ABSTRACT
Militaryconscnptlonwastheprefectoraladministration'sgreatest responsibilityandchallenge.FirstinstitutionalisedinFranceundertheJourdan Lawof1798,conscriptionassumedapre-eminentroleintheFrenchstate's growingregulationofsocietyandinshapingthementalitiesandactionsofthe public.AsJean-ClaudeBeugnotwroteintheYearXIII:'Conscriptionis...the first,thestrongestofourmodeminstitutions.'1Itwasalsothemostpublicly contestedaspectoftheNapoleonicregime.Conscriptionwasintegraltothe strugglesbetweenamodernisingstateandapredominantlytraditionalagrarian society,betweentheEmpireandthevillage,betweennationalserviceand individualliberty,betweentheoftenirreconcilabledemandsofwarand domesticlife.
