The leaders of the French Revolution and, subsequently,
Napoleon exported the revolution to these lands, destroying
absolutism, ending feudal land relations, abolishing guilds,
and imposing equality before the law—the all-important
notion of rule of law, which we will discuss in greater detail
in the next chapter. The French Revolution thus prepared
not only France but much of the rest of Europe for inclusive
institutions and the economic growth that these would spur.
As we have seen, alarmed by the developments in
France, several European powers organized around
Austria in 1792 to attack France, ostensibly to free King
Louis XVI, but in reality to crush the French Revolution. The
expectation was that the makeshift armies fielded by the
revolution would soon crumble. But after some early
defeats, the armies of the new French Republic were
victorious in an initially defensive war. There were serious
organizational problems to overcome. But the French were
ahead of other countries in a major innovation: mass
conscription. Introduced in August 1793, mass conscription
allowed the French to field large armies and develop a
military advantage verging on supremacy even before
Napoleon’s famous military skills came on the scene.