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Overview
Background
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Prelude
War between Britain and France, 1803–1814
Toggle War between Britain and France, 1803–1814 subsection
War of the Third Coalition, 1805
War of the Fourth Coalition, 1806–1807
Toggle War of the Fourth Coalition, 1806–1807 subsection
Peninsular War, 1808–1814
War of the Fifth Coalition, 1809
Subsidiary wars
Toggle Subsidiary wars subsection
Invasion of Russia, 1812
War of the Sixth Coalition, 1812–1814
War of the Seventh Coalition, 1815
Political effects
Military legacy
Toggle Military legacy subsection
Use of military intelligence
In fiction
See also
Notes
References
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Further reading
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External links
Napoleonic Wars

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This article's lead section may be too long. Please edit it to move non-essential
details to the body, or discuss this on the talk page. See the lead section
guidelines. (November 2023)
Napoleonic Wars
Part of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
Click an image to load the campaign.
Left to right, top to bottom:
Battles of Austerlitz, Berlin, Friedland, Lisbon, Madrid, Vienna, Moscow, Leipzig,
Paris, Waterloo
Date 18 May 1803 – 20 November 1815
(12 years, 5 months and 4 weeks)
Location
Atlantic Ocean, Caucasus, Europe, French Guiana, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean Sea,
North America, North Sea, Río de la Plata, West Indies, Southern Africa, East
Indies, Middle East, South America, Pacific Ocean
Result Coalition victory
Congress of Vienna
Full results

Belligerents
Coalition forces:
United Kingdom
Holy Roman Empire (until 1806)
Austria[a][b][c]
Prussia[d]
Russia[e][f]
Spain Spain[g][h]
Sweden[i][j]
Kingdom of Portugal Portugal[k]
Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire[l][m]
Bavaria[n]
Duchy of Brunswick Brunswick[o]
Kingdom of France French Royalists
Province of Hanover Hanover[p]
Hungary[q][r]
Liechtenstein
Montenegro[s]
Nassau[o]
United Kingdom of the Netherlands Netherlands[o]
Baden
Papal States Papal States
Qajar Iran[l][t]
Sardinia
Saxony[n]
Kingdom of Sicily Sicily[u][v]
Switzerland
Tuscany[o]
Württemberg[n]
Denmark Denmark[w]
France and its client states:
French First Republic French Republic (until 1804)
First French Empire French Empire (from 1804)
French clients:
Batavian Republic[x]
Bonapartist Spain[h]
Confederation of the Rhine[y][z][aa]
Kingdom of Bavaria Bavaria
Saxony
Kingdom of Westphalia Westphalia
Kingdom of Württemberg Württemberg
Duchy of Warsaw Duchy of Warsaw[ab]
Kingdom of Etruria Etruria[ac]
Netherlands Holland[ad]
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) Italy
Lucca-Piombino
Kingdom of Naples Naples[ae]
 Polish Legions[ab]
Old Swiss Confederacy Switzerland
Austrian Empire Austria[b][4][af]
Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway[ag][ah]
Qajar Iran[ai][t]
Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire[l][m]
Kingdom of Prussia Prussia[l][4]
Russian Empire Russia[l][f]
Spain Spain[aj][h]
Commanders and leaders
Austrian Empire Francis I
Kingdom of Prussia Frederick William III
Russian Empire Alexander I
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland George III
Spain Ferdinand VII
Sweden Gustav IV Adolf
Sweden Charles John
Kingdom of Portugal Maria I
Ottoman Empire Sultan Selim III
Ottoman Empire Sultan Mustafa IV
Ottoman Empire Sultan Mahmud II
Netherlands William I
Kingdom of France Louis XVIII
First French Empire Napoleon I
Maximilian I Joseph[ak]
Denmark–Norway Frederick VI
Duchy of Warsaw Józef Poniatowski †
Batavian Republic Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck
Netherlands Louis Bonaparte
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) Eugène de Beauharnais
Kingdom of Naples Joachim Murat Executed
Kingdom of Saxony Frederick Augustus I[ak]
Joseph I
Kingdom of Westphalia Jerôme I
Kingdom of Württemberg Frederick I[al]
Strength
Russian Empire Russia: 900,000 regulars, Cossacks and militia at peak strength
(1812)[17]
Kingdom of Prussia Prussia: 320,000 regulars and militia at peak strength (1806)[4]
United Kingdom : 250,000 regulars, sailors, marines and militia at peak strength
(1813)[18][citation not found]
Austrian Empire Austria: 300,000 regulars and militia at peak strength (1809)
Spain Spain: 100,000 regulars, guerrillas and militia at peak strength (1812)
Portugal: 50,000 regulars, guerrillas and militia at peak strength (1809)
Sweden: 50,000 regulars and militia at peak strength (1813)
United Kingdom of the Netherlands Netherlands: 36,500 regulars and militia at peak
strength (1815)
Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire: 350,000 regulars
Other coalition members: 100,000 regulars and militia at peak strength (1813)

