La batalla de Napoleón de Jena y Auerstedt (14 de octubre de 1806). La suerte de los heridos y la reacción de la población civil

Abstract

Around 2006, on the occasion of the bicentenary of the Battle of Jena and Auerstedt, the literary market witnessed the publication of a number of historical investigations, which are especially concerned with the military actions and the political consequences of Napoleon’s victory over Prussia. The numerous sources which serve as a basis for these publications also tackle such questions as that of the unspeakable misery of the thonsands of seriously wounded French and German soldiers, who, even on the day of the battle, swamped the cities of Jena and Weimar. These sources also document the behavior of the civilian population, who dit not identify with either side and was unable to cope with the completely unexpected situation fires and looting, on the one hand; the absence of sickbays and medical equipment, on the other. Even if such sources ultimately explain that in the days following the battle hundreds of soldiers still had to die in an unnecessary and humiliating way, they also invite us to think about the fact that such a situation did not prompt any critical response – with the exception of Johannes Daniel Falk – from the thinkers of the time: the military did not suffer any loss of prestige and it took well over half a century for the Red Cross to finally be founded.