The
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major conflicts
pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by
Napoleon

Napoleon I, against a
fluctuating array of European powers formed into various coalitions,
financed and usually led by the United Kingdom. The wars stemmed from
the unresolved disputes associated with the
French Revolution

French Revolution and its
resultant conflict. The wars are often categorised into five
conflicts, each termed after the coalition that fought Napoleon; the
Third Coalition

Third Coalition (1805), the Fourth (1806–07), Fifth (1809), Sixth
(1813), and the Seventh and final (1815).
Napoleon, upon ascending to First Consul of
France

France in 1799, had
inherited a chaotic republic; he subsequently created a state with
stable finances, a strong bureaucracy, and a well-trained army. In
1805, Austria and
Russia

Russia waged war against France. In response,
Napoleon

Napoleon defeated the allied Russo-Austrian army at Austerlitz in
December 1805, which is considered his greatest victory. At sea, the
British inflicted a severe defeat in the
Battle of Trafalgar

Battle of Trafalgar in
October 1805 upon the joint Franco-Spanish navy, securing British
control of the seas and preventing the invasion of Britain itself.
Prussian concerns about increasing French power led to a resumption of
war in October 1806.
Napoleon

Napoleon quickly defeated the Prussians, and
defeated
Russia

Russia in June 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the
continent. The peace failed, though, as war broke out in 1809, and a
new coalition was soon defeated.
Hoping to isolate Britain economically,
Napoleon

Napoleon invaded Iberia,
declaring his brother Joseph king of
Spain

Spain in 1808. The Spanish and
Portuguese revolted with British support, and, after six years of
fighting, expelled the French from
Iberia

Iberia in 1814. Concurrently,
Russia, unwilling to bear economic consequences of reduced trade,
routinely violated the Continental System, enticing
Napoleon

Napoleon to launch
a massive invasion of
Russia

Russia in 1812. The resulting campaign ended
with the dissolution and withdrawal of the French Grande Armée.
Encouraged by the defeat, Prussia, Austria, and
Russia

Russia began a new
campaign against France, decisively defeating
Napoleon

Napoleon at Leipzig in
October 1813 after several inconclusive engagements. The Allies then
invaded France, capturing Paris at the end of March 1814 and forcing
Napoleon

Napoleon to abdicate in early April. He was exiled to the island of
Elba, and the Bourbons were restored to power. However, Napoleon
escaped in February 1815, and reassumed control of France. The Allies
responded with the Seventh Coalition, defeating
Napoleon

Napoleon permanently
at Waterloo in June 1815 and exiling him to St Helena.
The
Congress of Vienna

Congress of Vienna redrew the borders of Europe, and brought a
lasting peace to the continent. The wars had profound consequences on
global history; it fostered the spread of nationalism and liberalism,
saw the rise of the
British Empire

British Empire as the world's foremost power,
independence movements in
Latin America
.svg/500px-Latin_America_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Latin America and the subsequent collapse of
the Spanish Empire, the fundamental reorganisation of German and
Italian territories into larger states, and the establishment of
radically new methods of conducting warfare.
Contents
1 Overview
2 Background
2.1 Start date and nomenclature
2.2 Napoleon's tactics
3 Prelude
4 War between Britain and France, 1803–1814
4.1 British motivations
4.2 Economic warfare
4.3 Financing the war
5
War of the Third Coalition

War of the Third Coalition 1805
6
War of the Fourth Coalition

War of the Fourth Coalition 1806–1807
6.1 Scandinavia and Finland
6.2 Poland
7
War of the Fifth Coalition

War of the Fifth Coalition 1809
8 Subsidiary wars
8.1 War of 1812
8.2 The Latin American Revolutions
9 The Invasion of
Russia

Russia 1812
10
War of the Sixth Coalition

War of the Sixth Coalition 1812–1814
11
War of the Seventh Coalition

War of the Seventh Coalition 1815
12 Political effects
13 Military legacy
13.1 Enlarged scope
13.2 Innovations
13.3 Total war
14 In fiction
15 See also
16 Notes
17 References
18 Sources
19 Further reading
19.1 General and reference books
19.2
Napoleon

Napoleon and French
19.3 British, Austrian, Prussian & Russian roles
19.4 Historiography and memory
19.5 Primary sources
20 External links
Overview[edit]
Napoleon

Napoleon seized power in 1799, creating a de facto military
dictatorship.[30] There are a number of opinions on the date to use as
the formal beginning of the Napoleonic Wars; 18 May 1803 is often
used, when Britain and
France

France ended the only short period of peace
between 1792 and 1814.[31] The
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars began with the War of
the Third Coalition, which was the first of the
Coalition Wars

Coalition Wars against
the
First French Republic
.svg/250px-Flag_of_France_(1790-1794).svg.png)
First French Republic after Napoleon's accession as leader of
France.
Britain ended the
Treaty of Amiens

Treaty of Amiens and declared war on
France

France in May
1803. Among the reasons were Napoleon's changes to the international
system in Western Europe, especially in Switzerland, Germany, Italy
and the Netherlands. Kagan argues that Britain was irritated in
particular by Napoleon's assertion of control over Switzerland.
Furthermore, Britons felt insulted when
Napoleon

Napoleon stated that their
country deserved no voice in European affairs, even though King George
III was an elector of the Holy Roman Empire. For its part, Russia
decided that the intervention in
Switzerland

Switzerland indicated that Napoleon
was not looking toward a peaceful resolution of his differences with
the other European powers.[31]
The British quickly enforced a naval blockade of
France

France to starve it
of resources.
Napoleon

Napoleon responded with economic embargoes against
Britain, and sought to eliminate Britain's Continental allies to break
the coalitions arrayed against him. The so-called Continental System
formed a league of armed neutrality to disrupt the blockade and
enforce free trade with France. The British responded by capturing the
Danish fleet, breaking up the league, and later secured dominance over
the seas, allowing it to freely continue its strategy.
Napoleon

Napoleon won
the
War of the Third Coalition

War of the Third Coalition at Austerlitz, forcing the Austrian
Empire out of the war and formally dissolving the Holy Roman Empire.
Within months, Prussia declared war, triggering a War of the Fourth
Coalition. This war ended disastrously for Prussia, defeated and
occupied within 19 days of the beginning of the campaign. Napoleon
subsequently defeated the
Russian Empire

Russian Empire at Friedland, creating
powerful client states in Eastern
Europe
.svg/400px-Eurasia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Europe and ending the fourth
coalition.
Concurrently, the refusal of Portugal to commit to the Continental
System, and Spain's failure to maintain it, led to the Peninsular War
and the outbreak of the War of the Fifth Coalition. The French
occupied
Spain

Spain and formed a Spanish client kingdom, ending the
alliance between the two. Heavy British involvement in the Iberian
Peninsula soon followed, while a British effort to capture Antwerp
failed.
Napoleon

Napoleon oversaw the situation in Iberia, defeating the
Spanish, and expelling the British from the Peninsula. Austria, keen
to recover territory lost during the War of the Third Coalition,
invaded France's client states in Eastern Europe.
Napoleon

Napoleon defeated
the fifth coalition at Wagram.
Attempts to disrupt the British blockade led to the United States
declaring war on Britain, while grievances over control of Poland, and
Russia's withdrawal from the Continental System, led to Napoleon
invading
Russia

Russia in June 1812. The invasion was an unmitigated disaster
for Napoleon; scorched earth tactics, desertion, French strategic
failures and the onset of the Russian winter compelled
Napoleon

Napoleon to
retreat with massive losses.
Napoleon

Napoleon suffered further setbacks;
French power in the Iberian Peninsula was broken at Battle of Vitoria
the following summer, and a new coalition began the War of the Sixth
Coalition.
The coalition defeated
Napoleon

Napoleon at Leipzig, precipitating his fall
from power and eventual abdication on 6 April 1814. The victors exiled
Napoleon

Napoleon to
Elba

Elba and restored the Bourbon monarchy.
Napoleon

Napoleon escaped
from
Elba

Elba in 1815, gathering enough support to overthrow the monarchy
of Louis XVIII, triggering a seventh, and final, coalition against
him.
Napoleon

Napoleon was decisively defeated at Waterloo, and he abdicated
again on 22 June. On 15 July, he surrendered to the British at
Rochefort, and was exiled to Saint Helena, where he died in 1821. The
Treaty of Paris, signed on 20 November 1815, formally ended the war.
The Bourbon monarchy was restored once more, and the victors began the
Congress of Vienna, to restore peace to the continent. As a direct
result of the war, the
Kingdom of Prussia
.svg/250px-Flag_of_Prussia_(1892-1918).svg.png)
Kingdom of Prussia rose to become a great power
on the continent,[32] while Great Britain, with its unequalled Royal
Navy and growing Empire became the world's dominant superpower,
beginning the Pax Britannica.[33] The
Holy Roman Empire
.svg/250px-Banner_of_the_Holy_Roman_Emperor_with_haloes_(1400-1806).svg.png)
Holy Roman Empire was dissolved,
and the philosophy of nationalism, that emerged early in the war,
greatly contributed to the later unification of the German states, and
those of the Italian peninsula. The war in
Iberia

Iberia greatly weakened
Spanish power, and the
Spanish Empire

Spanish Empire began to unravel;
Spain

Spain would
lose nearly all of its American possessions by 1833. The Portuguese
Empire began a rapid decline, with
Brazil

Brazil declaring independence in
1822.[8]
The wars revolutionised European warfare; the application of mass
conscription and total war led to campaigns of unprecedented scale, as
whole nations committed all their economic and industrial resources to
a collective war effort.[34] Tactically, the French Army redefined the
role of artillery, while
Napoleon

Napoleon emphasised mobility to offset
numerical disadvantages,[35] and aerial surveillance was used for the
first time in warfare.[36] While not a new tactic, the highly
successful Spanish guerrillas demonstrated the capability of a people
driven by fervent nationalism, liberalism and religious fundamentalism
against an occupying force.[37] Due to the longevity of the wars, and
the extent of Napoleon's conquests, the ideals of the French
Revolution had a massive impact on European social culture; many
subsequent revolutions, such as that of Russia, looked to the French
as their source of inspiration,[38][39] while its core founding tenets
greatly expanded the arena of
Human rights

Human rights and shaped modern political
philosophies in use today.[40]
Background[edit]
The outbreak of the
French Revolution

French Revolution had been received with great
alarm by the rulers of Europe's continental powers, which had been
further exacerbated by the execution of Louis XVI of France, and the
overthrow of the French monarchy. In 1793, the Austrian Empire, the
Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of Naples, Prussia, the Spanish
Empire, and the
Kingdom of Great Britain
.svg/250px-Flag_of_Great_Britain_(1707–1800).svg.png)
Kingdom of Great Britain formed the
First Coalition

First Coalition to
curtail the growing unrest in France. Measures such as mass
conscription, military reforms, and total war allowed
France

France to defeat
the coalition, despite the concurrent civil war in France. Napoleon,
then a general in the French army, forced the Austrians to sign the
Treaty of Campo Formio, leaving only Great Britain opposed to the
fledgling French Republic.
A Second Coalition formed in 1798 by Great Britain, Austria, Naples,
the Ottoman Empire, the Papal States, Portugal, Russia, and Sweden.
The French Republic, under the Directory, suffered from heavy levels
of corruption and internal strife. The new republic also lacked funds,
and no longer enjoyed the services of Lazare Carnot, the minister of
war who had guided
France

France to its victories during the early stages of
the Revolution. Bonaparte, commander of the
Armée d'Italie

Armée d'Italie in the
latter stages of the First Coalition, had launched a campaign in
Egypt, intending to disrupt the British economic powerhouse of India.
Pressed from all sides, the Republic suffered a string of successive
defeats against revitalised enemies, supported by Britain's financial
help.
Bonaparte returned to
France

France from Egypt on 23 August 1799, his
campaign there having failed. He seized control of the French
government on 9 November, in a bloodless coup d'état, replacing the
Directory with the Consulate and transforming the republic into a de
facto dictatorship.[30] He further reorganised the French military
forces, establishing a large reserve army positioned to support
campaigns on the
Rhine

Rhine or in Italy.
Russia

Russia had already been knocked
out of the war, and, under Napoleon's leadership, the French
decisively defeated the Austrians in June 1800, crippling Austrian
capabilities in Italy. Austria was definitively defeated that
December, by Moreau's forces in Bavaria. The Austrian defeat was
sealed by the
Treaty of Lunéville

Treaty of Lunéville early the following year, further
compelling the British to sign the
Treaty of Amiens

Treaty of Amiens with France,
establishing a tenuous peace.
Start date and nomenclature[edit]
No consensus exists as to when the
French Revolutionary Wars

French Revolutionary Wars ended and
the
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars began. Possible dates include 9 November 1799,
when Bonaparte seized power on 18 Brumaire in France;[41] 18 May 1803,
when Britain and
France

France ended the one short period of peace between
1792 and 1814; or 2 December 1804, when Bonaparte crowned himself
Emperor.[42]
British historians occasionally refer to the nearly continuous period
of warfare from 1792 to 1815 as the Great French War, or as the final
phase of the Anglo-French Second Hundred Years' War, spanning the
period 1689 to 1815.[43] Historian Mike Rapport (2013) suggested to
use the term "French Wars" to unambiguously describe the entire period
from 1792 to 1815.[44]
In France, the
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars are generally integrated with the
French Revolutionary Wars: Les guerres de la Révolution et de
l'Empire.[45]
German historiography may count the War of the Second Coalition
(1798/9–1801/2), during which
Napoleon

Napoleon seized power, as the Erster
Napoleonischer Krieg ("First Napoleonic War").[46]
In Dutch historiography, it is common to refer to the seven major wars
between 1792 and 1815 as the
Coalition Wars

Coalition Wars (coalitieoorlogen),
referring to the first two as the
French Revolution

French Revolution Wars (Franse
Revolutieoorlogen).[47]
Napoleon's tactics[edit]
Napoleon

Napoleon was, and remains, famous for his battlefield victories, and
historians have spent enormous attention in analysing them.[48] In
2008, Donald Sutherland wrote:
The ideal Napoleonic battle was to manipulate the enemy into an
unfavourable position through manoeuvre and deception, force him to
commit his main forces and reserve to the main battle and then
undertake an enveloping attack with uncommitted or reserve troops on
the flank or rear. Such a surprise attack would either produce a
devastating effect on morale, or force him to weaken his main battle
line. Either way, the enemy's own impulsiveness began the process by
which even a smaller French army could defeat the enemy's forces one
by one.[49]
After 1807, Napoleon's creation of a highly mobile, well-armed
artillery force gave artillery usage increased tactical importance.
Napoleon, rather than relying on infantry to wear away the enemy's
defences, could now use massed artillery as a spearhead to pound a
break in the enemy's line. Once that was achieved he sent in infantry
and cavalry.[50]
Prelude[edit]
Britain was irritated by several French actions following the Treaty
of Amiens. Bonaparte had annexed
Piedmont

