In every society, wars always leave economical, political and social impacts in the society whereby they took place. Some of the effects of war are long term and their presence is evident even after years of rehabilitation and attempts to restore the situations back to normal. Some of the long term effects include trauma, deaths and physical destruction of property and nature. On the other hand, other effects are short term and are only felt for a short period of time. Some of the short time effects include economical depression and crises as well as infrastructural damages, which are subject to repair after a given period of time. The French napoleon war, just like any other war that has taken place across the globe had both long term and short term effects in the social, economical and political backgrounds of the country as well as its citizens. The case was also same with Russia, the French rivals who were also a part of this war (Chartrand 16).
It is important to look closely at the participants of the war since these are some of the strategies applied to look at and analyze the effects a war had in the country which the battlefield was and participating soldiers came from. Between 1803 and 1815, there was a series of wars that took place in France and these were open defiance that opposed the formation and recognition of the French empire. In an attempt to invade Russia in 1812, the force and opposition against which the French soldiers got from the Russian soldiers left them completely helpless as the Russian soldiers were prepared to keep defense for their country as well as fight any incoming attack (Daly 314). This was the reason that led to the French central administrative system to recruit civilian men, women and slaves into the war. These new participants of the war were given fire arms which included guns to fight against the Russian soldiers and civilians. The result was catastrophic, as many people lost their lives, including the men, women as well as the slaves. However, the numbers in which these fighting people lost their lives differed (Kyun 27). The French armies and civilians were not only involved in war with the Russian armies, but also other countries such as Austria which in fact led to a series of wars that claimed many lives. These included formation of coalitions, for example, the French army collated with the Sardinian army in 1958 to fight against the Austrian soldiers (Fisher 69).
The war also was organized in a way such that the soldiers tried as much as possible to minimize the number of deaths, and for this reason the fighting armies and civilians were subdivided into corp. fighters, gun fighters, horsemen and combat soldiers. This organization was particularly important especially in formulating attack means. During their fight against the Austrian soldiers, the French and the Sardinian solders, combined formed a troop of 200,000 soldiers and 6,000 horsemen (McNab 84). By the end of the war, the coalition recorded a 4,444 casualty’s report, while their Austrian counterparts recorded 4,000 casualties. The number of soldiers that lost their lives however was relatively bigger, with the French-Sardinia coalition recording a death score of 18,000 men and their Austrian counterpart, 20,000 men. In these recorded deaths, 2,000 women, 6,000 slaves and 10,000 men from the French army lost their lives while 2,000 women, 10,000 slaves and 8,000 men lost their lives from the Austrian camp (Grab 139).
Important to note also, the number of deaths recorded as a result of the weapons of mass destruction used also differed. A variety of weapons were used during this war, with Germany recording the highest number of weapons’ variety. Other causes of deaths also included contributing factors such as harsh fighting conditions, diseases and epidemics as well as harsh environmental conditions (Barnes 54). However, the top three causes of deaths during this war was hand combats, guns and diseases, respectively. Secondly, various countries contributed towards wars between different countries, and these contributions included fire arms, soldiers, battalions, horses etc. The table below indicates some of the statistics collected from the Austrian and Prussian war in 1864, and the contribution that Germany offered to the countries (Case Para 5).
Data credibility
One of the most important things to note about this collected data is the fact that it was collected from credible sources, based on the fact that it was collected from official sources, which include the French, Russian, German and Austrian Governments. Secondly, the data’s credibility has been tested through various researches conducted by various bodies including media houses such as CNN and BBC (Esdaile 155). Various writers and authors have tested its credibility too. Through the research, a reader is able to understand various areas of interest, for example why the battle ended with the recorded number of deaths, and this can be understood by taking a brief look at the weapons that the soldiers used in pursuit for their opponents. The reader is also able to understand that the battle wasn’t land-oriented; rather, the administrational governments funding the war were only interested in gaining resources which was only achievable through ruling the lands of interest (Lieven 113). This can be understood by the fact that the countries’ sizes are different. For example, Austria is a relatively small country compared to France. From a look of the reasons leading to these deaths; bullets, diseases, harsh fighting conditions, and lack of basic necessities such as food, prevention of these deaths could have been possible if the respective administrative systems had ample supply for medicine, food and basic necessities to their soldiers. The war however can be described as a hegemonic war because it was mostly powered and financed by external sources and countries (Bell 311).
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