History 145. Effect of Total Warfare on Soldiers and Civilians

Effect of Total Warfare on Soldiers and Civilians
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Effect of Total Warfare on Soldiers and Civilians
While Napoleonic wars are considered heroic by many historians, the price paid by soldiers and civilians to ensure the victories cannot be ignored. Soldiers and civilians suffered through starvation, diseases, and cold bring Napoleon glory. Through the accounts of Jakob Walter, one can understand the sufferings that soldiers and civilians went through in total warfare. Reading through the account of Jakob Walter, one cannot help but sympathize with the experiences of soldiers and civilians as they fought for Napoleon. This essay uses Walter’s book, The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier to argue that total warfare brings death, diseases, indifference, and despair to soldiers and civilians.
One of the major effects of total warfare as evidenced by Walter’s account is death. Throughout the diary, there are numerous incidences of death. In the campaign of 1806 and 1807, Walter describes an incident where sickness arose due to continual fog and fifteen people died every day (Walter, 1993). The deaths of the soldiers and civilians made him sick. While in Russia, Walter describes several incidences where he passed piles of dead horses and people. Civilians and soldiers died from cold, hunger, diseases, and even drowning. Hence, it is evident that the total war brings death to civilians and people. If at all Napoleon did not have ambitions of raiding Russia and other regions, thousands of deaths could have been avoided. Therefore, death is a key effect of total war on soldiers and civilians.
Total war also results in diseases am...