Piedmont and Elba, made himself
President of the Italian Republic, a state in northern
Italy

Italy that
France

France had set up, and failed to evacuate Holland.
France

France continued to
interfere with British trade despite peace having been made and
complained about Britain harbouring certain individuals and not
cracking down on the anti-French press.[51]:220–239 In fighting,
Napoleon

Napoleon focused on penetration, gaining a central position, and
surrounding small groups of enemy forces.[52] To Napoleon, penetration
meant "You engage, and then you wait and see." Central Positioning
aimed to divide enemy forces into weaker smaller groups.
Malta

Malta had been captured by Britain during the war and was subject to a
complex arrangement in the 10th article of the
Treaty of Amiens

Treaty of Amiens where
it was to be restored to the
Knights of St. John
.svg/440px-Flag_of_the_Order_of_St._John_(various).svg.png)
Knights of St. John with a Neapolitan
garrison and placed under the guarantee of third powers. The weakening
of the
Knights of St. John
.svg/440px-Flag_of_the_Order_of_St._John_(various).svg.png)
Knights of St. John by the confiscation of their assets in
France

France and
Spain

Spain along with delays in obtaining guarantees prevented
the British from evacuating it after three months as stipulated in the
treaty.[51]:239–247
The
Helvetic Republic
.svg/250px-Flag_of_the_Helvetic_Republic_(French).svg.png)
Helvetic Republic had been set up by
France

France when it invaded
Switzerland

Switzerland in 1798.
France

France had withdrawn its troops, but violent
strife broke out against the government, which many Swiss saw as
overly centralised. Bonaparte reoccupied the country in October 1802
and imposed a compromise settlement. This caused widespread outrage in
Britain, which protested that this was a violation of the Treaty of
Lunéville. Although continental powers were unprepared to act, the
British decided to send an agent to help the Swiss obtain supplies,
and also ordered their military not to return
Cape Colony
.svg/250px-Flag_of_the_Cape_Colony_(1876–1910).svg.png)
Cape Colony to Holland
as they had committed to do in the Treaty of Amiens.[51]:248–252
Swiss resistance collapsed before anything could be accomplished, and
after a month Britain countermanded the orders not to restore Cape
Colony. At the same time
Russia

Russia finally joined the guarantee with
regards to Malta. Concerned that there would be hostilities when
Bonaparte found out that
Cape Colony
.svg/250px-Flag_of_the_Cape_Colony_(1876–1910).svg.png)
Cape Colony had been retained, the British
began to procrastinate on the evacuation of Malta.[51]:252–258 In
January 1803 a government paper in
France

France published a report from a
commercial agent which noted the ease with which Egypt could be
conquered. The British seized on this to demand satisfaction and
security before evacuating Malta, which was a convenient stepping
stone to Egypt.
France

France disclaimed any desire to seize Egypt and asked
what sort of satisfaction was required but the British were unable to
give a response.[51]:258–264 There was still no thought of going to
war; Prime Minister Addington publicly affirmed that Britain was in a
state of peace.[51]:265
In early March 1803 the Addington ministry received word that Cape
Colony had been re-occupied by the British army in accordance with the
orders which had subsequently been countermanded. On 8 March they
ordered military preparations to guard against possible French
retaliation, and justified them by falsely claiming that it was only
in response to French preparations and that they were conducting
serious negotiations with France. In a few days it was known that Cape
Colony had been surrendered in accordance with the counter-orders, but
it was too late. Bonaparte berated the British ambassador in front of
200 spectators over the military preparations.[51]:264–268
The Addington ministry realised they would face an inquiry over their
false reasons for the military preparations, and during April
unsuccessfully attempted to secure the support of William Pitt the
Younger to shield them from damage.[51]:277 In the same month the
ministry issued an ultimatum to
France

France demanding the retention of
Malta

Malta for at least ten years, the permanent acquisition of the island
of
Lampedusa

Lampedusa from the Kingdom of Sicily, and the evacuation of
Holland. They also offered to recognise French gains in
Italy

Italy if they
evacuated
Switzerland

Switzerland and compensated the King of Sardinia for his
territorial losses.
France

France offered to place
Malta

Malta in the hands of
Russia

Russia to satisfy British concerns, pull out of Holland when
Malta

Malta was
evacuated, and form a convention to give satisfaction to Britain on
other issues. The British falsely denied that
Russia

Russia had made an offer
and their ambassador left Paris.[51]:268–278 Desperate to avoid war,
Bonaparte sent a secret offer where he agreed to let Britain retain
Malta

Malta if
France

France could occupy the Otranto peninsula in Naples.[53] All
efforts were futile and Britain declared war on 18 May 1803.
War between Britain and France, 1803–1814[edit]
Main article: The
United Kingdom

United Kingdom in the Napoleonic Wars
British motivations[edit]
Britain ended the uneasy truce created by the
Treaty of Amiens

Treaty of Amiens when it
declared war on
France

France in May 1803. The British were increasingly
angered by Napoleon's reordering of the international system in
Western Europe, especially in Switzerland, Germany,
Italy

Italy and the
Netherlands. Kagan argues that Britain was especially alarmed by
Napoleon's assertion of control over Switzerland. Britons felt
insulted when
Napoleon

Napoleon said it deserved no voice in European affairs
(even though King George was an elector of the Holy Roman Empire), and
sought to restrict the London newspapers that were vilifying him.[31]
"Maniac-raving's-or-Little Boney in a strong fit" by James Gillray.
His caricatures ridiculing
Napoleon

Napoleon greatly annoyed the Frenchman, who
wanted them suppressed by the British government.[54]
Britain had a sense of loss of control, as well as loss of markets,
and was worried by Napoleon's possible threat to its overseas
colonies. McLynn argues that Britain went to war in 1803 out of a
"mixture of economic motives and national neuroses – an irrational
anxiety about Napoleon's motives and intentions." McLynn concludes
that it proved to be the right choice for Britain, because in the long
run Napoleon's intentions were hostile to the British national
interest.
Napoleon

Napoleon was not ready for war and so this was the best time
for Britain to stop them. Britain seized upon the
Malta

Malta issue,
refusing to follow the terms of the
Treaty of Amiens

Treaty of Amiens and evacuate the
island.[55]
The deeper British grievance was their perception that
Napoleon

Napoleon was
taking personal control of Europe, making the international system
unstable, and forcing Britain to the sidelines.[56][57][58][59]
Numerous scholars have argued that Napoleon's aggressive posture made
him enemies and cost him potential allies.[60] As late as 1808, the
continental powers affirmed most of his gains and titles, but the
continuing conflict with Britain led him to start the Peninsular War
and the invasion of Russia, which many scholars see as a dramatic
miscalculation.[61][62][63][64][65]
Battle of San Domingo, 6 February 1806
Battle of the Pyrenees, July 1813
There was one serious attempt to negotiate peace with
France

France during
the war, made by
Charles James Fox

Charles James Fox in 1806. The British wanted to
retain their overseas conquests and have Hanover restored to George
III in exchange for accepting French conquests on the continent. The
French were willing to cede Malta, Cape Colony, Tobago, and French
Indian posts to Britain but wanted to obtain Sicily in exchange for
the restoration of Hanover, a condition the British refused.[66]
Unlike its many coalition partners, Britain remained at war throughout
the period of the Napoleonic Wars. Protected by naval supremacy (in
the words of Admiral Jervis to the House of Lords "I do not say, my
Lords, that the French will not come. I say only they will not come by
sea"), Britain maintained low-intensity land warfare on a global scale
for over a decade. The British government paid out large sums of money
to other European states, so that they could pay armies in the field
against France. These payments are colloquially known as the Golden
Cavalry of St George. The British Army provided long-term support to
the Spanish rebellion in the
Peninsular War

Peninsular War of 1808–1814, assisted
by Spanish guerrilla ('little war') tactics. Anglo-Portuguese forces
under Arthur Wellesley supported the Spanish, which campaigned
successfully against the French armies, eventually driving them from
Spain

Spain and allowing Britain to invade southern France. By 1815, the
British Army played the central role in the final defeat of Napoleon
at Waterloo.
Beyond minor naval actions against British imperial interests, the
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars were much less global in scope than preceding
conflicts such as the Seven Years' War, which historians term a "world
war".
Economic warfare[edit]
In response to the naval blockade of the French coasts enacted by the
British government on 16 May 1806,
Napoleon

Napoleon issued the Berlin Decree
on 21 November 1806, which brought into effect the Continental
System.[67] This policy aimed to eliminate the threat from Britain by
closing French-controlled territory to its trade. Britain maintained a
standing army of 220,000 at the height of the Napoleonic Wars, of whom
less than half were available for campaigning. The rest were necessary
for garrisoning
Ireland

Ireland and the colonies, and providing security for
Britain. France's strength peaked at around 2,500,000 full-time and
part-time soldiers including several hundred thousand National
Guardsmen who
Napoleon

Napoleon could draft into the military if necessary.
Both nations enlisted large numbers of sedentary militia who were
unsuited for campaigning, and were mostly employed to release regular
forces for active duty.[68] The
Royal Navy

Royal Navy disrupted France's
extra-continental trade by seizing and threatening French shipping and
colonial possessions, but could do nothing about France's trade with
the major continental economies and posed little threat to French
territory in Europe. France's population and agricultural capacity far
outstripped that of Britain. Britain had the greatest industrial
capacity in Europe, and its mastery of the seas allowed it to build up
considerable economic strength through trade. This ensured that France
could never consolidate its control over
Europe
.svg/400px-Eurasia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Europe in peace. Many in the
French government believed that cutting Britain off from the Continent
would end its economic influence over
Europe
.svg/400px-Eurasia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Europe and isolate it.
Financing the war[edit]
A key element in British success was its ability to mobilise the
nation's industrial and financial resources and apply them to
defeating France. With a population of 16 million against France's 30
million, the French numerical advantage was offset by British
subsidies that paid for many of the Austrian and Russian soldiers,
peaking at about 450,000 men in 1813.[68][69] Under the Anglo-Russian
agreement of 1803, Britain paid a subsidy of £1.5 million for every
100,000 Russian soldiers in the field.[70]
British national output remained strong, and the well-organised
business sector channeled products into what the military needed.
Britain used its economic power to expand the Royal Navy, doubling the
number of frigates, adding 50% more large ships of the line, and
increasing the number of sailors from 15,000 to 133,000 in eight years
after the war began in 1793.
France

France saw its navy shrink by more than
half.[71] The smuggling of finished products into the continent
undermined French efforts to ruin the British economy by cutting off
markets. Subsidies to
Russia

Russia and Austria kept them in the war. The
British budget in 1814 reached £66 million, including £10 million
for the Royal Navy, £40 million for the army, £10 million for the
allies, and £38 million as interest on the national debt, which
soared to £679 million, more than double the GDP. It was supported by
hundreds of thousands of investors and taxpayers, despite the higher
taxes on land and a new income tax. The cost of the war came to £831
million.[r] In contrast, the French financial system was inadequate
and Napoleon's forces had to rely in part on requisitions from
conquered lands.[73][74][75]
War of the Third Coalition

War of the Third Coalition 1805[edit]
Main article: Third Coalition
The British HMS Sandwich fires to the French flagship Bucentaure
(completely dismasted) in the battle of Trafalgar. Bucentaure also
fights
HMS Victory

HMS Victory (behind her) and HMS Temeraire (left side of the
picture). HMS Sandwich never fought at Trafalgar and her depiction is
a mistake by the painter.[76]
Britain gathered together allies to form the
Third Coalition

Third Coalition against
France.[77][78] In response,
Napoleon

Napoleon seriously considered an invasion
of Great Britain,[79][80] and massed 180,000 troops at Boulogne.
Before he could invade, he needed to achieve naval superiority—or at
least to pull the British fleet away from the English Channel. A
complex plan to distract the British by threatening their possessions
in the
West Indies

West Indies failed when a Franco-Spanish fleet under Admiral
Villeneuve turned back after an indecisive action off Cape Finisterre
on 22 July 1805. The
Royal Navy

Royal Navy blockaded Villeneuve in
Cádiz

Cádiz until
he left for Naples on 19 October; the British squadron caught and
overwhelmingly defeated the combined enemy fleet in the Battle of
Trafalgar on 21 October (the British commander, Lord Nelson, died in
the battle).
Napoleon

Napoleon never again had the opportunity to challenge the
British at sea, nor to threaten an invasion. He again turned his
attention to enemies on the Continent.
European strategic situation in 1805 before the War of the Third
Coalition
In April 1805, Britain and
Russia

Russia signed a treaty with the aim of
removing the French from the
Batavian Republic

Batavian Republic (roughly present-day
Netherlands) and the Swiss Confederation. Austria joined the alliance
after the annexation of
Genoa

Genoa and the proclamation of
Napoleon

Napoleon as King
of
Italy

Italy on 17 March 1805. Sweden, which had already agreed to lease
Swedish Pomerania

Swedish Pomerania as a military base for British troops against
France, entered the coalition on 9 August.
The Austrians began the war by invading Bavaria with an army of about
70,000 under Karl Mack von Leiberich, and the French army marched out
from
Boulogne

Boulogne in late July 1805 to confront them. At Ulm (25
September – 20 October)
Napoleon

Napoleon surrounded Mack's army,
forcing its surrender without significant losses. With the main
Austrian army north of the
Alps

Alps defeated (another army under Archduke
Charles manoeuvred inconclusively against André Masséna's French
army in Italy),
Napoleon

Napoleon occupied Vienna. Far from his supply lines,
he faced a larger Austro-Russian army under the command of Mikhail
Kutuzov, with the Emperor Alexander I of
Russia

Russia personally present. On
2 December,
Napoleon

Napoleon crushed the Austro-Russian force in
Moravia

Moravia at
Austerlitz (usually considered his greatest victory). He inflicted
25,000 casualties on a numerically superior enemy army while
sustaining fewer than 7,000 in his own force.
Surrender of the town of Ulm, 20 October 1805
Austria signed the Treaty of Pressburg (26 December 1805) and left the
coalition. The treaty required the Austrians to give up Venetia to the
French-dominated Kingdom of
Italy

Italy and the Tyrol to Bavaria. With the
withdrawal of Austria from the war, stalemate ensued. Napoleon's army
had a record of continuous unbroken victories on land, but the full
force of the Russian army had not yet come into play.
Napoleon

Napoleon had now
consolidated his hold on France, had taken control of Belgium, the
Netherlands, Switzerland, and most of Western
Germany

