The French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars

   Considering all of the enlightenment period, one event dominates in the influence it has had on modern society in the western world and beyond. Towards what is loosely considered the close of the enlightenment period the French Revolution occurred, and would spread it's results and influence throughout Europe. The French Revolution has had a wide array of effects on our modern world. From the most superficial things we take for granted, to modern government structure, and even the way we define and approach warfare. Understandably the French Revolution was not the only revolution to occur during this time. It actually would be the economic strain caused by the French participation in our own revolution that would help spur things along in France. The influential differences and the importance of the French revolution compared to our American Revolutionary War would be Frances geographic location and the ability for the wide reach of it's outcome.

     The wide reaching fingers of the French influence would be known soon after the Revolution. As France began into the Napoleonic Wars they would take their own culture with them, which can be seen today even at a basic level. The use of the metric system for measurement was used almost solely by the French, but during the geographically extensive wars the metric system would be found throughout Europe. All the way to our present time we find that every major country with the exception of the United States has adopted the metric system. The spread of cultural aspect is directly traced to Napoleonic Wars, which was of course a direct result of the French Revolution. The sheer geographical magnitude that influenced a system of measurement across the globe, would be of huge influence to modern society.

http://sklingam.wikispaces.com/file/view/06_french_revolution.jpg/

     The nature of the French Revolution brought about huge societal changes in the French approach to government, something I will talk about more in the next paragraph. This change in structure created what would be known as Napoleonic Wars, and completely changed the face of warfare forever. The format in which these campaigns were achieved would later be coined as total war. This type of warfare is approached and fought on all fronts with very little division between civilian and soldier involvement. This type of war would be very influential to the many wars to come in the western world. It's influence can be seen in both of the World Wars of the 1900's. As like during the call to the citizens of France during the revolution and Napoleonic Wars, public calling to all citizens would be made in order to assist the massive war efforts. Just as the French did during the revolution, women and the old would be an asset off of the front lines while nearly all able bodied men would be involved in the battle This type of warfare of course would only be successful at the hands nationalism.

     Some major changes occurred throughout the masses just prior to and during the French Revolution, that made possible for the aforementioned influences to have been present. Most notably a secular form of government emerged which is obviously a present dynamic across the modern western world. Another very important movement that occurred was the birth of nationalism, this attitude would infiltrate across Europe and throughout the modern world. Nationalism gave power and ownership of a country to the common citizens, military, and government alike. This created an enormous sense of pride and a very personal aspect to the happenings and activities of a country. This process and feeling can be seen at work every day in every corner of the world. As of very recently we can see the nationalism influence upon counties in the North African region. Egypt for example, has a citizenship that has great pride in their country, and they have used a nationalistic approach to mobilize and motivate. At every level of their society they fought for a common interest and nationalism kept them intact for a common goal.

http://victoriancircle.blogspot.com/2010/06/napoleon.html

     These examples are just a sliver of the examples of the far reaching effects the French Revolution has had on the modern world. It could be argued that the American Revolution laid the ground work for the influence, but it comes down simply to location and reach. The American Revolution may have been a minor catalyst, but the French Revolution brought amazing change to nearly an entire continent then beyond as the Napoleonic wars progressed. The French Revolution's reach was huge and it's influence even greater.