Total: 3,000,000 regulars and militia at peak strength (1813)

First French Empire French Empire: 1,200,000 regulars, sailors, marines and militia
at peak strength (1813)[19]
French clients and allies: 500,000 regulars and militia at peak strength (1813)
Total: 2,000,000 regulars and militia at peak strength (1813)
Casualties and losses
Austrian Empire Austria: 350,220 killed in action[20] (500,000 total dead)
Spain Spain: more than 300,000 killed in action[21] and more than 586,000 dead in
total including civilians[22]
Russian Empire Russia: 289,000 killed in action[23] (600,000 total dead including
civilians)
Kingdom of Prussia Prussia: 134,000 killed in action (300,000 total dead including
civilians)
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland United Kingdom: 125,000[24] killed in
action (300,000 total dead)
Kingdom of Portugal Portugal: up to 250,000 total dead or missing including
civilians[24]
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) Italy: 120,000 total dead or missing including
civilians[21]
Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire: 50,000 total dead or missing[25]
Total: 4,000,000 total military and civilian dead or missing
First French Empire French Empire:

306,000 French killed in action[26]

65,000 French allies killed in action[27]
800,000 French and allies killed by wounds, accidents or disease[27]
600,000 civilians killed[27]
Total: 2,000,000 dead[28][page needed]
vte
Napoleonic Wars
vte
Anglo-French Wars
Napoleonic Wars
MapWikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
[Interactive fullscreen map + nearby articles]
Key:-
1 Third Coalition: Germany 1803:...Austerlitz...
2 Fourth Coalition: Prussia 1806:...Jena...
3 Peninsular War: Portugal 1807...Torres Vedras...
4 Peninsular War: Spain 1808...Vitoria...
5 Fifth Coalition: Austria 1809:...Wagram...
6 French invasion of Russia 1812:...Moscow...
7 Sixth Coalition: Germany 1813:...Leipzig...
8 Sixth Coalition: France 1814:...Paris...
9 Hundred Days 1815:...Waterloo...
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of conflicts fought between the First
French Empire under Napoleon (1804–1815), and a fluctuating array of European
coalitions. The wars originated in political forces arising from the French
Revolution (1789–1799) and from the French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802): the War
of the First Coalition (1792–1797) and the War of the Second Coalition (1798–1802).
It produced a period of French domination over Continental Europe. There were seven
Napoleonic Wars, five named after the coalitions that fought Napoleon, plus two
named for their respective theatres: (i) the War of the Third Coalition (1803–
1806), (ii) the War of the Fourth Coalition (1806–1807), (iii) the War of the Fifth
Coalition (1809), (iv) the War of the Sixth Coalition (1813–1814), (v) the War of
the Seventh Coalition (1815), (vi) the Peninsular War (1807–1814), and (vii) the
French invasion of Russia (1812).

Upon realising the Coup of 18 Brumaire, whereby he became the First Consul of
France in 1799, Napoleon assumed control of the politically chaotic French First
Republic. He then organised a financially stable French state with a strong
bureaucracy and a professional army. War broke out soon after, with Britain
declaring war on France on 18 May 1803, ending the Peace of Amiens, and forming a
coalition made up of itself, Sweden, Russia, Naples, and Sicily. Frank 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."
The British fleet under Admiral Nelson decisively crushed the joint Franco-Spanish
navy in the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805. This victory secured British
control of the seas and prevented a planned invasion of Britain. In December 1805,
Napoleon defeated the allied Russo-Austrian army at Austerlitz, effectively ending
the Third Coalition and forcing Austria to make peace. Concerned about increasing
French power, Prussia led the creation of the Fourth Coalition with Russia, Saxony,
and Sweden, which resumed war in October 1806. Napoleon soon defeated the Prussians
at Jena-Auerstedt and the Russians at Friedland, bringing an uneasy peace to the
continent. The treaty failed to end the tension, and war broke out again in 1809,
with the badly prepared Fifth Coalition, led by Austria. At first, the Austrians
won a significant victory at Aspern-Essling, but were quickly defeated at Wagram.

Hoping to isolate and weaken Britain economically through his Continental System,
Napoleon launched an invasion of Portugal, the only remaining British ally in
continental Europe. After occupying Lisbon in November 1807, and with the bulk of
French troops present in Spain, Napoleon seized the opportunity to turn against his
former ally, depose the reigning Spanish royal family and declare his brother King
of Spain in 1808 as José I. The Spanish and Portuguese revolted with British
support and expelled the French from Iberia in 1814 after six years of fighting.