Germany and northern
Italy. His admirers say that
Napoleon

Napoleon wanted to stop now, but was
forced to continue in order to gain greater security from the
countries that refused to accept his conquests. Esdaille rejects that
explanation and instead says that it was a good time to stop
expansion, for the major powers were ready to accept
Napoleon

Napoleon as he
was:
in 1806 both
Russia

Russia and Britain had been positively eager to make
peace, and they might well have agreed to terms that would have left
the Napoleonic imperium almost completely intact. As for Austria and
Prussia, they simply wanted to be left alone. To have secured a
compromise peace, then, would have been comparatively easy.
But...
Napoleon

Napoleon was prepared to make no concessions.[81]
War of the Fourth Coalition

War of the Fourth Coalition 1806–1807[edit]
Main article: War of the Fourth Coalition
Napoleon

Napoleon in Berlin (Meynier). After defeating Prussian forces at Jena,
the French Army entered Berlin on 27 October 1806.
Within months of the collapse of the Third Coalition, the Fourth
Coalition (1806–07) against
France

France was formed by Britain, Prussia,
Russia, Saxony, and Sweden. In July 1806,
Napoleon

Napoleon formed the
Confederation of the Rhine

Confederation of the Rhine out of the many tiny German states which
constituted the
Rhineland

Rhineland and most other western parts of Germany. He
amalgamated many of the smaller states into larger electorates,
duchies, and kingdoms to make the governance of non-Prussian Germany
smoother.
Napoleon

Napoleon elevated the rulers of the two largest
Confederation states, Saxony and Bavaria, to the status of kings.
In August 1806, the Prussian king, Frederick William III, decided to
go to war independently of any other great power. The army of Russia,
a Prussian ally, in particular was too far away to assist. On 8
October 1806,
Napoleon

Napoleon unleashed all the French forces east of the
Rhine

Rhine into Prussia.
Napoleon

Napoleon defeated a Prussian army at Jena (14
October 1806), and Davout defeated another at Auerstädt on the same
day. 160,000 French soldiers (increasing in number as the campaign
went on) attacked Prussia, moving with such speed that they destroyed
the entire Prussian army as an effective military force. Out of
250,000 troops the Prussians sustained 25,000 casualties, lost a
further 150,000 as prisoners, 4,000 artillery pieces, and over 100,000
muskets. At Jena,
Napoleon

Napoleon had fought only a detachment of the
Prussian force. The battle at Auerstädt involved a single French
corps defeating the bulk of the Prussian army.
Napoleon

Napoleon entered Berlin
on 27 October 1806. He visited the tomb of
Frederick the Great

Frederick the Great and
instructed his marshals to remove their hats there, saying, "If he
were alive we wouldn't be here today".
Napoleon

Napoleon had taken only 19 days
from beginning his attack on Prussia to knock it out of the war with
the capture of Berlin and the destruction of its principal armies at
Jena and Auerstädt. Saxony left Prussia, and together with small
states from north Germany, allied with France.
Charge of the Russian Imperial Guard cavalry against French
cuirassiers at the Battle of Friedland, 14 June 1807
In the next stage of the war, the French drove Russian forces out of
Poland

Poland and employed many Polish and German soldiers in several sieges
in
Silesia

Silesia and Pomerania, with the assistance of Dutch and Italian
soldiers in the latter case.
Napoleon

Napoleon then turned north to confront
the remainder of the Russian army and to try to capture the temporary
Prussian capital at Königsberg. A tactical draw at Eylau (7–8
February 1807), followed by capitulation at Danzig (24 May 1807) and
the
Battle of Heilsberg

Battle of Heilsberg (10 June 1807), forced the Russians to
withdraw further north.
Napoleon

Napoleon decisively beat the Russian army at
Friedland (14 June 1807), following which Alexander had to make peace
with
Napoleon

Napoleon at Tilsit (7 July 1807). In
Germany

Germany and Poland, new
Napoleonic client states, such as the Kingdom of Westphalia, Duchy of
Warsaw, and Republic of Danzig, were established.
By September, Marshal
Guillaume Brune

Guillaume Brune completed the occupation of
Swedish Pomerania, allowing the Swedish army to withdraw with all its
munitions of war.
Scandinavia and Finland[edit]
Main articles: Gunboat War, Finnish War, and Dano-Swedish War of
1808-09
Britain's first response to Napoleon's
Continental System
.svg/600px-Continental_Blockade_(1812).svg.png)
Continental System was to
launch a major naval attack against Denmark. Although ostensibly
neutral,
Denmark

Denmark was under heavy French and Russian pressure to pledge
its fleet to Napoleon. London could not take the chance of ignoring
the Danish threat. In August 1807, the
Royal Navy

Royal Navy besieged and
bombarded Copenhagen, leading to the capture of the Dano-Norwegian
fleet, and assuring use of the sea lanes in the North and Baltic seas
for the British merchant fleet.
Denmark

Denmark joined the war on the side of
France, but without a fleet it had little to offer,[82][83] beginning
an engagement in a naval guerrilla war in which small gunboats
attacking larger British ships in Danish and Norwegian waters. Denmark
also committed themselves to participate in a war against Sweden
together with
France

France and Russia.
At Tilsit,
Napoleon

Napoleon and Alexander had agreed that
Russia

Russia should force
Sweden

Sweden to join the Continental System, which led to a Russian invasion
of Finland in February 1808, followed by a Danish declaration of war
in March.
Napoleon

Napoleon also sent an auxiliary corps, consisting of troops
from France,
Spain

Spain and the Netherlands, led by Marshal Jean-Baptiste
Bernadotte, to
Denmark

Denmark to participate in the invasion of Sweden. But
British naval superiority prevented the armies from crossing the
Øresund

Øresund strait, and the war came mainly to be fought along the
Swedish-Norwegian border. At the Congress of Erfurt
(September–October 1808),
France

France and
Russia

Russia further agreed on the
division of
Sweden

Sweden into two parts separated by the Gulf of Bothnia,
where the eastern part became the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland.
The war between
Denmark

Denmark and Britain effectively ended with a British
victory at the battle of Lyngør in 1812, involving the destruction of
the last large Dano-Norwegian ship—the frigate Najaden.
Poland[edit]
Main article: Duchy of Warsaw
Polish cavalry

Polish cavalry at the
Battle of Somosierra

Battle of Somosierra in Spain, 1808
In 1807
Napoleon

Napoleon created a powerful outpost of his empire in Central
Europe.
Poland

Poland had recently been partitioned by its three large
neighbours, but
Napoleon

Napoleon created the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, which
depended on
France

France from the very beginning. The duchy consisted of
lands seized by Austria and Prussia; its Grand Duke was Napoleon's
ally the king of Saxony, but
Napoleon

Napoleon appointed the intendants who ran
the country. The population of 4.3 million was released from
occupation and by 1814 sent about 200,000 men to Napoleon's armies.
That included about 90,000 who marched with him to Moscow; few marched
back.[84] The Russians strongly opposed any move towards an
independent
Poland

Poland and one reason
Napoleon

Napoleon invaded
Russia

Russia in 1812 was
to punish them. The Grand Duchy was dissolved in 1815 and
Poland

Poland did
not become a state until 1918. Napoleon's impact on
Poland

Poland was huge,
including the Napoleonic legal code, the abolition of serfdom, and the
introduction of modern middle class bureaucracies.[85][86]
War of the Fifth Coalition

War of the Fifth Coalition 1809[edit]
Main articles:
War of the Fifth Coalition

War of the Fifth Coalition and Peninsular War
Surrender of
Madrid

Madrid (Gros), 1808.
Napoleon

Napoleon enters Spain's capital
during the Peninsular War.
The Fifth Coalition (1809) of Britain and Austria against France
formed as Britain engaged in the
Peninsular War

Peninsular War in
Spain

Spain and Portugal.
The sea became a major theatre of war against Napoleon's allies.
During the time of the Fifth Coalition, the
Royal Navy

Royal Navy won a
succession of victories in the French colonies. On land the major
battles included Battle of Raszyn, Battle of Aspern-Essling, and
Battle of Wagram.
On land, the Fifth Coalition attempted few extensive military
endeavours. One, the
Walcheren Expedition

Walcheren Expedition of 1809, involved a dual
effort by the British Army and the
Royal Navy

Royal Navy to relieve Austrian
forces under intense French pressure. It ended in disaster after the
Army commander, John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, failed to capture the
objective, the naval base of French-controlled Antwerp. For the most
part of the years of the Fifth Coalition, British military operations
on land (apart from the Iberian Peninsula) remained restricted to
hit-and-run operations executed by the Royal Navy, which dominated the
sea after having beaten down almost all substantial naval opposition
from
France

France and its allies and blockading what remained of France's
naval forces in heavily fortified French-controlled ports. These
rapid-attack operations were aimed mostly at destroying blockaded
French naval and mercantile shipping and the disruption of French
supplies, communications, and military units stationed near the
coasts. Often, when British allies attempted military actions within
several dozen miles or so of the sea, the
Royal Navy

Royal Navy would arrive,
land troops and supplies, and aid the coalition's land forces in a
concerted operation.
Royal Navy

Royal Navy ships even provided artillery support
against French units when fighting strayed near enough to the
coastline. The ability and quality of the land forces governed these
operations. For example, when operating with inexperienced guerrilla
forces in Spain, the
Royal Navy

Royal Navy sometimes failed to achieve its
objectives because of the lack of manpower that the Navy's guerrilla
allies had promised to supply.
The European strategic situation in February 1809
Economic warfare continued: the French
Continental System
.svg/600px-Continental_Blockade_(1812).svg.png)
Continental System against the
British naval blockade of French-controlled territory. Due to military
shortages and lack of organisation in French territory, many breaches
of the
Continental System
.svg/600px-Continental_Blockade_(1812).svg.png)
Continental System occurred as French-dominated states
tolerated or even encouraged trade with British smugglers. In terms of
economic damage to Great Britain, the blockade was largely
ineffective. As
Napoleon

Napoleon realised that extensive trade was going
through
Spain

Spain and Russia, he invaded those two countries. He tied down
his forces in Spain, and lost very badly in
Russia

Russia in 1812.[87]
Both sides entered further conflicts in attempts to enforce their
blockade; the British fought the United States in the War of 1812
(1812–15), and the French engaged in the
Peninsular War

Peninsular War (1808–14)
to prevent smuggling into Spain. The Iberian conflict began when
Portugal continued trade with Britain despite French restrictions.
When
Spain

Spain failed to maintain the Continental System, the uneasy
Spanish alliance with
France

France ended in all but name. French troops
gradually encroached on Spanish territory until they occupied Madrid,
and installed a client monarchy. This provoked an explosion of popular
rebellions across Spain. Heavy British involvement soon followed.
Austria, previously an ally of France, took the opportunity to attempt
to restore its imperial territories in
Germany

Germany as held prior to
Austerlitz. Austria achieved some initial victories against the thinly
spread army of Marshal Berthier.
Napoleon

Napoleon had left Berthier with only
170,000 men to defend France's entire eastern frontier (in the 1790s,
800,000 men had carried out the same task, but holding a much shorter
front).
After defeats in
Spain

Spain suffered by France,
Napoleon

Napoleon took charge and
enjoyed success, retaking Madrid, defeating the Spanish and forcing a
withdrawal of the heavily out-numbered British army from the Iberian
Peninsula (Battle of Corunna, 16 January 1809). But when he left, the
guerrilla war against his forces in the countryside continued to tie
down great numbers of troops. Austria's attack prevented
Napoleon

Napoleon from
successfully wrapping up operations against British forces by
necessitating his departure for Austria, and he never returned to the
Peninsular theatre. The British then sent in a fresh army under Sir
Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) whom the French could
not stop.[88]
The Peninsular war proved a major disaster for France.
Napoleon

Napoleon did
well when he was in direct charge, but severe losses followed his
departure, as he severely underestimated how much manpower would be
needed. The effort in
Spain

Spain was a drain on money, manpower and
prestige. Historian David Gates called it the "Spanish ulcer."[89]
France

France lost the Peninsular War, and
Napoleon

Napoleon realised it had been a
disaster for his cause, writing later, "That unfortunate war destroyed
me ... All the circumstances of my disasters are bound up in that
fatal knot."[90]
The Peninsular campaigns witnessed 60 major battles and 30 major
sieges, more than any other of the Napoleonic conflicts, and lasted
over six years, far longer than any of the others.
France

France and her
allies lost at least 91,000 killed in action and 237,000 wounded in
the peninsula.[91]
The French Empire in
Europe
.svg/400px-Eurasia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Europe in 1812, near its peak extent
In the east, the Austrians drove into the
Duchy of Warsaw

Duchy of Warsaw but suffered
defeat at the
Battle of Raszyn
.png/600px-Death_of_Cyprian_Godebski_at_the_Battle_of_Raszyn_1809_by_January_Suchodolski_(1855).png)
Battle of Raszyn on 19 April 1809. The Polish army
captured
West Galicia

West Galicia following its earlier success.
Napoleon

Napoleon assumed
personal command and bolstered the army for a counter-attack on
Austria. After a few small battles, the well-run campaign forced the
Austrians to withdraw from Bavaria, and
Napoleon

Napoleon advanced into
Austria. His hurried attempt to cross the
Danube

Danube resulted in the major
Battle of Aspern-Essling

Battle of Aspern-Essling (22 May 1809) — Napoleon's first
significant tactical defeat. But the Austrian commander, Archduke
Charles, failed to follow up on his indecisive victory, allowing
Napoleon

Napoleon to prepare and seize
Vienna
.jpg/532px-Schloss_Schönbrunn_Wien_2014_(Zuschnitt_1).jpg)
Vienna in early July. He defeated the
Austrians at Wagram, on 5–6 July. (It was during the middle of that
battle that Marshal Bernadotte was stripped of his command after
retreating contrary to Napoleon's orders. Shortly thereafter,
Bernadotte took up the offer from
Sweden

Sweden to fill the vacant position
of Crown Prince there. Later he actively participated in wars against
his former Emperor.)
The
War of the Fifth Coalition

War of the Fifth Coalition ended with the Treaty of Schönbrunn
(14 October 1809). In the east, only the Tyrolese rebels led by
Andreas Hofer

Andreas Hofer continued to fight the French-Bavarian army until
finally defeated in November 1809. In the west the Peninsular War
continued. The British and Portuguese remained restricted to the area
around Lisbon (behind their impregnable lines of Torres Vedras) but
besieged Cadiz.
In 1810, the French Empire reached its greatest extent. Napoleon
married Marie-Louise, an Austrian Archduchess, with the aim of
ensuring a more stable alliance with Austria and of providing the
Emperor with an heir (something his first wife, Josephine, had failed
to do). As well as the French Empire,
Napoleon

