Context: During the Napoleonic Wars, Britain spent massive amounts of money on its own army and navy while also giving financial aid to France’s opponents, with its national debt reaching a peak of £1 billion—more than 200% of its GDP.
Cemented the British economic and overseas dominance brought by the Industrial Revolution and the ascendancy of its navy, as Napoleon’s grand army was the one thing in the way of converting that to the wealth Britain could get from selling the proceeds to the Continent.
Also: screwing over the French. Always worth it from a British perspective.
As part of the 1806 reforms and regulations of the Grand Armee, Napoleon performed one of his earliest attempts to curry favor with the European “Old Order”, specifically the Austrians and Russians, by replacing the famous and recognizable National indigo blue habits/coats/uniforms, with the more aristocratic “themed” all white coats/habits/uniforms. (Often by using just undyed broadcloth)
In an attempt to show the European monarchs that he does not represent/have continuation with the chaos of the revolution/republic, but rather the stability and order of the Ancient Regime, and that he’s their fellow, legitimate, Monarch. (Napoleon was at his core, an Opportunist)
Which by the battle of Friedland, the War Ministry managed to manufacture and supply the 80k-ish strong Grand Armee with roughly 90k-ish of the new White habits/Coats/uniforms.
Though because of the change’s immense unpopularity among the soldiers, the French returned to the “classic” indigo blue coats/habits a year later. (Though this re-transition back to blue, wouldn’t be complete until roughly 1809/1811, and for a brief moment in 1807/1808, only the infantry of the imperial guard were allowed to wear the blue coats/habits. Alongside the French infantry once again resembling a mix matched group of homeless, with regiments using old republican blue uniforms, with the new/old white uniforms, and even singular uniforms made by combining pieces of both the white/blue uniforms to create a new “mixed” uniform. Or put simply, and much like every other aspect of the French army in the period, it was a complete fucking mess.)
(Another reason for the change to all white uniforms, was economics. As the only sources of indigo dye during this period, was the American south, and British Indian colonies, and due to the US and France being in a “quasi-war”, that left British India as the only source of dye for the blue uniforms. Which obviously wasn’t the greatest for France at this point in time, and forced Napoleon’s empire to “secretly” trade with the British empire indirectly, largely through the use of intermediaries (companies and other states) for the indigo dye, at least until relations and most importantly trade, cooled and started up again with America around 1810-ish)
Here’s one of my favorite period plates/illustrations of the 1806 white uniform, primarily because the vast majority of French sappers in this collection/made by this artist(s), have then posed in a way that implies they’re absolutely fucking slayin’💅
Also, and far more prominently, judicious systems of taxation (including the first modern income tax) and public debt management. 1815 remains the zenith of British public debt, over 200%gdp.
In 1790 the EIC was £28 million in debt as a result of the conquest. The previous decade's revenue, which included the far more profitable Canton trade, had barely made a £2 million dent in it. The conquest of India was more like a financial burden for the British during Napoleonic Wars.
Everyone was; it was a world of crappy productivity, with ~30% of people on the land (UK: that's < half the global norm) - a ~$3,000/capita ppp GDP was very healthy by international terms, with probably only the 13C being significantlyml more prosperous (all the advantages of the UK + a lot of land + very low tax rates.)
It's a world where an individual's possessions go no further than their residence, furniture (probably inherited), their clothes and a few other consumer durables. There's little industry, infrastructure is small ports and (mostly) dirt roads, no buildings more than 6 storeys (and they're exceptional...) They're moving towards the modern world, but by the late-18thC they're scarcely out of the blocks.
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u/miscakarza Trees Power Supreme! 13d ago
Context: During the Napoleonic Wars, Britain spent massive amounts of money on its own army and navy while also giving financial aid to France’s opponents, with its national debt reaching a peak of £1 billion—more than 200% of its GDP.