Concurrently, Russia, unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade,

routinely violated the Continental System, prompting Napoleon to launch a massive
invasion of Russia in 1812. The resulting campaign ended in disaster for France and
the near-destruction of Napoleon's Grande Armée.

Encouraged by the defeat, Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia formed the Sixth
Coalition and began a new campaign against France, decisively defeating Napoleon at
Leipzig in October 1813 after several inconclusive engagements. The Allies then
invaded France from the east, while the Peninsular War spilled over into
southwestern France. Coalition troops captured Paris at the end of March 1814 and
forced Napoleon to abdicate in 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 for around One Hundred Days. The allies formed the
Seventh Coalition, defeated him at Waterloo in June 1815, and exiled him to the
island of Saint Helena, where he died six years later.[29]

The wars had profound consequences on global history, including the spread of
nationalism and liberalism, advancements in civil law, the rise of Britain as the
world's foremost naval and economic power, the appearance of independence movements
in Spanish America and subsequent decline of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires,
the fundamental reorganization of German and Italian territories into larger
states, and the introduction of radically new methods of conducting warfare. After
the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the Congress of Vienna redrew Europe's borders and
brought a relative peace to the continent, lasting until the Crimean War in 1853.

Overview
Napoleon seized power in 1799, creating a 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 ended the only short
period of peace between 1792 and 1814.[31] The Napoleonic Wars began with the War
of the Third Coalition, which was the first of the Coalition Wars against the First
French Republic after Napoleon's accession as leader of France.

Britain ended the Treaty of Amiens and declared war on 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. Historian Frederick
Kagan argues that Britain was irritated in particular by Napoleon's assertion of
control over Switzerland. Furthermore, Britons felt insulted when 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 indicated that Napoleon was not looking toward a
peaceful resolution of his differences with the other European powers.[31]

The British hastily enforced a naval blockade of France to starve it of resources.

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 won the 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, which was defeated and occupied within 19 days of the
beginning of the campaign. Napoleon subsequently defeated Russia at Friedland,
creating powerful client states in Eastern 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 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 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 in April
1809. Napoleon defeated the Fifth Coalition at Wagram.

Plans to invade British North America pushed the United States to declare war on
Britain in the War of 1812, but it did not become an ally of France. Grievances
over control of Poland, and Russia's withdrawal from the Continental System, led to
Napoleon invading 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 to retreat with massive losses.
Napoleon suffered further setbacks; French power in the Iberian Peninsula was
broken at the Battle of Vitoria the following summer, and a new alliance began, the
War of the Sixth Coalition.

The coalition defeated Napoleon at Leipzig, precipitating his fall from power and
eventual abdication on 6 April 1814. The victors exiled Napoleon to Elba and
restored the Bourbon monarchy. Napoleon escaped from Elba in 1815, gathering enough
support to overthrow the monarchy of Louis XVIII, triggering a seventh, and final,
coalition against him. 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 permanently exiled to remote Saint Helena. 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 Europe. As a direct result of the war, the Kingdom of
Prussia rose to become a great power,[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 was dissolved, and the philosophy of
nationalism that emerged early in the war contributed greatly to the later
unification of the German states, and those of the Italian peninsula. The war in
Iberia greatly weakened Spanish power, and the Spanish Empire began to unravel;
Spain would lose nearly all of its American possessions by 1833. The Portuguese
Empire shrank, with Brazil declaring independence in 1822.[34]

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.[35] Tactically,
the French Army redefined the role of artillery, while Napoleon emphasised mobility
to offset numerical disadvantages,[36] and aerial surveillance was used for the
first time in warfare.[37] The highly successful Spanish guerrillas demonstrated
the capability of a people driven by fervent nationalism against an occupying
force.[38][page range too broad] Due to the longevity of the wars, the extent of
Napoleon's conquests, and the popularity of the ideals of the French Revolution,
the period had a deep impact on European social culture. Many subsequent
revolutions, such as that of Russia, looked to the French as their source of
inspiration,[39] while its core founding tenets greatly expanded the arena of human
rights and shaped modern political philosophies in use today.[40]

Background
See also: French Revolutionary Wars

French victory over the Prussians at the Battle of Valmy in 1792

The outbreak of the 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, and the overthrow of the French monarchy. In 1793, Austria,
the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of Naples, Prussia, the Kingdom of Spain, and
the Kingdom of Great Britain formed the First Coalition to curtail the growing
unrest in France. Measures such as mass conscription, military reforms, and total
war allowed France to defeat the coalition, despite the concurrent civil war in
France. Napoleon, then a general in the French Revolutionary Army, forced the
Austrians to sign the Treaty of Campo Formio, leaving only Great Britain opposed to
the fledgling French Republic.

A Second Coalition was 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 to its
victories during the early stages of the Revolution. Bonaparte, commander of the
Armée d'Italie in the latter stages of the First Coalition, had launched a campaign
in Egypt, intending to disrupt the British control of India. Pressed from all
sides, the Republic suffered a string of successive defeats against revitalised
enemies, supported by Britain's financial help.

