The 4th edition of the military meetings organised by Napoleonica la revue “l’armement français d’un Empire à l’autre” will take place on 7 October 2025 in the Austerlitz auditorium of the Musée de l’Armée, Paris.

It will explore four main themes: the production, use, development and symbolism of hand-held weapons and artillery from the First Empire to the mid-nineteenth
century.

The Gribeauval cannon, the Model 1777 Charleville musket, the Klingenthal sabre, etc. For France, these weapons were the embodiment of the armament used by Napoleon’s troops. Emblematic of the French soldier, some even became honorary rewards bestowed on the bravest soldiers, prefiguring the Légion d’honneur. The realities of combat, conceived during the monarchy, gradually changed the regulations and doctrines of use. Rigidity gave way to ever more lethal efficiency.
Like the uniform, armement was the very essence of the military, they distinguish them from civilians and were a literal extension of them in combat. At the heart of the fighting, weapons became a guarantee of survival and gave confidence for the soldier, who had to undergo lengthy training to learn how to handle them.
Napoleonic conflict was characterised by relative technological stability. In this respect, neither side had a decisive advantage over the other. It was the production in factories and arsenals, and the tactical use of weapons that made the difference on European battlefields. Despite this stability, the later years of the First French Empire saw the emergence of experiments that heralded the technical developments of the 19th century. Combined with the upheavals of industrialisation, these transformations took on the appearance of a veritable revolution, overturning the very nature of combat.

This study day is organised by the Fondation Napoléon, in partnership with the Musée de l’Armée, the Service Historique de la Défense, and the magazines Guerres et Histoire and Le Figaro Histoire.

► Registrations will only be accepted from 9 September 2025! For registration and information, contact by email: ce@napoleon.org

► Discover the programme and speakers (pdf document in French)

online since 25 June 2025 (updated 21 August 2025).