The military enlightenment : war and culture in the French empire from Louis XIV to Napoleon

__The Military Enlightenment: War and Culture in the French Empire from Louis XIV to Napoleon__, tells a new story of enlightenment happening in what seems the least likely of spaces: those of war, martial culture, and the French armed forces on the continent and in the colonies. Based on extensive archival research on military sources in combination with analyses of canonical texts by Rousseau, Voltaire, Guibert and others, __The Military Enlightenment__ shows how French monarchs, royal mistresses, government ministers, military officers, and medical personnel participated in advancing ideas of human and political rights, military psychology, war trauma, and social justice in terms of race, class, and gender. The book constitutes an essential and missing link in scholarship on the long eighteenth century since the military was one of the few institutions of the Old Regime to transform progressive theories into practice. The book elucidates the genesis and unfolding of the Military Enlightenment in terms of people, places, and processes in France, the French Atlantic, and French India. Analyses examine discourses through which military thinkers apprehended and realized the Military Enlightenment from Louis XIV to Napoleon through to modern times: __l’esprit philosophique__, sociability, sensibility and humanity, and a militaristic and socially democratized patriotic and heroic imaginary. Combines The Study Of Literary Works, Treatises Of Moral Philosophy, And Archival Military Writings To Show The Ways That The Military Sphere Both Generated And Applied French Enlightenment Ideas With Regard To The Phenomenon Of War, The Human Body And Emotions, Social Equality, And Human Rights-- Introduction : What Is Military Enlightenment? -- The French Military Enlightenment : Figures, Forces, And Forms -- Before Fraternity : Martial Masculinity, Sociability, And Community -- Humanity In War : Military Cultures Of Sensibilité And Human Rights -- A Nation Of Warriors : The Democratization Of Heroism -- The Dialectic Of Military Enlightenment : The Revolutionary And Napoleonic Eras -- Epilogue : The Modern Heritage. Christy Pichichero. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.

The Military Enlightenment brings to light a radically new narrative both on the Enlightenment and the French armed forces from Louis XIV to Napoleon. Christy Pichichero makes a striking discovery: the Geneva Conventions, post-traumatic stress disorder, the military "band of brothers," and soldierly heroism all found their antecedents in the eighteenth-century French armed forces.

Readers of The Military Enlightenment will be startled to learn of the many ways in which French military officers, administrators, and medical personnel advanced ideas of human and political rights, military psychology, and social justice.

The Military Enlightenment brings to light a radically new narrative both on the Enlightenment and the French armed forces from Louis XIV to Napoleon. Christy Pichichero makes a striking discovery: the Geneva Conventions, post-traumatic stress disorder, the military "band of brothers," and soldierly heroism all found their antecedents in the eighteenth-century French armed forces. Readers of The Military Enlightenment will be startled to learn of the many ways in which French military officers, administrators, and medical personnel advanced ideas of human and political rights, military psychology, and social justice. Cover -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: What Is Military Enlightenment? -- 1. The French Military Enlightenment: Figures, Forces, and Forms -- 2. Before Fraternity: Martial Masculinity, Sociability, and Community -- 3. Humanity in War: Military Cultures of Sensibilité and Human Rights -- 4. A Nation of Warriors: The Democratization of Heroism -- 5. The Dialectic of Military Enlightenment: The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Eras -- Epilogue: The Modern Heritage -- Notes -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X "Combines the study of literary works, treatises of moral philosophy, and archival military writings to show the ways that the military sphere both generated and applied French Enlightenment ideas with regard to the phenomenon of war, the human body and emotions, social equality, and human rights"-- Author's Web site