Napoleon controlled the Swiss
Confederation, the Confederation of the Rhine, the
Duchy of Warsaw

Duchy of Warsaw and
the Kingdom of Italy. Territories allied with the French included:
the Kingdom of Denmark
the Kingdom of
Spain

Spain (under Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's elder
brother)
the
Kingdom of Westphalia

Kingdom of Westphalia (Jérôme Bonaparte, Napoleon's younger
brother)
the
Kingdom of Naples

Kingdom of Naples (under Joachim Murat, husband of Napoleon's
sister Caroline)
the
Principality of Lucca and Piombino
.svg/250px-Flag_of_the_Principality_of_Lucca_(1805-1809).svg.png)
Principality of Lucca and Piombino (under Elisa Bonaparte
(Napoleon's sister) and her husband Felice Baciocchi);
and Napoleon's former enemies, Sweden, Prussia and Austria.
Subsidiary wars[edit]
The
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars were the direct cause of wars in the Americas and
elsewhere.
War of 1812[edit]
Main article: War of 1812
The
War of 1812

War of 1812 coincided with the War of the Sixth Coalition.
Historians in the United States and Canada see it as a war in its own
right, while Europeans often see it as a minor theatre of the
Napoleonic Wars. The United States declared war on Britain because of
British interference with American merchant ships and forced
enlistment into the British Royal Navy.
France

France had interfered as well,
and the US considered declaring war on France. The war ended in a
military stalemate, and there were no boundary changes at the Treaty
of Ghent, which took effect in early 1815 when
Napoleon

Napoleon was on
Elba.[92]
The Latin American Revolutions[edit]
Main article: Spanish American wars of independence
The abdication of kings Carlos IV and Fernando VII of
Spain

Spain and the
installation of Napoleon's brother as King José provoked civil wars
and revolutions leading to the independence of most of Spain's
mainland American colonies. In Spanish America many local elites
formed juntas and set up mechanisms to rule in the name of Ferdinand
VII, whom they considered the legitimate Spanish monarch. The outbreak
of the
Spanish American wars of independence

Spanish American wars of independence in most of the empire was
a result of Napoleon's destabilizing actions in
Spain

Spain and led to the
rise of strongmen in the wake of these wars.[93]
In contrast, the Portuguese royal family escaped to
Brazil

Brazil and
established the court there, resulting in political stability for
Portuguese America. With the defeat of
Napoleon

Napoleon and the return of the
Braganza monarchy to Portugal, the heir remained in
Brazil

Brazil and
declared Brazilian independence, achieving it peacefully with the
territory intact.
The Invasion of
Russia

Russia 1812[edit]
Main article: Napoleon's invasion of Russia
The
Battle of Borodino

Battle of Borodino as depicted by Louis Lejeune. The battle was
the largest and bloodiest single-day action of the Napoleonic Wars.
The
Treaty of Tilsit

Treaty of Tilsit in 1807 resulted in the Anglo-Russian War
(1807–12). Emperor Alexander I declared war on Britain after the
British attack on
Denmark

Denmark in September 1807. British men-of-war
supported the Swedish fleet during the
Finnish War

Finnish War and won victories
over the Russians in the
Gulf of Finland

Gulf of Finland in July 1808 and August 1809.
The success of the Russian army on land, however, forced
Sweden

Sweden to
sign peace treaties with
Russia

Russia in 1809 and with
France

France in 1810, and
to join the blockade against Britain. But Franco-Russian relations
became progressively worse after 1810, and the Russian war with
Britain effectively ended. In April 1812, Britain,
Russia

Russia and Sweden
signed secret agreements directed against Napoleon.[94]
The central issue for both
Napoleon

Napoleon and
Tsar

Tsar Alexander I was control
over Poland. Each wanted a semi-independent
Poland

Poland he could control.
As Esdaile notes, "Implicit in the idea of a Russian
Poland

Poland was, of
course, a war against Napoleon."[95] Schroeder says
Poland

Poland was "the
root cause" of Napoleon's war with
Russia

Russia but Russia's refusal to
support the
Continental System
.svg/600px-Continental_Blockade_(1812).svg.png)
Continental System was also a factor.[96]
In 1812, at the height of his power,
Napoleon

Napoleon invaded
Russia

Russia with a
pan-European Grande Armée, consisting of 650,000 men (270,000
Frenchmen and many soldiers of allies or subject areas). The French
forces crossed the
Niemen River

Niemen River on 24 June 1812.
Russia

Russia proclaimed a
Patriotic War, and
Napoleon

Napoleon proclaimed a Second Polish war. The Poles
supplied almost 100,000 men for the invasion force, but against their
expectations,
Napoleon

Napoleon avoided any concessions to Poland, having in
mind further negotiations with Russia.[97]
The
Grande Armée

Grande Armée marched through Russia, winning some relatively
minor engagements and the major Battle of
Smolensk

Smolensk on 16–18 August.
In the same days, part of the French Army led by Marshal Nicolas
Oudinot was stopped in the Battle of Polotsk by the right wing of the
Russian Army, under command of General Peter Wittgenstein. This
prevented the French march on the Russian capital, Saint Petersburg;
the fate of the invasion was decided in Moscow, where
Napoleon

Napoleon led his
forces in person.
Napoleon's withdrawal from Russia, a painting by Adolph Northen
Russia

Russia used scorched-earth tactics, and harried the
Grande Armée

Grande Armée with
light
Cossack

Cossack cavalry. The
Grande Armée

Grande Armée did not adjust its
operational methods in response.[98] This led to most of the losses of
the main column of the Grande Armée, which in one case amounted to
95,000 men, including deserters, in a week.[99]
The main Russian army retreated for almost three months. This constant
retreat led to the unpopularity of
Field Marshal

Field Marshal Michael Andreas
Barclay de Tolly and a veteran, Prince Mikhail Kutuzov, was made the
new Commander-in-Chief by
Tsar

Tsar Alexander I. Finally, the two armies
engaged in the
Battle of Borodino

Battle of Borodino on 7 September,[100] in the vicinity
of Moscow. The battle was the largest and bloodiest single-day action
of the Napoleonic Wars, involving more than 250,000 men and resulting
in at least 70,000 casualties. It was indecisive; the French captured
the main positions on the battlefield, but failed to destroy the
Russian army. Logistical difficulties meant that French casualties
could not be replaced, unlike Russian ones.
Napoleon

Napoleon entered Moscow on 14 September, after the Russian Army had
retreated yet again.[101] By then, the Russians had largely evacuated
the city and released criminals from the prisons to inconvenience the
French; the governor, Count Fyodor Rostopchin, ordered the city to be
burnt.[102] Alexander I refused to capitulate, and the peace talks
attempted by
Napoleon

Napoleon failed. In October, with no sign of clear
victory in sight,
Napoleon

Napoleon began the disastrous Great Retreat from
Moscow.
Charles Joseph Minard's graph of the decreasing size of the Grande
Armée represented by the width of the line as it marches to Moscow
(tan) and back (black)
At the
Battle of Maloyaroslavets

Battle of Maloyaroslavets the French tried to reach Kaluga,
where they could find food and forage supplies. The replenished
Russian Army blocked the road, and
Napoleon

Napoleon was forced to retreat the
same way he had come to Moscow, through the heavily ravaged areas
along the
Smolensk

Smolensk road. In the following weeks, the
Grande Armée

Grande Armée was
dealt a catastrophic blow by the onset of the Russian Winter, the lack
of supplies and constant guerrilla warfare by Russian peasants and
irregular troops.
When the remnants of the Napoleon's army crossed the Berezina River in
November, only 27,000 fit soldiers survived, with 380,000 men dead or
missing and 100,000 captured.[103]
Napoleon

Napoleon then left his men and
returned to Paris to prepare the defence against the advancing
Russians. The campaign effectively ended on 14 December 1812, when the
last enemy troops left Russia. The Russians had lost around 210,000
men, but with their shorter supply lines, they soon replenished their
armies.
War of the Sixth Coalition

War of the Sixth Coalition 1812–1814[edit]
Main article: Sixth Coalition
Seeing an opportunity in Napoleon's historic defeat, Prussia, Sweden,
Austria, and several German states re-entered the war.[104] Napoleon
vowed that he would create a new army as large as the one he had sent
into Russia, and quickly built up his forces in the east from 30,000
to 130,000 and eventually to 400,000.
Napoleon

Napoleon inflicted 40,000
casualties on the Allies at Lützen (2 May 1813) and Bautzen (20–21
May 1813). Both battles involved forces of over 250,000, making them
some of the largest conflicts of the wars so far. Metternich in
November 1813 offered
Napoleon

Napoleon the Frankfurt proposals. They would
allow
Napoleon

Napoleon to remain Emperor but
France

France would be reduced to its
"natural frontiers" and lose control of most of
Italy

Italy and
Germany

Germany and
the Netherlands.
Napoleon

Napoleon still expected to win the wars, and rejected
the terms. By 1814, as the Allies were closing in on Paris, Napoleon
did agree to the Frankfurt proposals, but it was too late and he
rejected the new harsher terms proposed by the Allies.[105]
The
Battle of Leipzig

Battle of Leipzig involved over 600,000 soldiers, making it the
largest battle in
Europe
.svg/400px-Eurasia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Europe prior to World War I.
In the Peninsular War, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington,
renewed the Anglo-Portuguese advance into
Spain

Spain just after New Year in
1812, besieging and capturing the fortified towns of Ciudad Rodrigo,
Badajoz, and in the
Battle of Salamanca

Battle of Salamanca (which was a damaging defeat
of the French). As the French regrouped, the Anglo–Portuguese
entered
Madrid

Madrid and advanced towards Burgos, before retreating all the
way to Portugal when renewed French concentrations threatened to trap
them. As a consequence of the Salamanca campaign, the French were
forced to end their long siege of Cadiz and to permanently evacuate
the provinces of
Andalusia

Andalusia and Asturias.[106]
In a strategic move, Wellesley planned to move his supply base from
Lisbon to Santander. The Anglo–Portuguese forces swept northwards in
late May and seized Burgos. On 21 June, at Vitoria, the combined
Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish armies won against Joseph Bonaparte,
finally breaking French power in Spain. The French had to retreat out
of the Iberian peninsula, over the Pyrenees.[107]
The belligerents declared an armistice from 4 June 1813 (continuing
until 13 August) during which time both sides attempted to recover
from the loss of approximately a quarter of a million men in the
preceding two months. During this time coalition negotiations finally
brought Austria out in open opposition to France. Two principal
Austrian armies took the field, adding 300,000 men to the coalition
armies in Germany. The Allies now had around 800,000 front-line
soldiers in the German theatre, with a strategic reserve of 350,000
formed to support the front-line operations.[citation needed]
The
Battle of Hanau

Battle of Hanau (30–31 October 1813), took part between
Austro-Bavarian and French forces.
Napoleon

Napoleon succeeded in bringing the imperial forces in the region to
around 650,000—although only 250,000 came under his direct command,
with another 120,000 under
Nicolas Charles Oudinot

Nicolas Charles Oudinot and 30,000 under
Davout. The remainder of imperial forces came mostly from the
Confederation of the Rhine, especially Saxony and Bavaria. In
addition, to the south, Murat's
Kingdom of Naples

Kingdom of Naples and Eugène de
Beauharnais's Kingdom of
Italy

Italy had 100,000 armed men. In Spain,
another 150,000 to 200,000 French troops steadily retreated before
Anglo–Portuguese forces numbering around 100,000. Thus around
900,000 Frenchmen in all theatres faced around 1,800,000 coalition
soldiers (including the strategic reserve under formation in Germany).
The gross figures may mislead slightly, as most of the German troops
fighting on the side of the French fought at best unreliably and stood
on the verge of defecting to the Allies. One can reasonably say that
Napoleon

Napoleon could count on no more than 450,000 men in Germany—which
left him outnumbered about four to one.[citation needed]
Following the end of the armistice,
Napoleon

Napoleon seemed to have regained
the initiative at Dresden (August 1813), where he once again defeated
a numerically superior coalition army and inflicted enormous
casualties, while sustaining relatively few. The failures of his
marshals and a slow resumption of the offensive on his part cost him
any advantage that this victory might have secured. At the Battle of
Leipzig in Saxony (16–19 October 1813), also called the "Battle of
the Nations", 191,000 French fought more than 300,000 Allies, and the
defeated French had to retreat into France. After the French
withdrawal from Germany, Napoleon's remaining ally, Denmark-Norway,
became isolated and fell to the coalition.[108]
The Russian army enters Paris in 1814
Napoleon

Napoleon then fought a series of battles in France, including the
Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube, but the overwhelming numbers of the Allies
steadily forced him back. The Allies entered Paris on 30 March 1814.
During this time
Napoleon

Napoleon fought his Six Days' Campaign, in which he
won multiple battles against the enemy forces advancing towards Paris.
During this entire campaign he never managed to field more than 70,000
men against more than half a million coalition soldiers. At the Treaty
of Chaumont (9 March 1814), the Allies agreed to preserve the
coalition until Napoleon's total defeat.[citation needed]
Napoleon

Napoleon determined to fight on, even now, incapable of fathoming his
fall from power. During the campaign he had issued a decree for
900,000 fresh conscripts, but only a fraction of these materialised,
and Napoleon's schemes for victory eventually gave way to the reality
of his hopeless situation.
Napoleon

Napoleon abdicated on 6 April. Occasional
military actions continued in Italy, Spain, and Holland in early
1814.[109]
The victors exiled
Napoleon

Napoleon to the island of Elba, and restored the
French Bourbon monarchy in the person of Louis XVIII. They signed the
Treaty of Fontainebleau (11 April 1814) and initiated the Congress of
Vienna
.jpg/532px-Schloss_Schönbrunn_Wien_2014_(Zuschnitt_1).jpg)
Vienna to redraw the map of Europe.[citation needed]
War of the Seventh Coalition

War of the Seventh Coalition 1815[edit]
See also:
Hundred Days

Hundred Days and the
Neapolitan War

Neapolitan War between the Kingdom of
Naples and the Austrian Empire
Wellington at Waterloo by Robert Alexander Hillingford
The
Seventh Coalition

Seventh Coalition (1815) pitted Britain, Russia, Prussia, Sweden,
Switzerland, Austria, the
Netherlands

Netherlands and several German states
against France. The period known as the
Hundred Days

Hundred Days began after
Napoleon

Napoleon escaped from
Elba

Elba and landed at
Cannes

Cannes (1 March 1815).
Travelling to Paris, picking up support as he went, he eventually
overthrew the restored Louis XVIII. The Allies rapidly gathered their
armies to meet him again.
Napoleon

