Abstract EN:

First of all, it's advisable to note the quantitative importance of the conscripts during the war of the revolution and of the empire. In the case of Seine-inférieure, Napoléon required that the half number of young people who had not been exempted should serve his army. In this way, numerous levies made the many conscripts leave for the army, and progressively brought the population to get used to the conscription and the army. Nevertheless, the conscription generated equally insoumis and deserters. Their action, supported by the local community, was very dynamic especially under the directory. That showed the indifference of the general public toward the military service, the french army, and the destiny of the nation-state. Then, napoleonic authorities finally succeeded in reducing effectively the number of the conscript rebels. The common people were thus obliged to be interested in the army and to implicate themselves in the fate of france. However, a part of the Seine-inférieure population bypassed the conscription by means of fraud. The imperial gouvernement could not easily suppress such fraud as simulated illness, voluntary mutilation, the fabrication of fake documents, and the corruption of civil servants. All the same, the fraudsters were also interested in the conscription, although the sense of their interest was not the same as the one from the authorities.