Eu rope in the Nineteenth Century 27Napoleon, with help from other talented officers, set about reorganizing and regu-
larizing the French military. Making skillful use of French national zeal, Napoleon
fielded large, well- armed, and passionately motivated armies. Modest changes in
technology—in par tic u lar, more efficient cultivation of the potato— made pos si ble
the advent of a magazine system; this system meant war supplies could be stored in
pre- positioned locations along likely campaign routes so troops could retrieve them
on the move and avoid having to stop and forage for food. In combination with
nationalism, the magazine system made it pos si ble for the French to field larger, more
mobile, and more reliable armies that could employ innovative tactics unavailable to
the smaller professional armies of France’s rivals, such as the highly regarded Prus-
sian army. Through a series of famous battles, including those at Jena and Auerstedt
(1806), in which Napoleon’s armies shattered those of “invincible” Prus sia, Napoleon
was able to conquer nearly the whole of Eu rope in a few short years.
Yet the same nationalist fervor that brought about much of Napoleon’s success also
led to his downfall. In Spain and Rus sia, Napoleon’s armies met nationalists who fought
a dif er ent sort of war. Rather than facing French forces in direct confrontations, Span-
ish guerrillas used intimate local knowledge to mount hit- and- run attacks on FrenchThe dramatic successes and failures of France’s Napoleon Bonaparte illustrated both the
power and the limits of nationalism, new military technology, and organ ization.ESSIR7_CH02_020_069_11P.indd 27 6/14/16 10:01 AM