Part 1 - Limited Warfare in the 18th Century
Lesson 6 - The 18th century and Napoleonic Wars
Activity 1
How to play
1. Read the lesson first.
2. In each gap, choose the correct key word. You can use each key word once.
3. When every gap is full, press ‘Check my answers’. You will see how many are right, but not which ones.
4. Change your answers and check again. Keep playing until you get all 20 right.
5. Then write your own answer in part 5.
6. Press ‘Download my PDF’ to make your own copy. Your work also saves on this device.
1. Read the lesson first.
2. In each gap, choose the correct key word. You can use each key word once.
3. When every gap is full, press ‘Check my answers’. You will see how many are right, but not which ones.
4. Change your answers and check again. Keep playing until you get all 20 right.
5. Then write your own answer in part 5.
6. Press ‘Download my PDF’ to make your own copy. Your work also saves on this device.
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Key words
Every answer is one of these key words. A word turns green when you use it.
anaesthetic: a drug that stops pain during an operation
bayonet: a blade fixed to the end of a gun
casualties: people killed or wounded in war
commission: the right to be an officer, which you bought with money
corporal punishment: punishment that hurts the body, such as hitting
desertion: leaving the army without permission
dynastic wars: wars between royal families
dysentery: a serious stomach disease that spreads easily in dirty, crowded places
Enlightenment: a way of thinking in the 1700s that valued reason and fairness
flintlock: a newer gun that makes its own spark
limited war: a war with small, clear aims
matchlock: an old gun lit by a burning cord
mercenaries: soldiers who fight for money for any ruler
nobility: the highest social class, such as lords and dukes
pikemen: soldiers who fought with long spears
press-ganged: forced to join the army or navy
professional armies: armies of full-time soldiers, paid by the king
Seven Years War: a war between the European powers, 1756 to 1763
Thirty Years War: a long and very violent religious war in Europe, 1618 to 1648
War of the Bavarian Succession: a war in 1778 to 1779 between Prussia and Austria, with no major battles
1Explain how an 18th century army showed the class differences of its time.
In the 18th century, almost all of the senior officers in an army came from the families of lords and dukes. This high class of society is called the . The most important officers came from the most important families. Rich men did not have to earn their rank. They could pay money to the king to buy a , and this gave them the right to be an officer.
The ordinary soldiers came from the lowest classes of society. Many of them were criminals or men with no work, and some were into joining the army against their will. Discipline was very strict, and extreme was common in the army. This shows that the army copied the class differences in society: the rich gave the orders and the poor obeyed.
2aDescribe what a ‘limited war’ is.
Historians use the term for most conflicts in the 18th century. Kings fought for small aims, such as a fortress, a slice of territory or better trading rights, and they did not try to destroy their enemy completely. Most of these conflicts were , which were fought for the interests of royal families and not of whole nations.
Kings also changed the way they built their armies. In earlier centuries they often hired to fight for them. Now they used money from taxes to pay for made up of full-time soldiers.
A good example of a limited war is the (1778 to 1779). King Frederick II of Prussia did not want to risk an attack, because Prussia was short of resources, and so there were no significant battles.
2bExplain why 18th century wars were limited. Give two reasons.
One reason is that armies were very expensive to keep. During the (1756 to 1763), the French lost as much as a fifth of their army every year. Soldiers died of disease and in battle, and many others ran away. This kind of meant that the king had to find 50,000 new men every year. As a result, kings were reluctant to use their armies.
A second reason is that people in Europe did not want to repeat the violence of the (1618 to 1648), a religious war in which both sides tried to destroy each other. Also, thinkers of the , who valued reason and fairness, encouraged kings to fight in a more civilised way.
3Explain why most soldiers died away from the battlefield. Use numbers from the text.
Between 1793 and 1815, Britain lost 240,000 soldiers, and only 27,000 of them died in battle. This means that most of war happened away from the battlefield. Soldiers lived in crowded, dirty army camps, and serious stomach diseases such as spread quickly. Treatment was very limited. Even the French, who had the best medical care, had only 1,200 doctors for 200,000 troops. To reduce the pain of an operation, the most common was brandy.
4Describe two ways the flintlock musket was an improvement on the matchlock.
Early muskets, called muskets, were lit by hand with a slow burning fuse. They were replaced by the , which was lighter and more reliable because it made its own spark. It could fire three rounds a minute, which was twice as fast as before.
Soldiers could also fix a , a blade, to the end of the musket. A musket with a blade could do the work of a spear, so the soldiers who carried long spears, the , were no longer needed.
5Your own answer: life in the army
Most soldiers in the 1700s could not read or write. Imagine you are a soldier in 1790 and someone asks you: ‘What is your life like in the army?’ Write your answer in 4 to 6 sentences. Use at least 5 key words from the box.
You could start with: ‘I became a soldier because...’, ‘Every day in the camp...’ or ‘The worst thing is...’. Write what you think. This part is not marked by the Check button.
‘Download my PDF’ makes a file with your name, date and answers. Add it to OneNote with Insert, then File Printout. ‘Copy my answers’ gives plain text to paste. ‘Start again’ clears everything, including your scores.