Note from Editor: The following new section in EE&L is the first attempt to enlarge the scope of our coverage of the Napoleonic period by informing the readership on what is going on in the Old World. After all it all started there.... David Hollins lives in the UK and is an enthousiastic reenactor. In a bid to improve transatlantic co-operation, many of you will know Mike Gilbert will be writing a column in the Partizan Press magazine, Age of Napoleon. From this side of the pond, I have been asked to write on developments in Europe. It's "Es lebe der Kaiser" (Long Live the King), from me, as my own special interest is in Imperial Austria, a subject somewhat ignored in the past in the UK, but now increasingly popular as a result particularly of the growing interest in the 1809 Danube campaign. It is now nearly three year since the bicentennial of the outbreak of the Wars, But it is already clear that most of the early Revolutionary battles will pass without major incident in preference to the 185th or whatever anniversaries of the major Napoleonic battles, which is perhaps not unrelated to the absence of the main personalities from the senior commands pre-1796 and the radical changes in uniform which occurred from about 1798 onwards. Whether there will be much in Italy or Germany in 1996 is not clear, but the trend is unfortunate, as the First Coalition War was the real Revolution verses Monarchs War, sowing the seeds of the many radical changes of the following two decades. That said, European reenactment, which began in the UK, has spread steadily eastwards, taking in first, the parade/marching societies of France and Germany. The main national groups are the UK's Napoleonic Association (NA), France's Grande Armee and Germany's Napoleonische Gesellschaft with most other countries having a loose collection of independent units. While there are pan-European links at all levels, the latest group is the European Napoleonic Confederation (ENC), a mainly Anglo-French grouping with some German support - known as the "The European Confederation for the Reenactment of the First Empire in France". Surprisingly, despite being the scene of the long Peninsula campaign, reenactment is only now getting going in Spain and Portugal. A planned reenactment at Corunna in 1993 had to be abandoned, but the NA and ENC are continuing to develop links in the area. Long Way We have come a long way in the few years since the Napoleonic Association trip to Vienna and Austerlitz in August 1989, when the winds of change blew away the Iron Curtain. Accessing many major battlefields has become easier and numerous East European parade and Living History groups, whose kits are remarkable in view of the problems they faced, have been drawn into reenactment. The spread of reenactment is producing many events on the original battlefields, with frequent events at Leipzig and Austerlitz in recent yearsy. The latest addition was the first event at Wagram, organized by Romain Baulesch and Thomas Posenanski, the guiding force behind "Forum Aspern". In an Authentically hot day last July, troops from as far apart as the UK, Hungary, France and Russia converged close to the village itself and the famous ridge behind the Russbach stream. A full report on this event will appear in Age of Napoleon. Future events will run on a 5-year cycle at Wagram in the future. Why don't the Austrians commemorate Aspern, I hear you ask? Here is a situation which sums up the problems that reenactment faced all across Europe. Many American readers will have visited their Civil War sites, which are well-preserved and treated as national memorials. In central Europe however, memories of the World Wars have served to ingrain a deep resistance to anything military and where the local government authorities reflect this view, (such as in Vienna itself), we are currently excluded from any form of display. The Cold War stunted economic development both in the east and close to the boarder in the west, but with the return to this area's old status as the crossroads of Europe, many towns and cities are making up for lost time. Vienna Vienna has spilled out across the Danube and Auspern is now built around with new development between it and Essling, which is itself expanding north across the flat Marchfield. While the Great Granary and some other points remain, the landscape is fast disappearing under bricks. Elsewhere, sites such as Dresden have already been lost and others are under threat. In re-enacting events on these sites and visiting them as interested tourists, we can make some contribution towards their preservation for future generations. Perhaps European readers might like to enlighten us all about the state of some of these battlefields, obscure and famous? On the less damaged sites, 1995 will be a busy year. The biggest event will be the 180th anniversary of Waterloo. The 1990 event saw over 2000 reenactors from both Europe and Canada, but inevitably one has to wonder whether the public appreciates much of what is going on at such a large site. Later in the year, smaller events are planned at Ulm (north Czech Republic) in August, and the regular event at Austerlitz in December. Proposals are already being advanced as far ahead as 2000 for the 200th anniversary of Hohenlinden, although it's date, 3rd December would fall the day after the 195th anniversary of Austerlitz. 1994 also marked the 200th anniversary of the raising of several Scottish regiments at the start of the Revolutionary Wars and these recreated units are growing in popularity now. As well as the long-established 42nd Black Watch and the US-based 93rd Sutherland Highlanders, the Napoleonic Association has raised the 71st Highland Light Infantry and the ENC has started the senior British Line Regiment, the 1st Royal Scots, which is linked to a similar formation in Canada. (Being partly from Lowland stock, I can confirm that a kilt is often warmer than a pair of trews, but my clan kilt is post-Napoleonic!). "Volunteers" One of the most interesting reenacting units is the (mainly German) French "volunteers", who are endeavoring to show the development of that unit through the entire bicentennial period and are currently in the 94' mode. Not the cheapest way to do it, but certainly an interesting illustration of the revolutionary soldier at the moment. After twenty years of steady development, the hobby has reached a plateau and is now showing signs of fragmentation as various groups are large enough to specialize in one aspect. The danger in all this is that the interaction between enthusiasts is lost and the hobby thereby damaged. Current controversy over "Living History" is where this is worst - some groups have set high standards and restrict entry, while others go for larger forces which lack some degree of authenticity, (notably modern shoes). The former is much easier when starting a new unit, but although easier to obtain, authentic materials are still expensive, (something especially important both where younger enthusiasts and the east Europeans are concerned). Above all, the hobby needs steady growth and units such as the NA's Deutschmeister (now 20 years old) have stayed together by being flexible and developing their kit to bring everyone up to the standard over time. Camp Life The attempt to recreate "camp life" particularly fails to take into account the fact that soon after embarking on a campaign, most units were far from able to present an immaculate and (ironically) uniform appearance. How far "Living History" goes is not clear as no-one seems to go in for some of the well-documented food or tooth extraction of the period. Perhaps we are seeing too sanitized a presentation to be authentic? Perhaps the most curious feature of the whole hobby is that all European countries field at least national and French units with the notable exception of France, where all the units in France are French. Taking it a stage further, while there are probably more reenactors shouting "Vive L'Empereur", more wargamers advancing the Old Guard across the table and more books available on the subject than all the others put together, there are few French enthusiasts willing to write magazine articles or contribute at research-oriented events. It would be nice to hear more from them. In my next column, I will look more closely at the European Research effort and the increasing number of battlefield tours on offer. Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 2 No. 14 Back to EEL List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1995 by Emperor's Headquarters This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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