Marie-Louise

Marie-Louise is a term used to refer to the last conscripts raised in the First French Empire, raised for Napoleon's army, who were mostly teenage boys. The name derived from Empress Marie-Louise who issued decrees dated 9 October 1813 ordering the conscription of 280,000 men but it has been extended more widely to those that served as conscripts between 1813 and 1815. Many French men were dead or disabled at this stage of the Napoleonic Wars, and teenage boys were called to defend against an anticipated invasion of north-east France by the Sixth Coalition. Owing to a manpower shortage the conscription was extended for the first time to those aged 14 and those as short as . Though they received as little as two weeks' training, commentators at the time have described the Marie-Louises as courageous boys. Despite this the French Army was too small to oppose the allies and, following the capture of Paris, Napoleon abdicated on 13 April 1814, bringing the war to a close. The Marie-Louises featured in subsequent art and literature, particularly after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. The term was revived in 1914 to refer to French conscripts of the First World War. Background Conscription in France was based on the Jourdan-Delbrel law of 1798 which required a military obligation (not necessarily service under arms) from men between 20 and 25 years old. The time in service was set at 3 years though this was extended at the discretion of the state in wartime. It was inequally applied, the ratio of men conscripted varied between departments and even between cantons of the same department. The age at conscription was reduced to 19 in December 1806 and the army took volunteers as young as 18. Conscription was unpopular, particularly in rural areas where conscripts had little confidence of ever seeing their home village again. Resistance against conscription took hold in several regions and the authorities were forced to repress this by force in 1809–10.