Military justice under the Directory: the Armies of Italy and of the Sambre and Meuse

The military justice records of the Armies of Italy and theSambre and Meuse reveal that, despite their contrasting militaryfortunes during the campaigns of 1796–97, their experienceswere very similar in many respects. The records of the conseilsmilitaires of the year IV (1795–96) and the conseils deguerre of the following year reveal both conditions of servicein the two armies and the circumstances and attitudes that regulatedthe relationship between soldiers and civilians in Italy andGermany. The conseils de guerre, instituted to remedy the perceivedlaxity of the conseils militaires, operated on similar principlesto their much-maligned predecessors. Occasional instances ofexemplary severity apart, these conseils frequently mitigatedboth charges and sentences, reserving the full severity of thelaw for soldiers who were not present to receive punishment.The councils protected miscreant soldiers more effectively thanthey did vulnerable civilians, but they nonetheless affirmed,if only in principle, the idea that revolutionary warfare shouldbe contained within legal limits.     

Staging Battles: Representations of War in the Theatre and Festivals of the French Revolution

Prefiguring twentieth-century experiments, the French revolutionaries represented the war in which they were engaged after 1792 by staging military spectacles in the theatre and in civic festivals. Both plays and festivals were highly allegorical in nature, representing the war as a conflict between rival ideologies and providing stereotypical caricatures of enemy villains. Military plays won little acclaim from theatre critics, who objected to their implausibility and lack of originality. Audiences limited their enthusiasm to plays that brought romance and patriotism together. Allegorical representations spoke neither to the realities of war nor to the psychological needs of spectators. The involvement of soldiers in staging and witnessing military spectacles, however, underlines their significance in representing and helping to produce the nation-in-arms.

résumé:?Tout comme le font certains mouvements au vingtième siècle, les révolutionnaires français représentent la guerre dans laquelle ils se trouvent engagés au moyen de pièces de théâtre et de fêtes civiques. Dans ces spectacles allégoriques, avec leurs symboles et leurs personnages stéréotypés, la guerre prend l'aspect d'un conflit idéologique. Ces spectacles ne plaisent guère aux critiques dramatiques qui y désapprouvent le manque de vraisemblance et d'originalité. Quant aux spectateurs, eux, ils applaudissent seules les pièces où se trouvent à la fois la sentimentalité et le patriotisme. Les représentations allégoriques, divorcées des réalités de la guerre et sans rapport avec les conflits personnels occasionnés par le patriotisme, ne répondent pas à leurs besoins psychologiques. C'est surtout le fait que les soldats ont participé aux spectacles militaires qui fait que ces derniers doivent être reconnus comme ayant non seulement représenté mais aussi inspiré la nation en armes.