Conquering the Natural Frontier: French Expansion to the Rhine River During the War of the First Coalition, 1792-1797
Description:
After conquering Belgium and the Rhineland in 1794, the French Army of the Sambre and Meuse faced severe logistical, disciplinary, and morale problems that signaled the erosion of its capabilities. The army’s degeneration resulted from a revolution in French foreign policy designed to conquer the natural frontiers, a policy often falsely portrayed as a diplomatic tradition of the French monarchy. In fact, the natural frontiers policy – expansion to the Rhine, the Pyrenees, and the Alps – emerge…
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Date:
December 2015
Creator:
Hayworth, Jordan R.