Levee en Masse

At the end of the 18th century, France was in the throes of the French Revolution. Faced with enemies on all sides, they desperately needed to protect themselves. The solution was levée en masse ('mass levy'): the conscription of hundreds of thousands of French people into compulsory military service. This move by the French government shocked their opponents and changed the nature of warfare for centuries.

Levée en Masse Definition and Date

Here is a simple explanation of what the Levée en Masse was:

Levée en Masse and The French Revolution

By 1793, the French Revolution had been happening for four years. At this point, France was still not politically stable, and there were many threats, both internal and external, that worried the National Convention. Political infighting between different factions in government was a particular concern. It meant that different agendas and ideologies were all jostling for power.

In addition to this, the French Revolution had not been popular in the rest of Europe. By 1793, France was facing several invasions and threats from an anti-French Coalition that had formed. These conflicts that prompted the Levée en Masse are commonly known as the Wars of the First Coalition. Here is a brief timeline of the conflicts France was involved in leading up to the Levée en Masse:

Why Levée en Masse was decreed?

There were three main causes of the Levée en Masse; Protection, the economy and politics.

Protection

The biggest cause of the Levée en masse was, of course, the need to protect France from all the threats that it faced.

In 1793, the French Army was a mix of older, professional soldiers and volunteers with little training. It was not a small army. Due, however, to the number of internal and external conflicts with which France had to contend, it was spread very thinly.

In addition, the army was stagnating. There had been many, many cases of desertion in the previous few years. In addition to this, the army was plagued by poor leadership and badly trained troops.

Indeed, throughout the 18th century, some French military analysts had written about the need to create a new military culture in France. Joseph Servan, the Comte de Guibert, and the Comte de Saint Germain had written about the benefits of creating 'citizen soldiers'. They essentially advocated training and educating citizens to be soldiers that could be called up to serve at a moment's notice.

Economy

It is also worth noting here that France's economy was not in the best shape. In 1793, the country was struggling with food shortages. This bred discontent and created another problem for the Convention to deal with.

By pushing more people into the production of goods for the war effort, it was hoped that this would stimulate the economy.

Politics

There is also a political angle to consider with the Levée en masse. At the time of the Levée, the National Convention was dominated by more militant revolutionaries, known as Jacobins. For them, the Levée was a way of drawing together an entire nation in the revolutionary spirit against their tyrannical enemies.

The First Levée

Before the decree of a Levée en masse on 23rd August 1793, the government enacted a smaller Levée in February 1793, to gather another 300,000 troops for the French Army. Each département would supply a particular percentage of the 300,000 through recruiting volunteers.

The Levée was a partial success; they managed to gain around 150,000 volunteers for the army, which certainly helped. However, they also ran into issues with regional enaction of the Levée and resistance from certain areas.

Inefficient Bureaucracy

In the spring of 1793, the French Republic had been established for less than a year. To recruit another 300,000 men to the army was a massive task that required a modern, efficient bureaucratic machine which France simply did not have at this point. In many areas, particularly those that were more rural, the printing and circulation of decrees was quite new and had not been perfected, leading to many people being confused about certain aspects of the law and how it should be carried out.

For the same reasons, there were no documents that listed those who were eligible to serve. In addition, migrant and seasonal workers presented difficulty as they didn't belong to any particular region.

There was often miscommunication between local officials and the army; this led to issues such as recruits not knowing where to assemble or where they were going once they had joined the army and being turned away from battalions that were already filled.

Revolts

The first Levée raised discontent in some areas of France. It acted as a catalyst for smaller grievances that had been building over time - mainly with the orders they were receiving from the new government in Paris.

Levée en Masse Decree

On 23rd August 1793, after calls from many in the National Convention, Levée en masse was decreed.

Here is an overview of what the decree entailed:

• All single, able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 25 were immediately conscripted into the army.
• Men who were married and/or had children were not immediately conscripted but were encouraged to volunteer.
• Anyone who could not fight (women, children, the elderly, etc.) should be engaged in an activity that would help the war effort - making tents, and clothes, working in hospitals, repairing buildings, and forging weapons were just some of the jobs they were to be employed in.
• National buildings were turned into barracks and public places into armament workshops.
• Arms were turned over to the army for their exclusive use.
• Horses were requisitioned for cavalry officers and to pull artillery. (Horses for agriculture were exempt)

Eighteen Representatives-on-Mission were entrusted with the execution of the decree around the country - ensuring those who were eligible were conscripted, recruiting volunteers, and liaising with the military. They also made sure the army had a good supply of food and armaments.

Levée en Masse Combatants

Levée en Masse combatants who joined the French Army due to the Levée en masse were mostly from the peasant classes. This is because there were exceptions to the Levée for some groups of people.

Exceptions for Jobs and Skills

A common exception was for those who held jobs in government or administration. Since they required the skills of reading, writing and occasionally numeracy, these workers were not easily replaceable.

Replacements

The Republic also allowed the exception of replacement for the Levée. This meant that a richer man could pay a poorer man to do his military service for him. In this way, many richer men could be exempt from the Levée.

The poor did not like this. They felt that this went against all the values of equality and liberty that the Republic had been founded on.

Fig. 1 - Departure of the Conscripts in 1807

Levée en Masse Significance

Despite high levels of desertion and evasion, the Levée succeeded in recruiting and training an army of around 750,000 in only a year. There was no need for any further conscription until 1797.

The Levée en masse shocked France's European neighbours. The Levée meant that France could raise troops on a much bigger scale than any of the other countries in Europe. The huge expansion of the French army forced their enemies to man border fortresses and expand their armies. This was very difficult for the other armies of Europe as they relied on paid professional soldiers or mercenaries. They struggled to match the size of the French army by these means.

The Levée en masse also allowed many untrained, common people to build a career in the army. This was beneficial as it meant the French army developed a strong officer and non-commissioned officer corps.