Levée en masse

The French term for mass conscription, this technique of mobilizing armies was first employed during the French Revolutionary Wars following a decree by the National Convention on 23 August, 1793 beginning with the words: "From this moment until such time as its enemies shall have been driven from the soil of the Republic all Frenchmen are in permanent requisition for the services of the armies. The young men shall fight; the married men shall forge arms and transport provisions; the women shall make tents and clothes and shall serve in the hospitals; the children shall turn linen into lint; the old men shall betake themselves to the public squares in order to arouse the courage of the warriors and preach hatred of kings and the unity of the Republic"

The response to this decree was immediate with French forces swelling from around 270,000 to in excess of one and a half million men.

This was a key development in modern warfare and would lead to steadily larger armies with each successive war - culminating in the enormous bloodbaths of World Wars One and Two during the first half of the Twentieth Century.