Bonaparte defeating the Austrians at the Battle of Rivoli in 1797

Bonaparte returned to 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 or in Italy. 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 early the following year, further compelling the British to
sign the Treaty of Amiens with France, establishing a tenuous peace.

Start date and nomenclature

No consensus exists as to when the French Revolutionary Wars ended and the
Napoleonic Wars began. Possible dates include 9 November 1799, when Bonaparte
seized power on 18 Brumaire, the date according to the Republican Calendar then in
use;[41] 18 May 1803, when Britain and 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 using the term "French Wars" to unambiguously
describe the entire period from 1792 to 1815.[44]

In France, the 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 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 (coalitieoorlogen), referring to the first two as
the French Revolution Wars (Franse Revolutieoorlogen).[47]

Napoleon's tactics
Napoleon was, and remains, famous for his battlefield victories, and historians
have spent enormous attention in analysing them.[48][page needed] 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][page range too broad]

Prelude

French victory over the Austrians and Russians at the Second Battle of Zürich
Britain was irritated by several French actions following the Treaty of Amiens.
Bonaparte had annexed Piedmont and Elba, made himself President of the Italian
Republic, a state in northern Italy that France had set up, and failed to evacuate
Holland, as it had agreed to do in the treaty. 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]

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 where it was to be restored
to the Knights of St. John with a Neapolitan garrison and placed under the
guarantee of third powers. The weakening of the Knights of St. John by the
confiscation of their assets in France and Spain along with delays in obtaining
guarantees prevented the British from evacuating it after three months as
stipulated in the treaty.[52]

The British victory over the French at the Battle of Alexandria, resulted in the
end of Napoleon's military presence in Egypt.
The Helvetic Republic had been set up by France when it invaded Switzerland in
1798. 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 to Holland as they had committed to do in the Treaty of
Amiens.[53]

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 finally joined the guarantee with regard to Malta. Concerned that there
would be hostilities when Bonaparte found out that Cape Colony had been retained,
the British began to procrastinate on the evacuation of Malta.[54] In January 1803
a government paper in 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 disclaimed any desire to seize Egypt and asked what sort of
satisfaction was required but the British were unable to give a response.[55] There
was still no thought of going to war; Prime Minister Henry Addington publicly
affirmed that Britain was in a state of peace.[56]

In early March 1803, the Addington ministry received word that Cape Colony had been
reoccupied 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.[57]

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.[58] In the same
month the ministry issued an ultimatum to France demanding the retention of Malta
for at least ten years, the permanent acquisition of the island of Lampedusa from
the Kingdom of Sicily, and the evacuation of Holland. They also offered to
recognise French gains in Italy if they evacuated Switzerland and compensated the
King of Sardinia for his territorial losses. France offered to place Malta in the
hands of Russia to satisfy British concerns, pull out of Holland when Malta was
evacuated, and form a convention to give satisfaction to Britain on other issues.
The British falsely denied that Russia had made an offer and their ambassador left
Paris.[59] Desperate to avoid war, Bonaparte sent a secret offer where he agreed to
let Britain retain Malta if France could occupy the Otranto peninsula in Naples.
[60] All efforts were futile and Britain declared war on 18 May 1803.

War between Britain and France, 1803–1814

Main article: United Kingdom in the Napoleonic Wars
British motivations
Britain ended the uneasy truce created by the Treaty of Amiens when it declared war
on 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 and the Netherlands. Kagan argues that Britain was
especially alarmed by Napoleon's assertion of control over Switzerland. The British
felt insulted when 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 greatly annoyed the Frenchman, who wanted them suppressed by
the British government.[61]
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 was not ready
for war and so this was the best time for Britain to stop them. Britain seized upon
the Malta issue, refusing to follow the terms of the Treaty of Amiens and evacuate
the island.[62]

The deeper British grievance was their perception that Napoleon was taking personal
control of Europe, making the international system unstable, and forcing Britain to
the sidelines.[63][64][page needed][31][page needed] Numerous scholars have argued
that Napoleon's aggressive posture made him enemies and cost him potential allies.
[65] 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.[66]
[67][68]

The Battle of San Domingo, 6 February 1806

The Battle of the Pyrenees, July 1813

There was one serious attempt to negotiate peace with France during the war, made
by 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.[69][page needed]

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 did not have to spend the
entire war defending itself and could therefore focus on supporting its embattled
allies, maintaining 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 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 and allowing Britain to invade
southern France. By 1815, the British Army played the central role in the final
defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.

