Presenting a significant new interpretation of Napoleonic warfare,
Robert M. Epstein argues persuasively that the true origins of
modern war can be found in the Franco-Austrian War of 1809.
Epstein contends that the 1809 war--with its massive and evenly
matched armies, multiple theaters of operation, new
command-and-control schemes, increased firepower, frequent
stalemates, and large-scale slaughter--had more in common with the
American Civil War and subsequent conflicts than with the decisive
Napoleonic campaigns that preceded it.
Epstein examines 1809 in terms of the evolving new systems of
recruitment, organization, and command used by both sides. As he
shows, this was the first time that two states confronted each
other on the battlefield with armies created by large-scale
conscription, organized in corps, and coordinated along two major
theaters of operation (Danubian and Italian). As a result, the
opponents were forced into "distributed maneuvers" that produced
broad operational fronts in which battles became both sequential
and simultaneous, but ultimately indecisive.
Ironically, as Epstein points out, neither Napoleon nor the
opposing commander Archduke Charles ever fully understood that a
paradigm shift had occurred in the conduct of war. Regardless,
after 1809, warfare would never be the same.
General
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