1812, fin d’une époque de la conscription
Annie Crépin
REVUE HISTORIQUE DES ARMÉES, 2012
In the history of conscription in the consular and imperial era, 1812 confirms the trends emerging from the end of 1806 and 1807: open revolts against conscription fade, rebelliousness decreases, the institution seems more accepted. The "conscription system" entered an equilibrium phase. But this equilibrium is precarious, as many signs suggested in 1812, and submission of the population is due more to the development of the repressive "conscription machine" than to acceptance of the institution, at least in the areas resisting it. But the plan relies on the semblance of a functioning system and Napoleon in 1812, rather than stick to cautious and measured demands, returns to the practice of abusing the Jourdan law, enabling him to "draw at will "from the pool of men available to him through conscription. These abuses contribute to weaknesses in the system that will be revealed in the second half of 1813 and will shatter the fragile consensus that was born seven years before.
1812, fin d’une époque de la conscription (openedition.org)