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The header depicts a call to arms for citizens to defend France against threats to the Revolution. Compulsion had long been a mainstay of military recruitment. However, the levée en masse is often viewed as the first time a European army justified conscription on the basis of universal male military service as an obligation of national citizenship. The levée en masse had immediate consequences both within the French military and on broader French society. While its impact on European military organization was initially limited, the levée en masse's emphasis on the citizen-soldier and the ensuing idea of the military as a "school for the nation" is still evident in many countries today. Thus, the levée en masse is an important landmark in the study of the relationship between the military and society.
Guillaume Guillon-Lethière (1760-1832). La Patrie en danger (Oil on canvas, 1799). Inv. MRF 1985-14.
© Coll. Musée de la Révolution française/Domaine de Vizille
For more information on La Patrie en danger, please visit The Museum of the French Revolution.
Guillaume Guillon-Lethière (1760-1832). La Patrie en danger (Oil on canvas, 1799). Inv. MRF 1985-14.
© Coll. Musée de la Révolution française/Domaine de Vizille
For more information on La Patrie en danger, please visit The Museum of the French Revolution.
The photograph embedded in the paragraph on the homepage is of me at the tomb of Niccolò Machiavelli, in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence in June 2016.
All other photographs are taken from Wikimedia Commons.