Napoleon raised 280,000 men, whom he
distributed among several armies. To add to the 90,000-strong standing
army, he recalled well over a quarter of a million veterans from past
campaigns and issued a decree for the eventual draft of around
2.5 million new men into the French army, which was never
achieved. This faced an initial coalition force of about
700,000—although coalition campaign plans provided for one million
front-line soldiers, supported by around 200,000 garrison, logistics
and other auxiliary personnel.
Napoleon

Napoleon took about 124,000 men of the Army of the North on a
pre-emptive strike against the Allies in Belgium.[110] He intended to
attack the coalition armies before they combined, in hope of driving
the British into the sea and the Prussians out of the war. His march
to the frontier achieved the surprise he had planned, catching the
Anglo-Dutch Army in a dispersed arrangement. The Prussians had been
more wary, concentrating 3⁄4 of their army in and around Ligny.
The Prussians forced the
Armée du Nord

Armée du Nord to fight all the day of the
15th to reach Ligny in a delaying action by the Prussian 1st Corps. He
forced Prussia to fight at Ligny on 16 June 1815, and the defeated
Prussians retreated in disorder. On the same day, the left wing of the
Armée du Nord, under the command of Marshal Michel Ney, succeeded in
stopping any of Wellington's forces going to aid Blücher's Prussians
by fighting a blocking action at Quatre Bras. Ney failed to clear the
cross-roads and Wellington reinforced the position. But with the
Prussian retreat, Wellington too had to retreat. He fell back to a
previously reconnoitred position on an escarpment at Mont St Jean, a
few miles south of the village of Waterloo.
Map of the Waterloo campaign
Napoleon

Napoleon took the reserve of the Army of the North, and reunited his
forces with those of Ney to pursue Wellington's army, after he ordered
Marshal Grouchy to take the right wing of the Army of the North and
stop the Prussians re-grouping. In the first of a series of
miscalculations, both Grouchy and
Napoleon

Napoleon failed to realise that the
Prussian forces were already reorganised and were assembling at the
village of Wavre. The French army did nothing to stop a rather
leisurely retreat that took place throughout the night and into the
early morning by the Prussians. As the 4th, 1st, and 2nd Prussian
Corps marched through the town towards Waterloo the 3rd Prussian Corps
took up blocking positions across the river, and although Grouchy
engaged and defeated the Prussian rearguard under the command of
Lt-Gen von Thielmann in the
Battle of Wavre

Battle of Wavre (18–19 June) it was 12
hours too late. In the end, 17,000 Prussians had kept 33,000 badly
needed French reinforcements off the field.
Napoleon

Napoleon delayed the start of fighting at the
Battle of Waterloo

Battle of Waterloo on
the morning of 18 June for several hours while he waited for the
ground to dry after the previous night's rain. By late afternoon, the
French army had not succeeded in driving Wellington's forces from the
escarpment on which they stood. When the Prussians arrived and
attacked the French right flank in ever-increasing numbers, Napoleon's
strategy of keeping the coalition armies divided had failed and a
combined coalition general advance drove his army from the field in
confusion.
Grouchy organised a successful and well-ordered retreat towards Paris,
where Marshal Davout had 117,000 men ready to turn back the 116,000
men of Blücher and Wellington. Davout was defeated at the Battle of
Issy and negotiations for surrender had begun.
The charge of the French Cuirassiers at the
Battle of Waterloo

Battle of Waterloo against
a square of Scottish Highlanders
On arriving at Paris three days after Waterloo,
Napoleon

Napoleon still clung
to the hope of a concerted national resistance; but the temper of the
legislative chambers, and of the public generally, did not favour his
view. Lacking support
Napoleon

Napoleon abdicated again on 22 June 1815, and on
15 July he surrendered to the British squadron at Rochefort. The
Allies exiled him to the remote South Atlantic island of Saint Helena,
where he died on 5 May 1821.
In Italy, Joachim Murat, whom the Allies had allowed to remain King of
Naples after Napoleon's initial defeat, once again allied with his
brother-in-law, triggering the
Neapolitan War

Neapolitan War (March to May 1815).
Hoping to find support among Italian nationalists fearing the
increasing influence of the Habsburgs in Italy, Murat issued the
Rimini Proclamation

Rimini Proclamation inciting them to war. The proclamation failed and
the Austrians soon crushed Murat at the
Battle of Tolentino

Battle of Tolentino (2 May to
3 May 1815), forcing him to flee. The Bourbons returned to the throne
of Naples on 20 May 1815. Murat tried to regain his throne, but after
that failed, he was executed by firing squad on 13 October 1815.
Political effects[edit]
The
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars brought radical changes to Europe, but the
reactionary forces returned to power and tried to reverse some of
them[111] by restoring the Bourbon house on the French throne.
Napoleon

Napoleon had succeeded in bringing most of Western
Europe
.svg/400px-Eurasia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Europe under one
rule. In most European countries, subjugation in the French Empire
brought with it many liberal features of the French Revolution
including democracy, due process in courts, abolition of serfdom,
reduction of the power of the Catholic Church, and a demand for
constitutional limits on monarchs. The increasing voice of the middle
classes with rising commerce and industry meant that restored European
monarchs found it difficult to restore pre-revolutionary absolutism
and had to retain many of the reforms enacted during Napoleon's rule.
Institutional legacies remain to this day in the form of civil law,
with clearly defined codes of law—an enduring legacy of the
Napoleonic Code.
The national boundaries within
Europe
.svg/400px-Eurasia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Europe are set by the Congress of
Vienna, 1815
France's constant warfare with the combined forces of the other major
powers of
Europe
.svg/400px-Eurasia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Europe for over two decades finally took its toll. By the
end of the Napoleonic Wars,
France

France no longer held the role of the
dominant power in Continental Europe, as it had since the times of
Louis XIV, as the
Congress of Vienna

Congress of Vienna produced a "balance of power" by
resizing the main powers so they could balance each other and remain
at peace. In this regard, Prussia was restored in its former borders,
and also received large chunks of
Poland

Poland and Saxony. Greatly enlarged,
Prussia became a permanent Great Power. In order to drag Prussia's
attention towards the west and France, the Congress also gave the
Rhineland

Rhineland and Westphalia to Prussia. These industrial regions
transformed agrarian Prussia into an industrial leader in the
nineteenth century.[112] Britain emerged as the most important
economic power, and its
Royal Navy

Royal Navy held unquestioned naval superiority
across the globe well into the 20th century.[113]
After the Napoleonic period, nationalism, a relatively new movement,
became increasingly significant. This shaped much of the course of
future European history. Its growth spelled the beginning of some
states and the end of others, as the map of
Europe
.svg/400px-Eurasia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Europe changed
dramatically in the hundred years following the Napoleonic Era. Rule
by fiefdoms and aristocracy was widely replaced by national ideologies
based on shared origins and culture. Bonaparte's reign over Europe
sowed the seeds for the founding of the nation-states of
Germany

Germany and
Italy

Italy by starting the process of consolidating city-states, kingdoms
and principalities. At the end of the war
Denmark

Denmark was forced to cede
Norway to Sweden, but because Norway had signed its own constitution
on 17 May 1814,
Sweden

Sweden was forced to fight for the right to own
Norway. The resulting union between
Sweden

Sweden and Norway gave Norway more
independence than under
Denmark

Denmark and ended with Norway becoming an
independent country in 1905. The
United Kingdom

United Kingdom of the Netherlands
created as a buffer state against
France

France dissolved rapidly with the
independence of Belgium in 1830.[114]
The Napoleonic wars also played a key role in the independence of the
Latin American colonies from
Spain

Spain and Portugal. The conflict weakened
the authority and military power of Spain, especially after the Battle
of Trafalgar. There were many uprisings in Spanish America, leading to
the wars of independence. In Portuguese America,
Brazil

Brazil experienced
greater autonomy as it now served as seat of the
Portuguese Empire

Portuguese Empire and
ascended politically to the status of Kingdom. These events also
contributed to the Portuguese Liberal Revolution in 1820 and the
Independence of Brazil

Independence of Brazil in 1822.[8]
The century of relative transatlantic peace, after the Congress of
Vienna, enabled the “greatest intercontinental migration in human
history”[115] beginning with "a big spurt of immigration after the
release of the dam erected by the Napoleonic Wars."[116] Immigration
inflows relative to the US population rose to record levels (peaking
at 1.6% in 1850-51)[117] as 30 million Europeans relocated to the
United States between 1815 and 1914.[118]
Another concept emerged from the
Congress of Vienna

Congress of Vienna – that of a
unified Europe. After his defeat,
Napoleon

Napoleon deplored the fact that his
dream of a free and peaceful "European association" remained
unaccomplished. Such a European association would share the same
principles of government, system of measurement, currency and Civil
Code. One-and-a-half centuries later, and after two world wars several
of these ideals re-emerged in the form of the European Union.
Military legacy[edit]
Enlarged scope[edit]
In 1800 Bonaparte took the French Army across the Alps, eventually
defeating the Austrians at Marengo.
Until the time of Napoleon, European states employed relatively small
armies, made up of both national soldiers and mercenaries. These
regulars were highly drilled professional soldiers. Ancien Régime
armies could only deploy small field armies due to rudimentary staffs
and comprehensive yet cumbersome logistics. Both issues combined to
limit field forces to approximately 30,000 men under a single
commander.
Military innovators in the mid-18th century began to recognise the
potential of an entire nation at war: a "nation in arms".[119]
The scale of warfare dramatically enlarged during the Revolutionary
and subsequent Napoleonic Wars. During Europe's major
pre-revolutionary war, the
Seven Years' War

Seven Years' War of 1756–1763, few armies
ever numbered more than 200,000 with field forces often numbering less
than 30,000. The French innovations of separate corps (allowing a
single commander to efficiently command more than the traditional
command span of 30,000 men) and living off the land (which allowed
field armies to deploy more men without requiring an equal increase in
supply arrangements such as depots and supply trains) allowed the
French republic to field much larger armies than their opponents.
Napoleon

Napoleon ensured during the time of the French republic that separate
French field armies operated as a single army under his control, often
allowing him to substantially outnumber his opponents. This forced his
continental opponents to increase the size of their armies as well,
moving away from the traditional small, well drilled Ancien Régime
armies of the 18th century to mass conscript armies.
Napoleon

Napoleon on the field of Eylau
The Battle of Marengo, which largely ended the War of the Second
Coalition, was fought with fewer than 60,000 men on both sides. The
Battle of Austerlitz

Battle of Austerlitz which ended the War of the Third Coalition
involved fewer than 160,000 men. The
Battle of Friedland

Battle of Friedland which led to
peace with
Russia

Russia in 1807 involved about 150,000 men.
After these defeats, the continental powers developed various forms of
mass conscription to allow them to face
France

France on even terms, and the
size of field armies increased rapidly. The battle of Wagram of 1809
involved 300,000 men, and 500,000 fought at Leipzig in 1813, of whom
150,000 were killed or wounded.
About a million French soldiers became casualties (wounded, invalided
or killed), a higher proportion than in the First World War. The
European total may have reached 5,000,000 military deaths, including
disease.[120][121]
France

France had the second-largest population in
Europe
.svg/400px-Eurasia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Europe by the end of the
18th century (27 million, as compared to Britain's 12 million and
Russia's 35 to 40 million).[122] It was well poised to take
advantage of the levée en masse. Before Napoleon's efforts, Lazare
Carnot played a large part in the reorganisation of the French army
from 1793 to 1794—a time which saw previous French misfortunes
reversed, with Republican armies advancing on all fronts.
Napoleon's retreat from
Russia

Russia in 1812. His
Grande Armée

Grande Armée had lost
about half a million men.
The French army peaked in size in the 1790s with 1.5 million
Frenchmen enlisted although battlefield strength was much less.
Haphazard bookkeeping, rudimentary medical support and lax recruitment
standards ensured that many soldiers either never existed, fell ill or
were unable to withstand the physical demands of soldiering.
About 2.8 million Frenchmen fought on land and about 150,000 at
sea, bringing the total for
France

France to almost 3 million combatants
during almost 25 years of warfare.[23]
The Battle of Trafalgar
Britain had 750,000 men under arms between 1792 and 1815 as its army
expanded from 40,000 men in 1793[123] to a peak of 250,000 men in
1813.[20] Over 250,000 sailors served in the Royal Navy. In September
1812,
Russia

Russia had 900,000 enlisted men in its land forces, and between
1799 and 1815 2.1 million men served in its army. Another 200,000
served in the Russian Navy. Out of the 900,000 men, the field armies
deployed against
France

France numbered less than 250,000.
There are no consistent statistics for other major combatants.
Austria's forces peaked at about 576,000 (during the War of the Sixth
Coalition) and had little or no naval component yet never fielded more
than 250,000 men in field armies. After Britain, Austria proved the
most persistent enemy of France; more than a million Austrians served
during the long wars. Its large army was overall quite homogeneous and
solid and in 1813 operated in
Germany

Germany (140,000 men),
Italy

Italy and the
Balkans (90,000 men at its peak, about 50,000 men during most of the
campaigning on these fronts). Austria's manpower was becoming quite
limited towards the end of the wars, leading its generals to favour
cautious and conservative strategies, to limit their losses.
French soldiers in skirmish with
Bashkirs

Bashkirs and
Cossacks

Cossacks in 1813
Prussia never had more than 320,000 men under arms at any time. In
1813-1815, the core of its army (about 100,000 men) was characterised
by competence and determination, but the bulk of its forces consisted
of second- and third-line troops, as well as militiamen of variable
strength. Many of these troops performed reasonably well and often
displayed considerable bravery but lacked the professionalism of their
regular counterparts and were not as well equipped. Others were
largely unfit for operations, except sieges. During the 1813 campaign,
130,000 men were used in the military operations, with 100,000
effectively participating in the main German campaign, and about
30,000 being used to besiege isolated French garrisons.[124]
Spain's armies also peaked at around 200,000 men, not including more
than 50,000 guerrillas scattered over Spain. In addition the Maratha
Confederation, the Ottoman Empire, Italy, Naples and the Duchy of
Warsaw each had more than 100,000 men under arms. Even small nations
now had armies rivalling the size of the Great Powers' forces of past
wars but most of these were poor quality forces only suitable for
garrison duties. The size of their combat forces remained modest yet
they could still provide a welcome addition to the major powers. The
percentage of French troops in the Grande Armee which
Napoleon

Napoleon led
into
Russia

Russia was about 50% while the French allies also provided a
significant contribution to the French forces in Spain. As these small
nations joined the coalition forces in 1813-1814, they provided a
useful addition to the coalition while depriving
Napoleon