The British managed to occupy and take control of Cape Colony, British Guiana,
Malta, Mauritius and Ceylon during the Napoleonic Wars.
Beyond minor naval actions against British imperial interests, the 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
In response to the naval blockade of the French coasts enacted by the British
government on 16 May 1806, Napoleon issued the Berlin Decree on 21 November 1806,
which brought into effect the Continental System.[70] 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 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 whom 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.[71]

The 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 in peace. Many in the French government believed that cutting
Britain off from the Continent would end its economic influence over Europe and
isolate it.

Financing the war

A key element in British success was its ability to mobilise the nation's
industrial and financial resources and apply them to defeating France. Although the
UK had a population of approximately 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.[71][72]
[page needed] Under the Anglo–Russian agreement of 1803, Britain paid a subsidy of
£1.5 million for every 100,000 Russian soldiers in the field.[73]

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 per cent 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 saw its navy shrink by
more than half.[74] The smuggling of finished products into the continent
undermined French efforts to weaken the British economy by cutting off markets.
Subsidies to Russia and Austria kept them in the war. The British budget in 1814
reached £98 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. This debt 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.[am] In contrast,
the French financial system was inadequate and Napoleon's forces had to rely in
part on requisitions from conquered lands.[76][page range too broad][77][page
needed][78]

From London in 1813 to 1815, Nathan Mayer Rothschild was instrumental in almost
single-handedly financing the British war effort, organising the shipment of
bullion to the Duke of Wellington's armies across Europe, as well as arranging the
payment of British financial subsidies to their continental allies.[79]

War of the Third Coalition, 1805

Main article: War of the Third Coalition

The British HMS Sandwich fires at the French flagship Bucentaure (completely
dismasted) in the battle of Trafalgar. Bucentaure also fights HMS Victory (behind
her) and HMS Temeraire (left side of the picture). HMS Sandwich did not fight at
Trafalgar and her depiction is a mistake by the painter.[80]
Britain gathered together allies to form the Third Coalition against The French
Empire after Napoleon self-proclaimed as emperor.[81][page range too broad][82] In
response, Napoleon seriously considered an invasion of Great Britain,[83][84]
massing 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 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
blockaded Villeneuve in 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 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 signed a treaty with the aim of removing the
French from the Batavian Republic (roughly present-day Netherlands) and the Swiss
Confederation. Austria joined the alliance after the annexation of Genoa and the
proclamation of Napoleon as King of Italy on 17 March 1805. Sweden, which had
already agreed to lease 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 on 8 September[85] 1805 with an
army of about 70,000 under Karl Mack von Leiberich, and the French army marched out
from Boulogne in late July 1805 to confront them. At Ulm (25 September – 20
October) Napoleon surrounded Mack's army, forcing its surrender without significant
losses.

With the main Austrian army north of the Alps defeated (another army under Archduke
Charles fought against André Masséna's French army in Italy), Napoleon occupied
Vienna on 13 November. 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
personally present. On 2 December, Napoleon crushed the Austro–Russian force in
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

The French entering Vienna on 13 November 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 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 had now consolidated his hold on France, had taken control of
Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and most of Western Germany and northern
Italy. His admirers say that 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. Esdaile rejects that explanation and instead says that it was
a good time to stop expansion, for the major powers were ready to accept Napoleon
as he was:

in 1806 both 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 was prepared to make no concessions.[86]

War of the Fourth Coalition, 1806–1807

Main article: War of the Fourth Coalition

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–
1807) against France was formed by Britain, Prussia, Russia, Saxony, and Sweden. In
July 1806, Napoleon formed the Confederation of the Rhine out of the many small
German states which constituted the 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 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 unleashed all
the French forces east of the Rhine into Prussia. 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 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 entered Berlin on 27 October 1806. He
visited the tomb of Frederick the Great and instructed his marshals to remove their
hats there, saying, "If he were alive we wouldn't be here today". 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 abandoned 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 and
employed many Polish and German soldiers in several sieges in Silesia and
Pomerania, with the assistance of Dutch and Italian soldiers in the latter case.
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 (10 June 1807), forced the Russians to withdraw further north.
Napoleon decisively beat the Russian army at Friedland (14 June 1807), following
which Alexander had to make peace with Napoleon at Tilsit (7 July 1807). In 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 completed the occupation of Swedish

Pomerania, allowing the Swedish army to withdraw with all its munitions of war.

Scandinavia and Finland

Main articles: Gunboat War, Finnish War, and Dano-Swedish War of 1808–1809
The Battle of Trangen during the Dano–Swedish War, 1808–1809. The Norwegians fought
bravely and defeated the Swedes.
Britain's first response to Napoleon's Continental System was to launch a major
naval attack against Denmark. Although ostensibly neutral, 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 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 joined the war on the side of France, but without a fleet it had
little to offer,[87][page needed][88][page needed] 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 and Russia.

