ABSTRACT
The origins, causes, and extension of the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, the first of the major modern wars, have been the subject of considerable debate among historians. Accurately to determine the long- and short-range causes of the wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon is especially difficult. The enlarged manpower base coincided with the early industrial revolution which had greatly increased the output of iron and entered the first stages of mass production, capable of supplying, albeit with some difficulties, arms and equipment for much expanded military establishments. The conjunction of objective factors, such as the great rise in population and the increase in agricultural and industrial production, contributed to making the wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon more intense and prolonged. Wars were limited because of the caution of princes combined with the relatively undeveloped potential for intense mass warfare, including a restricted agricultural, financial, industrial, and manpower base.