Napoleon of much
needed manpower.
Innovations[edit]
The initial stages of the
Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution had much to do with
larger military forces—it became easy to mass-produce weapons and
thus to equip larger forces. Britain was the largest single
manufacturer of armaments in this period. It supplied most of the
weapons used by the coalition powers throughout the conflicts. France
produced the second-largest total of armaments, equipping its own huge
forces as well as those of the
Confederation of the Rhine

Confederation of the Rhine and other
allies.[125]
Napoleon

Napoleon showed innovative tendencies in his use of mobility to offset
numerical disadvantages, as demonstrated in the rout of the
Austro-Russian forces in 1805 in the Battle of Austerlitz. The French
Army redefined the role of artillery, forming independent, mobile
units, as opposed to the previous tradition of attaching artillery
pieces in support of troops.[126]
The semaphore system had allowed the French War-Minister, Carnot, to
communicate with French forces on the frontiers throughout the 1790s.
The French continued to use this system throughout the Napoleonic
wars.
Aerial surveillance

Aerial surveillance was used for the first time when the French
used a hot-air balloon to survey coalition positions before the Battle
of Fleurus, on 26 June 1794.[36]
Total war[edit]
Main article: Total war
The Second of May 1808

The Second of May 1808 was the beginning of the popular Spanish
resistance against Napoleon.
Historians have explored how the Napoleonic wars became total wars.
Most historians argue that the escalation in size and scope came from
two sources. First was the ideological clash between
revolutionary/egalitarian and conservative/hierarchical belief
systems. Second was the emerging nationalism in France, Germany,
Spain, and elsewhere that made these "people's wars" instead of
contests between monarchs.[127] Bell has argued that even more
important than ideology and nationalism were the intellectual
transformations in the culture of war that came about through the
Enlightenment.[128] One factor, he says, is that war was no longer a
routine event but a transforming experience for societies—a total
experience. Secondly the military emerged in its own right as a
separate sphere of society distinct from the ordinary civilian world.
The
French Revolution

French Revolution made every civilian a part of the war machine,
either as a soldier through universal conscription, or as a vital cog
in the home front machinery supporting and supplying the army. Out of
that, says Bell, came "militarism," the belief that the military role
was morally superior to the civilian role in times of great national
crisis. The fighting army represented the essence of the nation's
soul.[129] As
Napoleon

Napoleon proclaimed, "It is the soldier who founds a
Republic and it is the soldier who maintains it."[130]
In fiction[edit]
Main article:
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars in fiction
This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (January 2018)
See also[edit]
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars portal
International relations, 1648–1814, for diplomacy
British Army during the Napoleonic Wars
Coalition forces of the Napoleonic Wars
Imperial and Royal Army during the Napoleonic Wars
Royal Prussian Army of the Napoleonic Wars
List of Napoleonic battles
Uniforms of La Grande Armée
Notes[edit]
^ Hanover was in a
Personal Union

Personal Union with Great Britain
^ a b The term "Austrian Empire" came into use after
Napoleon

Napoleon crowned
himself
Emperor of the French
2.svg/240px-Grandes_Armes_Impériales_(1804-1815)2.svg.png)
Emperor of the French in 1804, whereby Francis II, Holy Roman
Emperor took the title
Emperor of Austria

Emperor of Austria (Kaiser von Österreich) in
response. The
Holy Roman Empire
.svg/250px-Banner_of_the_Holy_Roman_Emperor_with_haloes_(1400-1806).svg.png)
Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806, and
consequently "Emperor of Austria" became Francis' primary title. For
this reason, "Austrian Empire" is often used instead of "Holy Roman
Empire" for brevity's sake when speaking of the Napoleonic Wars, even
though the two entities are not synonymous.
^ a b c Both Austria and Prussia briefly became allies of
France

France and
contributed forces to the French Invasion of
Russia

Russia in 1812.
^ a b
Russia

Russia became an ally of
France

France following the Treaty of Tilsit
in 1807. The alliance broke down in 1810, which led to the French
invasion in 1812. During that time
Russia

Russia waged war against Sweden
(1808–1809) and the
Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire (1806–1812), and nominally
against Britain (1807–1812).
^ a b Nominally,
Sweden

Sweden declared war against Great Britain after its
defeat by
Russia

Russia in the
Finnish War

Finnish War (1808–1809).
^ a b c
Spain

Spain was an ally of
France

France until a stealthy French invasion
in 1808, then fought
France

France in the Peninsular War.
^ a b The
Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire fought against
Napoleon

Napoleon in the French
Campaign in Egypt and Syria as part of the French Revolutionary Wars.
During the Napoleonic era of 1803 to 1815, the Empire participated in
two wars against the Allies: against Britain in the Anglo-Turkish War
(1807–1809) and against
Russia

Russia in the Russo-Turkish War
(1806–1812).
Russia

Russia was allied with
Napoleon

Napoleon 1807–1810.
^ a b
Qajar dynasty
.svg/250px-Flag_of_Persia_(1910-1925).svg.png)
Qajar dynasty fought against
Russia

Russia from 1804 to 1813; the
Russians were allied with
Napoleon

Napoleon 1807–1812.
^ Sicily remained in personal union with Naples until Naples became a
French client-republic following the
Battle of Campo Tenese

Battle of Campo Tenese in 1806.
^ The Kingdom of Hungary participated in the war with separate
Hungarian regiments[1][2] in the Imperial and Royal Army, and also by
a traditional army ("insurrectio").[3] The Hungarian Diet voted to
join in war and agreed to pay one third of the war expenses.
^ a b
Napoleon

Napoleon established the Duchy of Warsaw, ruled by the Kingdom
of Saxony in 1807. Polish Legions had already been serving in the
French armies beforehand.
^ The French Empire annexed the
Kingdom of Holland

Kingdom of Holland in 1810. Dutch
troops fought against
Napoleon

Napoleon during the
Hundred Days

Hundred Days in 1815.
^ The French Empire annexed the
Kingdom of Etruria

Kingdom of Etruria in 1807.
^ The Kingdom of Naples, briefly allied with Austria in 1814, allied
with
France

France again and fought against Austria during the Neapolitan War
in 1815.
^ Sixteen of France's allies among the German states (including
Bavaria and Württemberg) established the Confederation of the Rhine
in July 1806 following the
Battle of Austerlitz

Battle of Austerlitz (December 1805).
Following the
Battle of Jena-Auerstedt

Battle of Jena-Auerstedt (October 1806), various other
German states that had previously fought alongside the anti-French
allies, including Saxony and Westphalia, also allied with
France

France and
joined the Confederation. Saxony changed sides again in 1813 during
the Battle of Leipzig, causing most other member-states to quickly
follow suit and declare war on France.
^ These four states[which?] were the leading nations of the
Confederation, but the Confederation was made up of a total of 43
principalities, kingdoms, and duchies.
^
Denmark-Norway

Denmark-Norway remained neutral until the Battle of Copenhagen
(1807).
Denmark

Denmark was compelled to cede Norway to
Sweden

Sweden by the Treaty
of Kiel in 1814. Following a brief Swedish campaign against Norway,
Norway entered a personal union with Sweden.
^ £3 trillion in modern economic cost terms.[72]
References[edit]
^ James R. Arnold:
Napoleon

Napoleon Conquers Austria: The 1809 Campaign for
Vienna, ABC-Clio, 2003 [1]
^ The Austrian Imperial-Royal Army (Kaiserliche-Königliche Heer) 1805
– 1809: The Hungarian Royal Army [2]
^ Todd Fisher: The Napoleonic Wars: The Empires Fight Back
1808–1812, Oshray Publishing, 2001 [3]
^ John Sainsbury (1842). Sketch of the
Napoleon

Napoleon Museum. London.
p. 15.
^ Reich 1905, p. 622
^ "Denmark". World Statesmen. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
^ "Norway". World Statesmen. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
^ a b c Benjamin Keen and Keith Haynes, A History of Latin America
(2012) ch 8
^ Schäfer, Anton (2002). Zeittafel der Rechtsgeschichte. Von den
Anfängen über Rom bis 1919. Mit Schwerpunkt Österreich und
zeitgenössischen Bezügen (in German) (3 ed.). Edition Europa Verlag.
ISBN 3-9500616-8-1. p. 137
^ Edward et al., pp. 522-524
^ "De Grondwet van 1815". Parlement & Politiek (in Dutch).
Retrieved 26 June 2014.
^ "The Royal Navy". Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica.
Retrieved 15 February 2016.
^ "The Rise of Prussia 1700-1830".
^ Collier, Martin (2003). Italian unification, 1820–71. Heinemann
Advanced History (First ed.). Oxford: Heinemann. p. 2.
ISBN 0-435-32754-2. The Risorgimento is the name given to the
process that ended with the political unification of
Italy

Italy in
1871
^ Riall, Lucy (1994). The Italian Risorgimento: state, society, and
national unification (First ed.). London: Routledge. p. 1.
ISBN 0-203-41234-6. The functional importance of the Risorgimento
to both Italian politics and Italian historiography has made this
short period (1815–60) one of the most contested and controversial
in modern Italian history
^ Jakob Walter, and Marc Raeff. The diary of a Napoleonic foot
soldier. Princeton, N.J., 1996.
^ Martyn Lyons p. 234–36
^ Payne 1973, pp. 432–433.
^ Esdaile 2008, p. [page needed].
^ a b Chandler & Beckett, p. 132
^ Blücher, scourge of Napoleon, Leggiere
^ Riehn 1991, p. 50.
^ a b John
France

France (2011). Perilous Glory: The Rise of Western Military
Power. Yale UP. p. 351.
^ Correspondance générale - Tome 12: La campagne de Russie, 1812 Par
Fondation Napoléon -
https://books.google.com/books/about/Correspondance_g%C3%A9n%C3%A9rale_Tome_12.html?id=toua1U8uORQC&redir_esc=y
^ a b White 2014,
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars cites Urlanis 1971
^ Canales 2004.
^ a b White 2014 cites Dumas 1923 citing Hodge
^ White 2014 cites Bodart 1916
^ a b c Philo 2010.
^ a b Jones, Colin. The Cambridge Illustrated History of
France

France (1st
ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 193–194.
ISBN 0-521-43294-4.
^ a b c Frederick Kagan, The End of the Old Order:
Napoleon

Napoleon and
Europe, 1801-1805 (2007) pp 42-43
^ "The Rise of Prussia 1700-1830".
^ Ferguson, Niall (2004). Empire, The rise and demise of the British
world order and the lessons for global power. Basic Books.
ISBN 0-465-02328-2.
^ Bell, David Avrom (2007). The First Total War: Napoleon's
Europe
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Europe and
the birth of warfare as we know it. New York: Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt. p. 51. ISBN 0-618-34965-0.
^ Geoffrey Wawro (2002). Warfare and Society in Europe, 1792–1914.
Routledge. p. 9.
^ a b R. R. Palmer (1941). Twelve Who Ruled: The Year of the Terror in
the French Revolution. Princeton UP. pp. 81–83.
^ Boot, Max (2013). Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla
Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present. Liveright.
pp. 10–11, 55. ISBN 978-0-87140-424-4.
^ Dmitry Shlapentokh, The
French Revolution

French Revolution and the Russian
Anti-Democratic Tradition (Edison, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1997),
p. 220-8
^ Palmer, R.R. & Colton, Joel A History of the Modern World p. 361
^
Suzanne Desan et al. eds. The
French Revolution

French Revolution in Global
Perspective (2013), pp. 3, 8, 10
^ Frank McLynn,
Napoleon

Napoleon (1998). p 215.
^ Spencer C. Tucker (2012). The Encyclopedia of the War Of 1812.
ABC-CLIO. p. 499.
^ Arthur H. Buffinton, The Second Hundred Years' War, 1689–1815
(1929). See also: Francois Crouzet, "The Second Hundred Years War:
Some Reflections". French History 10 (1996), pp. 432–450. and H. M.
Scott, "Review: The Second 'Hundred Years War' 1689–1815". The
Historical Journal 35 (1992), pp. 443–469.
^ Rapport, Mike (2013). The Napoleonic Wars: A Very Short
Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 4.
ISBN 9780191642517. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
^
France

France - Les guerres de la Révolution et de l'Empire. Herodote.net.
Retrieved on 2013-07-12.
^ Rabich, Adalbert (2011). "erster+napoleonischer+krieg"&hl=en Die
Regionalgeschichte von Dülmen und Umgebung, Teil 2 (in German).
Norderstedt: GRIN Verlag. p. 37. ISBN 9783640805846.
Retrieved 29 May 2016.
^ (in Dutch) Encarta-encyclopedie Winkler Prins (1993–2002) s.v.
"coalitieoorlogen". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum.
^ Chandler, David (1966). The Campaigns of Napoleon. The Mind and
Method of History's Greatest Soldier. New York: Macmillan.
^ Sutherland, Donald M. G. (2008). The
French Revolution

French Revolution and Empire:
The Quest for a Civic Order. Wiley. p. 356.
^ McConachy, Bruce (2001). "The Roots of
Artillery

Artillery Doctrine:
Napoleonic
Artillery

Artillery Tactics Reconsidered". Journal of Military
History. 65 (3): 617–640. JSTOR 2677528. McConachy
rejects the alternative theory that growing reliance on artillery by
the French army beginning in 1807 was an outgrowth of the declining
quality of the French infantry and, later, France's inferiority in
cavalry numbers.
^ a b c d e f g h i Annual Register... for the Year 1803 (1805)
^ Haine, Scott. The History of
France

France (1st ed.). Greenwood Press.
p. 92. ISBN 0-313-30328-2.
^ Mahan, A.T. The influence of sea power on the
French Revolution

French Revolution and
Empire Vol. II (1892) pp. 106-107
^ Andrew Roberts, Napoleon: A Life (2014) p 316
^ Roberts, Napoleon: A Life (2014) p 309
^ John D. Grainger, Amiens Truce: Britain & Bonaparte, 1801-1803
(2004) has a well-balanced analysis of both sides
^ Arthur Bryant, Years of victory: 1802-1812 (1944), pp 1-52, although
older, is a well-regarded interpretation from the British perspective
^ Kagan, The End of the Old Order:
Napoleon