At Tilsit, Napoleon and Alexander had agreed that Russia should force 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 also sent an
auxiliary corps, consisting of troops from France, Spain and Holland, led by
Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, to Denmark to participate in the invasion of
Sweden. But British naval superiority prevented the armies from crossing the
Øresund strait, and the war came mainly to be fought along the Swedish–Norwegian
border. At the Congress of Erfurt (September–October 1808), France and Russia
further agreed on the division of Sweden into two parts separated by the Gulf of
Bothnia, where the eastern part became the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland. British
voluntary attempts to assist Sweden with humanitarian aid remained limited and did
not prevent Sweden from adopting a more Napoleon-friendly policy.[89][page range
too broad]

The war between 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
Main article: Duchy of Warsaw

Polish cavalry at the Battle of Somosierra in Spain, 1808

In 1807 Napoleon created a powerful outpost of his empire in Central Europe. Poland
had recently been partitioned by its three large neighbours, but Napoleon created
the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, which depended on France from the very beginning. The
duchy consisted of lands seized by Austria and Prussia; its Grand Duke was
Napoleon's ally King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony, but 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.[90] The Russians
strongly opposed any move towards an independent Poland and one reason Napoleon
invaded Russia in 1812 was to punish them. The Grand Duchy was absorbed into the
Russian Empire as a semi-autonomous Congress Poland in 1815; Poland did not become
a state again until 1918, following the dissolution of the Russian Empire.
Napoleon's impact on Poland was huge, including the Napoleonic legal code, the
abolition of serfdom, and the introduction of modern middle-class bureaucracies.
[91][92][page range too broad]

Peninsular War, 1808–1814

Main article: Peninsular War

Napoleon accepting the surrender of Madrid during the Peninsular War

The Second of May 1808: The Charge of the Mamelukes, by Francisco de Goya (1814)
The Iberian conflict began when Portugal continued trade with Britain despite
French restrictions. When Spain failed to maintain the Continental System, the
uneasy Spanish alliance with 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.

After defeats in Spain suffered by France, 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. The outbreak of the War
of the Fifth Coalition prevented 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).[93][page needed] For a time, the
British and Portuguese remained restricted to the area around Lisbon (behind their
impregnable Lines of Torres Vedras), while their Spanish allies were besieged in
Cádiz.

The Peninsular war proved a major disaster for France. 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 was a drain
on money, manpower and prestige. Historian David Gates called it the "Spanish
ulcer."[94][page needed] 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."[95]

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 and her allies lost at least 91,000 killed in action and
237,000 wounded in the peninsula.[96] From 1812, the Peninsular War merged with the
War of the Sixth Coalition.

War of the Fifth Coalition, 1809

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Main article: War of the Fifth Coalition
The Fifth Coalition (1809) of Britain and Austria against France formed as Britain
engaged in the Peninsular War in Spain and Portugal. The sea became a major theatre
of war against Napoleon's allies. Austria, previously an ally of France, took the
opportunity to attempt to restore its imperial territories in Germany as held prior
to Austerlitz. During the time of the Fifth Coalition, the Royal Navy won a
succession of victories in the French colonies. On land the major battles included
Battle of Raszyn, Battle of Eckmuhl, Battle of Raab, Battle of Aspern-Essling, and
Battle of Wagram.

On land, the Fifth Coalition attempted few extensive military endeavours. One, the
Walcheren Expedition of 1809, involved a dual effort by the British Army and the
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 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 would arrive, land troops and supplies, and aid the coalition's land
forces in a concerted operation. 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 sometimes
failed to achieve its objectives because of the lack of manpower that the Navy's
guerrilla allies had promised to supply.

The strategic situation in Europe in February 1809

The French Empire in 1812 at its greatest extent

Austria achieved some initial victories against the thinly spread army of Marshal
Berthier. 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).

In the east, the Austrians drove into the Duchy of Warsaw but suffered defeat at
the Battle of Raszyn on 19 April 1809. The Army of the Duchy of Warsaw captured
West Galicia following its earlier success. 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
advanced into Austria. His hurried attempt to cross the Danube resulted in the
major 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 to prepare and seize 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 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 ended with the Treaty of Schönbrunn (14 October
1809). In the east, only the Tyrolese rebels led by Andreas Hofer continued to
fight the French-Bavarian army until finally defeated in November 1809. In the
west, the Peninsular War continued. Economic warfare between Britain and France
continued: The British continued a naval blockade of French-controlled territory.
Due to military shortages and lack of organisation in French territory, many
breaches of the Continental System occurred and the French Continental System was
largely ineffective and did little economic damage to Great Britain. Both sides
entered further conflicts in attempts to enforce their blockade. As Napoleon
realised that extensive trade was going through Spain and Russia, he invaded those
two countries.;[97] the British fought the United States in the War of 1812 (1812–
1815).

