Division March 1831

Auguste Raffet created this lithograph, Division March, sometime in the first half of the 19th century. It depicts a military division on the move, a scene common in post-revolutionary France. The image creates meaning through visual codes. The most dominant of these is that of military spectacle, which had acquired great power in French political culture after the Revolution. Notice how Raffet’s image gives attention to the common soldier, though the officers on horseback are more prominent in the composition. France, after the revolution, developed a unique system of conscription, opening the way for commoners to rise through military ranks. This print participates in the romantic, and ultimately propagandistic, visual celebration of that fact. To better understand this image, we need to look to the illustrated press of the time, which circulated widely in France. Only by connecting the image to its contemporary context can we understand its true significance. The role of the historian is to recreate that context through careful research.