German soldiers in Napoleon's army according to ego-documents: Micro-republicanism and de-civilisation

Abstract

The end of the eighteenth and the early nineteenth centuries are considered as the period during which modern nationalisms were shaped. The nationalisation of the armed forces - chiefly through an institution of compulsory military service - is one of the major characteristics of the era. However, a significant number of the soldiers in Napoleon's army were foreigners. This paper considers the attitudes of German soldiers in the Grande Armée, as they were expressed in ego-documents. These men were influenced by forms of military sociability and discipline that contrasted with the prevalent image of the «military estate» in their home country. The article establishes a parallel between this «micro-republicanism» and strategic choices and analyses how the military defeat in Russia and elsewhere, contributed to transforming these forms of military sociability into an experience of de-civilisation.