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,
Joséphine, had failed to do). As well as the French Empire, Napoleon controlled the
Swiss Confederation, the Confederation of the Rhine, the Duchy of Warsaw and the
Kingdom of Italy. Territories allied with the French included:

the kingdoms of Denmark–Norway

the Kingdom of Spain (under Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's elder brother)
the Kingdom of Westphalia (Jérôme Bonaparte, Napoleon's younger brother)
the Kingdom of Naples (under Joachim Murat, husband of Napoleon's sister Caroline)
the 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
The Napoleonic Wars were the direct cause of wars in the Americas and elsewhere.

Serbian Revolution
Main article: First Serbian Uprising
The Serbian Revolution coincided with the Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812) (in which
the French diplomat, Horace François Bastien Sébastiani de La Porta played a very
important role in provoking the war), which were a proxy conflict of the Coalition
Wars, having most of the time Serbs revolutionaries the support of the Russian
Empire, while the Ottoman Empire was an ally of the French Empire.[98][99] This was
due to the fact that both empires feared Napoleon's moves to the east as the
subsequent Peace of Pressburg brought France into Balkan affairs.[100] The most
radicals and liberals rebels were also inspired in some way by the French
Revolution (specially the rise of nationalism) and the autonomy of the Illyrian
Provinces (Serbs initially felt that French presence in the region could have
developed into military aid in support of the insurrection against Ottoman rule as
a Sister republic, but Napoleon didn't want to increase Russian or Austrian
influence in the region).[100][101]

During the first phase, from 1804 to 1806, it was a conservative reaction to new
abuses by the Janissaries and Dahis, after they killed Hadyi Mustafa Pasha (vizier
of the Sanjak of Smederevo. He created a militia of Serb notables and realized the
Slaughter of the Knezes, because the Janissaries, expelled from Belgrade, found
refuge with Osman Pazvantoğlu, governor of the Sanjak of Vidin (in present-day
Bulgaria), who pursued his own policy and sought independence, which brought him
into conflict with the Serbs and later with the Sublime Porte. Thus, the Serbs
appealed to Sultan Selim III for assistance against the Dahis, who had since
rejected the authority of the Porte. Also, Karađorđe negotiated with the Austrian
captain Sajtinski. At this meeting he expressed the wish of the Serbian people that
Austrian Empire receive him as a kingdom under his protection like in the past, as
occupation of 1788–1791 was still a fresh memory. However, the Austrian
authorities, due to difficulties with Napoleon and because they wanted to maintain
their neutrality, in order to be correct with the Porte, could not accept his
offers. So, the Serbs were forced to ask for the protection of the Russians, and
therefore, on May 3, 1804, the Serb leaders sent a letter to the Russian envoy in
Constantinople, in which they spoke of the problems and wishes of the Serbian
people, but they also stressed that they would continue to be loyal to the Sultan.
Due to the recent Russo-Ottoman alliance against France's expanding influence in
the Balkans (the approach of French troops to the Turkish territories, like
occupation of Corfu and other Ionian islands in 1797–99, influenced the Porte to
conclude an alliance with Russia in 1798), the Russian government had a neutral
policy toward the Serbian revolt until summer 1804, in which the goal was now to
having Constantinople recognize Russia as the guarantor of peace in the region.
[102]

In 1806, the Serbs rejected Ičko's Peace (the Ottomans seemed ready to grant Serbia
autonomy, similar to that enjoyed by neighbouring Wallachia, in order to enter in
the Napoleonic Wars as an ally of the French) as they desired Russian support for
their independence, starting a new phase of the uprising in which the Serbs planned
to create their own national state, which would also include the territories of
Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the pashaliks of Vidin, Nis, Leskovac, and
Pazar. Also, in the Traditionalist circles of Serbia rebels,[103] Petar I of
Montenegro developed a plan in 1807 to restore the medieval Serbian Empire
("Slaveno–Serb empire"), consisting on unify Podgorica, Spuž, Žabljak, the Bay of
Kotor, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Dubrovnik and Dalmatia with Montenegro,[104] which he
informed the Russian court[104][103][105][106] and was also viewed by Habsburg Serb
metropolitan Stefan Stratimirović.[107] The title of Emperor of the Serbs would be
held by the Russian emperor as Tsar,[104] but with the condition that Russians
respected the independence-autocephaly of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church. So, in
February 1807, Petar I planned an invasion of Herzegovina by montenegrin forces and
asked for Karađorđe's aid,[108] wanting to connect the territory occupied by the
Serbian rebel forces and Montenegro, which succeeded after the Battle of Suvodol in
1809.[109] This support of Montenegro for the Serbs was reinforced due to the fact
that in the war of 1807–1812, Ottoman troops, supported by French detachments on
Illyria, attacked Montenegro along the entire border, and the Montenegrins did not
have time to repel all the attacks. However, they managed to force the French
troops to withdraw from Dubrovnik and conquered the Bay of Kotor. Napoleon himself
offered Petar I the title "Patriarch of the entire Serbian nation or of the entire
Illyricum" on the condition that he cease cooperation with Russia and accept a
French protectorate, which he refused for fear of an eventual papal status
jurisdiction or an Anti-clerical policy.[103][110]