Napoleon and Europe, 1801-1805
(2007) pp 1-50 stresses Napoleon's initiatives.
^ Paul Schroeder, The Transformation of European politics 1763-1848
(1994) pp 231-45 is highly analytical and hostile to Napoleon
^ Jean Tulard, Napoleon: The Myth of the Saviour (1984) p 351.
^ Colin S. Gray (2007). War, Peace and International Relations: An
Introduction to Strategic History. Routledge. p. 47.
^ Robin Neillands (2003). Wellington & Napoleon: Clash of Arms.
Pen and Sword. p. 22.
^ Alistair Horne in Robert Cowley, ed. (2000). What If?: The World's
Foremost Historians Imagine What Might Have Been. Penguin.
p. 161. CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)
^ Steve Chan (2013). Looking for Balance: China, the United States,
and Power Balancing in East Asia. Stanford UP. p. 55.
^ Martin Malia (2008). History's Locomotives: Revolutions and the
Making of the Modern World. Yale UP. p. 205.
^ "The Annual Register, Or, A View of the History, Politics, and
Literature for ..."
^ Schroeder, The Transformation of European Politics 1763–1848
(1994) pp 307–10
^ a b Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the
Great Powers

Great Powers – economic
change and military conflict from 1500 to 2000 (1989), pp. 128–9
^ John M. Sherwig, Guineas and Gunpowder British Foreign Aid in the
War with France, 1793–1815 (1969)
^ Alan Palmer, Alexander I (1974) p 86
^ Asa Briggs, The Making of Modern England 1783–1867: The Age of
Improvement (1959) p 143
^ "Measuring Worth - Purchase Power of the Pound". Retrieved 15
February 2016.
^ Élie Halévy, A History of the English People in 1815 (1924) vol 2
p 205–28
^ Roger Knight, Britain Against Napoleon: The Organisation of Victory,
1793–1815 (2013)
^ J. Steven Watson, The Reign of George III 1760–1815 (1960),
374-77, 406-7, 463-71,
^ "Auguste Mayer's picture as described by the website of the Musée
national de la Marine (in French)". Musee-marine.fr. Archived from the
original on 26 May 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
^ Paul W. Schroeder, The Transformation of European Politics
1763–1848 (1994) pp 231–86
^ Frederick Kagan (2007). The End of the Old Order:
Napoleon

Napoleon and
Europe, 1801–1805. Da Capo Press. pp. 141ff.
^ "Invasion of Britain – National Maritime Museum". Nmm.ac.uk.
Retrieved 21 May 2011.
^ "O'Meara's account of
Napoleon

Napoleon on the invasion of the England".
Napoleon.org. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
^ Esdaille, Napoleon's Wars, pp 252-53
^ A. N. Ryan, "The Causes of the British Attack upon Copenhagen in
1807." English Historical Review (1953): 37-55. in JSTOR
^ Thomas Munch-Petersen, Defying Napoleon: How Britain Bombarded
Copenhagen and Seized the Danish Fleet in 1807 (2007)
^ Otto Pivka (2012). Napoleon's Polish Troops. Osprey Publishing.
pp. 8–10.
^ J. P. Riley,
Napoleon

Napoleon and the World War of 1813: Lessons in
Coalition Warfighting (2000) pp 27–8.
^ Alexander Grab,
Napoleon

Napoleon and the Transformation of
Europe
.svg/400px-Eurasia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Europe (2003)
pp 176–87
^ J. M. Thompson,
Napoleon

Napoleon Bonaparte: His rise and fall (1951) pp
235-40
^ Gregory Fremont-Barnes, The
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars (3): The Peninsular War
1807-1814 (2014)
^ David Gates, The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War
(1986)
^ John Lawrence Tone, "Partisan Warfare in
Spain

Spain and Total War," in
Roger Chickering and Stig Förster, eds. (2010). War in an Age of
Revolution, 1775–1815. Cambridge UP. p. 243. CS1 maint:
Extra text: authors list (link)
^ Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty
and Other Figures, 1492-2015. p. 157.
^ Jeremy Black, The
War of 1812

War of 1812 in the Age of
Napoleon

Napoleon (2009)
^ John Lynch, Caudillos in Spanish America 1800-1850. Oxford:
Clarendon Press 1992, pp. 402–403.
^ Alan Palmer, Alexander I:
Tsar

Tsar of War and Peace (1974)
^ Charles Esdaile, Napoleon's Wars: An International History,
1803–1815 (2007) p 438
^ Schroeder, The Transformation of European Politics: 1763 – 1848
(1994) p 419
^ Riehn, Richard =K. (1990), 1812: Napoleon's Russian campaign
^ Riehn 1990, pp. 138–140.
^ Reihn 1990, p. 185.
^ Philip Haythornthwaite, Borodino 1812; Napoleon's great gamble
(2012).
^ Reihn, 1812, pp. 253–254
^ With
Napoleon

Napoleon in Russia, The Memoirs of General Coulaincourt,
Chapter VI 'The Fire' pp. 109–107 Pub. William Morrow and Co 1945
^ The Wordsworth Pocket Encyclopedia, page 17, Hertfordshire 1993
^ Philip Dwyer, Citizen Emperor:
Napoleon

Napoleon in Power (2013), pp 431-74
^ J. P. Riley (2013).
Napoleon

Napoleon and the World War of 1813: Lessons in
Coalition Warfighting. Routledge. p. 206.
^ Peter Young and James Philip Lawford, Wellington's masterpiece: the
battle and campaign of Salamanca (outledge, 2015).
^ Michael Glover, Wellington's Peninsular Victories: Busaco,
Salamanca, Vitoria, Nivelle (1963).
^ Peter Hofschroer, Leipzig 1813: The Battle of the Nations (1993)
^ Philip Dwyer, Citizen Emperor:
Napoleon

Napoleon In Power (2013) pp 464-98
^ Peter Hofschroer, The Waterloo Campaign: Wellington, His German
Allies and the Battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras (2006)
^ Jacques Godechot, et al. The Napoleonic era in
Europe
.svg/400px-Eurasia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Europe (1971)
^ "The Rise of Prussia 1700-1830".
^ "The Royal Navy". Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica.
Retrieved 15 February 2016.
^ "Les Transformations des Universités du Xiiie Au Xxie
Siècle".
^ Drew Keeling, “The Transportation Revolution and Transatlantic
Migration," Research in Economic History 19 (1999), p. 39.
^ Franklin D. Scott, The Peopling of America: Perspectives of
Immigration (1984), p. 24. Marcus Hansen, The Atlantic Migration
(1940), pp. 79-106, termed this a "new beginning" for American
immigration. For further background context, see "North Atlantic,
1815-19". Migration as a travel business. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
^ Drew Keeling, “Transport Capacity Management and Transatlantic
Migration, 1900-1914." Research in Economic History 25 (2008), pp.
267-68.
^ Maldwyn Jones, American Immigration (1992, 2nd ed.)‚ p. 79. Jones
referred to this unprecedented migration as “one of the wonders of
the age” (p. 78).
^ "Napoleon's Total War". HistoryNet.com. Archived from the original
on 1 April 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
^ David A.Bell, The First Total War: Napoleon's
Europe
.svg/400px-Eurasia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Europe and the Birth
of Warfare as We Know It (2007) p 7
^ Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the
Great Powers

Great Powers Economic Change
and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000 (1987) pp 99–100
^ Colin McEvedy and Richard M. Jones, Atlas of World Population
History (1978) pp 41–222
^ Chappell, p. 8
^ Blücher, scourge of Napoleon, Leggiere
^ Christopher David Hall (1992). British Strategy in the Napoleonic
War, 1803–15. Manchester U.P. p. 28.
^ Geoffrey Wawro (2002). Warfare and Society in Europe, 1792–1914.
Routledge. p. 9.
^ Donald Stoker; et al. (2008). Conscription in the Napoleonic Era: A
Revolution in Military Affairs?. Routledge. pp. 24, 31–32,
38.
^ Bell, The First Total War (2008) pp 7–13
^ Many historians say it was not the "first" total war; for a critique
of Bell see Frederick C. Schneid (2012). Napoleonic Wars. Potomac
Books. p. 1802.
^ Robert Harvey (2013). The War of Wars. Constable & Robinson.
p. 328.
Sources[edit]
Canales, Esteban (2004), 1808–1814: demografía y guerra en España
(PDF) (in Spanish), Autonomous University of Barcelona, retrieved 3
May 2017
Philo, Tom (2010), Military and Civilian War Related Deaths Through
the Ages, archived from the original on 20 April 2010 [unreliable
source][better source needed]
Riehn, Richard K. (1991), 1812: Napoleon's Russian Campaign (Paperback
ed.), New York: Wiley, ISBN 978-0471543022
White, Matthew (2014), Statistics of Wars, Oppressions and Atrocities
of the Nineteenth Century, retrieved 3 May 2017 . This source
references:
Bodart, Gaston (1916), Losses of Life in Modern Wars
Dumas, Samuel (1923), Losses of Life Caused By War
Urlanis, Boris (1971), Wars and Population
Further reading[edit]
General and reference books[edit]
Bell, David A. The First Total War: Napoleon's
Europe
.svg/400px-Eurasia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Europe and the Birth of
Warfare as We Know It (2008) excerpt and text search
Bruun, Geoffrey.
Europe
.svg/400px-Eurasia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Europe and the French Imperium, 1799-1814 (1938)
online, political and diplomatic context
Bruce, Robert B. et al. Fighting Techniques of the Napoleonic Age
1792–1815: Equipment, Combat Skills, and Tactics (2008) excerpt and
text search
Dupuy, Trevor N. and Dupuy, R. Ernest. The Encyclopedia of Military
History (2nd ed. 1970) pp 730–770
Esdaile, Charles. Napoleon's Wars: An International History,
1803–1815 (2008); 645pp excerpt and text search a standard scholarly
history
Gates, David. The
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars 1803-1815 (NY: Random House, 2011)
Godechot, Jacques; Béatrice Fry Hyslop; David Lloyd Dowd; et al.
(1971). The Napoleonic era in Europe. Holt, Rinehart and
Winston.
Harvey, Robert (2013). The War of Wars. Constable & Robinson.
p. 328. , well-written popular survey of these wars
Linch, Kevin.
Desertion

Desertion from the British Army during Napoleonic
Wars:Journal of Social History, Volume 49 Number 4 (2016) pp 808–828
Pope, Stephen (1999). The Cassel Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars.
Cassel. ISBN 0-304-35229-2.
Rapport, Mike. The Napoleonic Wars: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford
UP, 2013)
Richardson, Hubert N. B. A Dictionary of
Napoleon

Napoleon and His Times (1920)
online free 489pp
Ross, Steven T. European Diplomatic History, 1789–1815: France
Against
Europe
.svg/400px-Eurasia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Europe (1969)
Ross, Steven T. The A to Z of the Wars of the French Revolution
(Rowman & Littlefield, 2010); 1st edition was Historical
dictionary of the wars of the
French Revolution

French Revolution (Scarecrow Press,
1998)
Rothenberg, Gunther E. (1988). "The Origins, Causes, and Extension of
the Wars of the
French Revolution

French Revolution and Napoleon". Journal of
Interdisciplinary History. 18 (4): 771–793. JSTOR 204824.
Rothenberg, E. Gunther. The Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon
(1977)
Schneid, Frederick C. (2011). The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic
Wars. Mainz: Institute of European History.
Schneid, Frederick C. Napoleon's Conquest of Europe: The War of the
Third Coalition

Third Coalition (2005) excerpt and text search
Schneid, Frederick C. Napoleonic Wars: The Essential Bibliography
(2012) excerpt and text search 121 pp. online review in H-FRANCE
Schroeder, Paul W. The Transformation of European Politics 1763–1848
(1994) 920pp; online; advanced analysis of diplomacy
Smith, Digby George. The Greenhill
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars Data Book: Actions
and Losses in Personnel, Colours, Standards and
Artillery

Artillery (1998)
Stirk, Peter. "The concept of military occupation in the era of the
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars." Comparative Legal History
3#1 (2015): 60-84.
Napoleon

Napoleon and French[edit]
Chandler, David G. The Campaigns of
Napoleon

Napoleon (1973) 1172 pp; a
detailed guide to all major battles excerpt and text search
Chandler, David G., ed. Napoleon's Marshals (1987) short scholarly
biographies
Dwyer, Philip. Napoleon: The Path to Power (2008) excerpt vol 1;
Citizen Emperor:
Napoleon

Napoleon in Power (2013) excerpt and text search v 2;
most recent scholarly biography
Elting, John R. Swords Around a Throne: Napoleon's Grand Armee (1988).
Forrest, Alan I. Napoleon's Men: The Soldiers of the Empire Revolution
and Empire (2002).
Forrest, Alan. Conscripts and Deserters: The Army and French Society
during Revolution and the Empire (1989) excerpt and text search
Gallaher, John G. Napoleon’s Enfant Terrible: General Dominique
Vandamme (2008). excerpt
Griffith, Paddy. The Art of War of Revolutionary France, 1789–1802
(1998) excerpt and text search
Haythornthwaite, Philip J. Napoleon's Military Machine (1995) excerpt
and text search
Hazen, Charles Downer. The
French Revolution

French Revolution and
Napoleon

Napoleon (1917)
online free
Kagan, Frederick W. The End of the Old Order:
Napoleon

Napoleon and Europe,
1801-1805 (2007)
McLynn, Frank. Napoleon: A Biography (1997)
Nester, William R.
Napoleon

Napoleon and the Art of Diplomacy: How War and
Hubris Determined the Rise and Fall of the French Empire (2011).
excerpt
Parker, Harold T. "Why Did
Napoleon

Napoleon Invade Russia? A Study in
Motivation and the Interrelations of Personality and Social
Structure,"
Journal of Military History (1990) 54#2 pp 131–46 in
JSTOR.
Riley, Jonathon P.
Napoleon

Napoleon as a General (Hambledon Press, 2007)
Roberts, Andrew. Napoleon: A Life (2014) Major new biography by a
leading British Historian
British, Austrian, Prussian & Russian roles[edit]
Andress, David. The Savage Storm: Britain on the Brink in the Age of
Napoleon

Napoleon (2013), emphasises turmoil inside Britain & impact on
military
Bamford, Andrew. Sickness, Suffering, and the Sword: The British
Regiment on Campaign, 1808-1815 (2013). excerpt
Black, Jeremy. "British Strategy and the Struggle with France
1793–1815." Journal of Strategic Studies 31#4 (2008): 553-569.
Bryant, Arthur. Years of Endurance 1793–1802 (1942); and Years of
Victory, 1802–1812 (1944) well-written surveys of the British story
Christie, Ian R. Wars and Revolutions Britain, 1760–1815 (1982)
Cookson, J. E. The British Armed Nation 1793–1815 (1997)
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206583.001.0001 online
Davey, James. In Nelson's Wake: The Navy and the Napoleonic Wars
(2016).
Ehrman, John. The Younger Pitt: The Consuming Struggle (Volume 3)
(1996)
Esdaile, Charles J. "The British Army in the Napoleonic Wars:
Approaches Old and New." English Historical Review 130#542 (2015):
123-137.
Glover, Richard. Peninsular Preparation: The Reform of the British
Army 1795–1809 (1963) excerpt and text search
Hall, Christopher D. British Strategy in the Napoleonic War, 1803–15
(1992)
Haythornthwaite, Philip J. Wellington's Military Machine, 1792–1815
(1989)
Haythornthwaite, Philip J. The Russian Army of the Napoleonic Wars
(1987) vol 1: Infantry 1799–1814; vol 2: Cavalry, 1799–1814
Knight, Roger. Britain Against Napoleon: The Organization Of Victory;
1793-1815 (2013); 710pp
Lavery, Brian. Nelson's Navy: The Ships, Men, and Organization,
1793–1815 (2nd ed. 2012)
Leggiere, Michael V. Blücher: Scourge of
Napoleon

