communication & transport (FRW)

• Were there any methods of transport that affected the nature?

  Methods of transportation were extremely primitive with soldiers marching to and from battle. This presented obvious challenges, especially due to the vast geographic spread of the fighting. This often led to a delay in reinforcements arriving.
• What affected marching?


  Marching speed was affected by the conditions of the roads –

  in their retreat from Moscow the French had to abandon their materials such as cannons because of the poor state of the roads.
• How did QS affect marching?

  Quality of soldiers also had an impact – the French relied upon high fitness levels so they could maintain a steady marching speed for longer durations. They also abandoned their tents and slept in the open to increase their mobility as they were carrying less baggage.
• How did the supplies for armies have an impact on the nature?

  Further challenges arose when trying to supply armies which can be seen as having an impact on the nature of the wars. The French were able to partly overcome the challenges by adopting a corps system (out of necessity), where units of soldiers would branch out into self-sufficient groups, meaning they could forage and live off the land - made difficult in less fertile lands such as Spain.
• How did transport affect the outcome?

  Due to their primitive nature, methods of transportation had a

  limited role in influencing the outcome of wars. However, the

  primitive nature of transportation did help push the French into

  adopting their corps system, which enabled them to assemble a huge army capable of fighting continuous battles and was also important in numerous battles such as Austerlitz and Jena.
• How did communication affect the nature of warfare?

  The dominant form of communication was simply messages being delivered by horseback. This meant that there could be a delay in receiving information/commands. It also made it difficult for commands to be changed during the course of battle. Due to the lack of communications technology, generals

  had to be present on the battlefield – which was different to later periods.