tide and saved France and the revolution.