A striking piece of propaganda. A few observations. One of the problems of the French Army in World War I was an attempt to implement Napoleonic warfare, long after technological development had made such an implementation an absurdity. Military genius was in short supply in World War I. If it had not been, a short war would have altered World history, likely for the better. History has much to teach us about War, but viewing it as a how to guide is always a grave mistake.
Napoleon’s Ghost
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Napoleon fed his soldiers beef fat and saw dust. Napoleon had run out of money to prosecute the war. Advice from a loser is not wise.
Napoleonic tactics should have been immediately abandoned after Waterloo. The death count during the American Civil War would probably been half what it was had that happened
In WWI, they stubbornly resisted the Germans.
In WWII, they failed on the battlefield but won as 5th columnists.
In the next war, they obviously should surrender immediately and incite their Muslims against the Germans. A few staged incidents of Koran burning by ersatz Germans should be sufficient.
In all seriousness, there may not be a front in the next war. The definition of combatant becomes murkier and murkier. Uniforms at this point are nearly unrecognizable as such. 5th column may be the main column next time.
The French have always had a problem of not learning the lessons of the previous war. That changed with de Gaulle who had his faults but established the force de frappe, a nuclear deterrent. The result was that Europe obtained some measure of stability that has remained since. Even the breakup of Yugoslavia managed to be contained to a large degree.