Napoleon (2014). excerpt
Lieven, D. C. "
Russia

Russia and the Defeat of
Napoleon

Napoleon (1812–14),"
Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History (2006) 7#2 pp
283–308.
Linch, Kevin, and Matthew McCormack. "Wellington's Men: The British
Soldier of the Napoleonic Wars" History Compass (2015) 13#6 pp
288–296.
Muir, Rory. Britain and the Defeat of Napoleon: 1807–1815 (1996)
Muir, Rory. Wellington: The Path to Victory 1769–1814 (2013) vol 1
of two-volume scholarly biography excerpt and text search
Nester, William R. Titan: The Art of British Power in the Age of
Revolution and
Napoleon

Napoleon (2016)
Robson, Martin. A History of the Royal Navy: The
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars I. B.
Tauris, 20140 256pp.
Rothenberg, Gunther E. Napoleon's Great Adversaries: The Archduke
Charles and the Austrian Army 1792–1814 (1982)
Schneid, Frederick C. ed. European Armies of the French Revolution,
1789–1802 (2015) Nine essays by leading scholars.
Uglow, Jenny. In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon's
Wars, 1793-1815 (2015) 752pp excerpt
Willis, Sam. In the Hour of Victory: The
Royal Navy

Royal Navy at War in the Age
of Nelson (2013) Excerpt and text search
Historiography and memory[edit]
Esdaile, Charles. "The Napoleonic Period: Some Thoughts on Recent
Historiography," European History Quarterly, (1993) 23: 415–32
online
Forrest, Alan et al. eds. War Memories: The Revolutionary and
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars in Modern European Culture (2013)
Hyatt, Albert M.J. "The Origins of Napoleonic Warfare: A Survey of
Interpretations." Military Affairs (1966) 30#4 pp 177–185.
Lieven, D. C. "
Russia

Russia and the Defeat of
Napoleon

Napoleon (1812–14)."
Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History (2006) 7#2 pp
283–308.
Linch, Kevin. "War Memories: The Revolutionary and
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars in
Modern European Culture." Social History 40#2 (2015): 253-254.
Martin, Jean-Clément. "War Memories. The Revolutionary and Napoleonic
Wars in Modern European Culture." Annales Historiques De La Revolution
Francaise. (2015) No. 381.
Messenger, Charles, ed. (2001). Reader's Guide to Military History.
Routledge. pp. 391–427. CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors
list (link) CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link) evaluation of
the major books on
Napoleon

Napoleon and his wars published by 2001.
Mikaberidze, Alexander. "Recent Trends in the Russian Historiography
of the Napoleonic Wars,"
Journal of Military History (2010) 74#1 pp
189–194.
Primary sources[edit]
Dwyer, Philip G. "Public remembering, private reminiscing: French
military memoirs and the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars," French
Historical Studies (2010) 33#2 pp. 231–258 online
Kennedy, Catriona. Narratives of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic
Wars: Military and Civilian Experience in Britain and Ireland
(Palgrave Macmillan, 2013)
Leighton, James. Witnessing the Revolutionary and
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars in
German Central
Europe
.svg/400px-Eurasia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Europe (2013), diaries, letters and accounts by
civilians Online review
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Napoleonic Wars.
Wikivoyage has travel information for Napoleonic Wars.
Texts on Wikisource:
Beck, Archibald Frank (1911). "Waterloo Campaign". Encyclopædia
Britannica. 28 (11th ed.). pp. 371–381.
Maude, Frederic Natusch (1911). "Napoleonic Campaigns". Encyclopædia
Britannica. 19 (11th ed.). pp. 212–236.
Robinson, Charles Walker (1911). "Peninsular War". Encyclopædia
Britannica. 21 (11th ed.). pp. 90–98.
Rose, John Holland (1911). "
Napoleon

Napoleon I.". Encyclopædia Britannica. 19
(11th ed.). pp. 190–211.
The Legend of Bonaparte
The
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars Exhibition held by The European Library
15th Kings Light Dragoons (Hussars) Re-enactment Regiment
2nd Bt. 95th Rifles Reenactment and Living History Society
The
Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars Collection Website
Napoleon, His Army and Enemies
Napoleonic Guide
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Napoleonic Wars
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Client states of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
(1792–1815)
Sister
republics
Germany
Cisrhenia
Mainz
Greece
Septinsular
Ireland
Connacht
Italy
Alba
Ancona
Bergamo
Bologna
Brescia
Cisalpinia
Cispadania
Crema
Italy
Liguria
Lucca
Parthenopea
Piedmont
Rome
Subalpinia
Tiberinia
Transpadania
Netherlands
Batavia
Bouillon
Liège
Poland
Danzig
Switzerland
Helvetia
Lemania
Rauracia
Rhodania
Swiss Confederation
Europe
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Europe at the height of Napoleon's Empire
Napoleonic
creations
Germany
Aschaffenburg
Confederation of the Rhine
Baden
Bavaria
Berg
Erfurt
Frankfurt
Hesse
Leyen
Regensburg
Salm
Salm-Horstmar
Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck
Saxony
Westphalia
Wetzlar
Württemberg
Würzburg
Italy
Benevento
Etruria
Guastalla
Italy
Lucca and Piombino
Massa and Carrara
Naples
Pontecorvo
Tuscany
Malta
Gozo
Netherlands
Holland
Poland
Warsaw
Spain
Spain
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t
e
Napoleonic Wars
Third Coalition
Fourth Coalition
Peninsular War
Fifth Coalition
French Invasion of Russia
Sixth Coalition
Seventh Coalition
Belli-
gerents
France,
client states
and allies
France
Polish Legions
Italy
Holland
Etruria
Swiss Confederation
Naples
Confederation of the Rhine
Bavaria
Saxony
Westphalia
Württemberg
Denmark–Norway
Ottoman Empire
Persia
Spain
Coalition
forces
United Kingdom
Austria
Russia
Prussia
Spain
Portugal
Sicily
Papal States
Ottoman Empire
Persia
Sardinia
Sweden
Netherlands
Brunswick
Hanover
Nassau
French Royalists
Major
battles
Prelude
French Revolution
First Coalition
Second Coalition
18 Brumaire
Planned invasion of the United Kingdom
Duc d'Enghien Execution
Coronation of Napoleon
1805
Diamond Rock
Cape Finisterre
Wertingen
Günzburg
Haslach-Jungingen
Elchingen
Ulm
Verona
Trafalgar
Caldiero
Cape Ortegal
Amstetten
Dürenstein
Schöngrabern
Austerlitz
1806
Gaeta
Campo Tenese
Maida
Schleiz
Saalfeld
Jena–Auerstedt
Erfurt
Halle
Magdeburg
Prenzlau
Pasewalk
Stettin
Waren-Nossentin
Lübeck
Greater
Poland

Poland Uprising
Hameln
Czarnowo
Golymin
Pułtusk
1807
Mohrungen
Stralsund
Eylau
Ostrołęka
Kolberg
Danzig
Mileto
Guttstadt-Deppen
Heilsberg
Friedland
Copenhagen
Invasion of Portugal
1808
Dos de Mayo
Bruch
Rosily Squadron
Cabezón
1st Zaragoza
Valencia
Medina de Rioseco
Bailén
Roliça
Vimeiro
Pancorbo
Valmaseda
Burgos
Espinosa
Tudela
Somosierra
2nd Zaragoza
Sahagún
Benavente
1809
Castellón
Uclés
Corunna
Valls
Tyrolean Rebellion
Villafranca
Yevenes/Yébenes
Ciudad Real
1st Porto
Medellín
Bergisel
Sacile
Teugen-Hausen
Raszyn
Abensberg
Landshut
Eckmühl
Ratisbon
Neumarkt-Sankt Veit
Dalmatian Campaign
Ebelsberg
Gerona
Piave River
Grijó
2nd Porto
Wörgl
Tarvis
Aspern-Essling
Alcañiz
Sankt Michael
Stralsund
Raab
María
Graz
Wagram
Korneuburg
Stockerau
Gefrees
Hollabrunn
Schöngrabern
Armistice of Znaim
Talavera
Walcheren Campaign
Ölper
Almonacid
Tamames
Ocaña
Alba de Tormes
1810
Cádiz
Astorga
Ciudad Rodrigo
Barquilla
Côa
Almeida
Bussaco
1811
Gebora
Barrosa
Pombal
Redinha
Casal Novo
Campo Maior
Sabugal
Almeida
Fuentes de Oñoro
Tarragona
Albuera
Usagre
Saguntum
Arroyo dos Molinos
Valencia
1812
Ciudad Rodrigo
Badajoz
Villagarcia
Almaraz
Maguilla
Mir
Salamanca
García Hernández
Saltanovka
Ostrovno
Vitebsk
Klyastitsy
Majadahonda
Smolensk
1st Polotsk
Valutino
Mesoten
Borodino
Burgos
Tarutino
2nd Polotsk
Venta del Pozo
Maloyaroslavets
Chashniki
Vyazma
Smoliani
Krasnoi
Berezina
1813
Castalla
Lützen
Bautzen
Tarragona
Luckau
Vitoria
San Sebastián
Pyrenees
Sorauren
Großbeeren
Katzbach
Dresden
1st Kulm
San Marcial
Dennewitz
2nd Kulm
Göhrde
Bidassoa
Leipzig
Hanau
Nivelle
Bornhöved
Sehested
1814
Brienne
La Rothière
Mincio River
Champaubert
Montmirail
Château-Thierry
Vauchamps
Garris
Mormant
Montereau
Orthez
Bar-sur-Aube
Laon
Reims
Craonne
Arcis-sur-Aube
Fère-Champenoise
Saint-Dizier
Montmartre
Paris
Toulouse
Bayonne
1815
Panaro
Occhiobello
Carpi
Casaglia
Ronco
Cesenatico
Pesaro
Scapezzano
Tolentino
Ancona
Castel di Sangro
San Germano
Gaeta
Quatre Bras
Ligny
Waterloo
Wavre
Rocheserviere
La Suffel
Rocquencourt
Issy
Info
French and ally
military and
political leaders
Napoleon
Louis-Alexandre Berthier
Joachim Murat
Louis-Nicolas Davout
Jean Lannes
Auguste de Marmont
André Masséna
Michel Ney
Jean-de-Dieu Soult
Marshal Victor
Jean-Baptiste Bessières
Pierre-Charles Villeneuve
Joseph I
Louis Bonaparte
Jérôme Bonaparte
Prince Poniatowski
Prince Eugène
Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria
Frederick Augustus I of Saxony
Frederick I of Württemberg
Frederick VI of Denmark
Coalition
military and
political leaders
Duke of Wellington
Rowland Hill
John Moore
Horatio Nelson
Thomas Cochrane
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
Manuel Lapeña
Archduke Charles
Prince von Schwarzenberg
Archduke John of Austria
Alexander I of Russia
Mikhail Kutuzov
Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly
Count Bennigsen
Pyotr Bagration
Frederick William III of Prussia
Gebhard von Blücher
Duke of Brunswick
Prince of Hohenlohe
Ferdinand VII
_-_Prado.jpg/484px-Francisco_Goya_-_Portrait_of_Ferdinand_VII_of_Spain_in_his_robes_of_state_(1815)_-_Prado.jpg)
Ferdinand VII of Spain
Miguel de Álava
Maria I of Portugal
Prince Regent John of Portugal
Count of Feira
William, Prince of Orange
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
Prince Charles John of Sweden
Louis XVIII

Louis XVIII of France
Related
conflicts
Anglo-Russian War
Anglo-Spanish War
Anglo-Swedish War
Anglo-Turkish War
English Wars
Gunboat War
Dano-Swedish War
Finnish War
Pomeranian War (Franco-Swedish War)
Russo-Persian War
Russo-Turkish War
Spanish American Wars of Independence
Swedish–Norwegian War
War of 1812
Treaties
Campo Formio
Lunéville
Amiens
Artlenburg
Pressburg
Finckenstein
Tilsit
Cintra
Schönbrunn
Paris (1810)
Tauroggen
Ried
Chaumont
Kiel
Mantua
Casalanza
Paris (1815)
Miscellaneous
Bibliography
Bourbon Restoration
Casualties
Congress of Erfurt
Continental System
England expects that every man will do his duty
Grande Armée
Longwood House
Portal
Military History
definition
media
quotes
v
t
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Hundred Days
Waterloo Campaign

Waterloo Campaign – Main battles
Battle of Ligny
Battle of Quatre Bras
Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Wavre
Other battles
Battle of Rocheserviere
Battle of La Suffel
Battle of Rocquencourt
Battle of Issy
Related articles
Napoleonic Wars
Timeline of the Napoleonic era
Minor Campaigns
Military mobilisation
Order of battle of the Waterloo Campaign
Neapolitan War
v
t
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History of Europe
Prehistory
Paleolithic Europe
Neolithic Europe
Bronze Age Europe
Iron Age Europe
Classical antiquity
Classical Greece
Roman Republic
Hellenistic period
Roman Empire
Early Christianity
Crisis of the Third Century
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
Late antiquity
Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
Migration Period
Christianization
Francia
Byzantine Empire
Maritime republics
Viking Age
Kievan Rus'
Holy Roman Empire
High Middle Ages
Feudalism
Crusades
Mongol invasion
Late Middle Ages
Hundred Years' War
Kalmar Union
Renaissance
Early modern
Reformation
Age of Discovery
Baroque
Thirty Years' War
Absolute monarchy
Ottoman Empire
Portuguese Empire
Spanish Empire
Early modern France
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Swedish Empire
Dutch Republic
British Empire
Habsburg Monarchy
Russian Empire
Age of Enlightenment
Modern
Great Divergence
Industrial Revolution
French Revolution
Napoleonic Wars
Nationalism
Revolutions of 1848
World War I
Russian Revolution
Interwar period
World War II
Cold War
European integration
See also
Art of Europe
Genetic history of Europe
History of the Mediterranean region
History of the European Union
History of Western civilization
Maritime history of Europe
Military history of Europe
Authority control
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