91. Proclamation at the Opening of the Italian Campaign (March 1796)
Original French
91 — PROCLAMATIONDU GÉNÉRAL EN CHEF A L’OUVERTURE DE LA CAMPAGNE.
Quartier général, Nice, 7 germinal an IV (27 mars 1796).
Soldats, vous êtes nus, mal nourris; le Gouvernement vous doit beaucoup, il ne peut rien vous donner. Votre patience, le courage que vous montrez au milieu de ces rochers, sont admirables; mais ils ne vous procurent aucune gloire, aucun éclat ne rejaillit sur vous. Je veux vous conduire dans les plus fertiles plaines du monde. De riches provinces, de grandes villes seront en votre pouvoir; vous y trouverez honneur, gloire et richesses. Soldats d’Italie, manqueriez-vous de courage ou de constance?
Musean translation
Machine-assisted Musean translation directly from the French transcript; source-language model review covered the earlier corpus, with later changes separately checked as documented in corpus/raw/napoleon-proclamations/source-language-review.md.
PROCLAMATIONBY THE GENERAL IN CHIEF AT THE OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN.
Headquarters, Nice, 7 Germinal, Year IV (March 27, 1796).
Soldiers, you are naked and poorly fed; the Government owes you much, but it can give you nothing. Your patience and the courage you show among these rocks are admirable, but they bring you no glory; no splendor reflects upon you. I intend to lead you into the most fertile plains in the world. Rich provinces and great cities will be in your power; there you will find honor, glory, and riches. Soldiers of Italy, would you lack courage or constancy?
Plain English translation
Independently produced machine-assisted Plain translation directly from the same French transcript; source-language model review covered the earlier corpus as documented in corpus/raw/napoleon-proclamations/source-language-review.md.
Proclamation of the Commander in Chief at the Opening of the Campaign
Headquarters, Nice, 7 Germinal, Year IV (March 27, 1796).
Soldiers, you have no clothes and too little food. The government owes you much, but it cannot give you anything. Your patience is admirable, as is the courage you show here among the rocks. Yet these bring you no glory; no luster falls on you. I want to take you to the world's most fertile plains. You will have wealthy provinces and major cities in your hands, and in them you will find honor, glory, and wealth. Soldiers of Italy, would you lack courage or the will to persevere?
About this section
91. Proclamation at the Opening of the Italian Campaign (March 1796) is part of Proclamation at the Opening of the Italian Campaign by Napoléon Bonaparte. This page sets the French original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is part 1 of 1 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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