However, the Treaty Of Tilsit between France and Russia against the Ottomans helped
put a stop to hostilities in the Balkans, with a truce taking place (which was
perceived extremely negatively in Serbia, despite the fact that the truce did not
apply to the Serb rebels), also, there was a secret clause that provides for the
division of Turkish possessions in the Balkans between Russia and France[111] and
the cancellation of the Slaveno-Serb empire project.[104] In 1809, Karađorđe
appealed to an alliance with the Habsburgs and Napoleon, with no success,[112] even
wrote personally to Napoleon seeking military assistance, and in 1810, dispatched
an emissary to French Empire.[113] However, the French did not believe that the
rebels had the military capacity to defeat the Ottomans or expulse them from the
Balkans. In 1812, under pressure from Napoleon, Russia was forced to sign the
Treaty of Bucharest, which restored peace with the Ottomans.[114] One of the
clauses of the treaty provided for the maintenance of Serbian autonomy, also, a
truce was signed according to the Article 8 of the Treaty. Then, the Russians
encouraged Karađorđe and his followers to negotiate directly with the Porte.[115]
[116]

War of 1812
Main article: War of 1812
See also: The United States and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
The 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 military support for Native Americans, interference with
American merchant ships, forced enlistment of American sailors into the Royal Navy,
and a desire to expand its territory. France had interfered as well, and the United
States 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 was on Elba.[117][page needed]

Latin American Revolutions

Main articles: Spanish American wars of independence, War of Independence of
Brazil, and Haitian Revolution

Political map of the Americas in 1794

The abdication of Kings Charles IV of Spain and Ferdinand VII of 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 in most of the empire was a
result of Napoleon's destabilizing actions in Spain and led to the rise of
strongmen in the wake of these wars.[118] The defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in
1815 caused an exodus of French soldiers into Latin America where they joined ranks
with the armies of the independence movements.[119] While these officials had a
role in various victories such as the Capture of Valdivia (1820) some are held
responsible for significant defeats at the hands of the royalists as was the case
at the Second Battle of Cancha Rayada (1818).[119]

In contrast, the Portuguese royal family escaped to Brazil and established the
court there, resulting in political stability for Portuguese America. In 1816
Brazil was proclaimed an equal part of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and
the Algarves, paving the way to Brazilian independence six years later.

The Haitian Revolution began in 1791, just before the French Revolutionary Wars,
and continued until 1804. France's defeat resulted in the independence of Saint-
Domingue and led Napoleon to sell the territory making up the Louisiana Purchase to
the United States.[120]

Barbary Wars
Main article: Barbary Wars
During the Napoleonic Wars, the United States, Sweden, and Sicily fought against
the Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean.

Invasion of Russia, 1812

Main article: French invasion of Russia

The 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 in 1807 resulted in the Anglo–Russian War (1807–1812). Emperor
Alexander I declared war on Britain after the British attack on Denmark in
September 1807. British men-of-war supported the Swedish fleet during the Finnish
War and won victories over the Russians in the Gulf of Finland in July 1808 and
August 1809. The success of the Russian army on land, however, forced Sweden to
sign peace treaties with Russia in 1809 and with 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, and Sweden signed secret agreements directed against Napoleon.
[121][page needed]

The central issue for both Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I was control over Poland.
Each wanted a semi-independent Poland he could control. As Esdaile notes, "Implicit
in the idea of a Russian Poland was, of course, a war against Napoleon."[122]
Schroeder says Poland was "the root cause" of Napoleon's war with Russia but
Russia's refusal to support the Continental System was also a factor.[123]

In 1812, at the height of his power, Napoleon invaded Russia with a pan-European
Grande Armée, consisting of 450,000 men (200,000 Frenchmen, and many soldiers of
allies or subject areas). The French forces crossed the Niemen river on 24 June
1812. Russia proclaimed a Patriotic War, and Napoleon proclaimed a Second Polish
war. The Poles supplied almost 100,000 men for the invasion force, but against
their expectations, Napoleon avoided any concessions to Poland, having in mind
further negotiations with Russia.[124][page needed]

The Grande Armée marched through Russia, winning some relatively minor engagements
and the major Battle of 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 led his forces in person.
Napoleon's withdrawal from Russia, a painting by Adolph Northen
Russia used scorched-earth tactics, and harried the Grande Armée with light Cossack
cavalry. The Grande Armée did not adjust its operational methods in response.[125]
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.[126]

The main Russian army retreated for almost three months. This constant retreat led
to the unpopularity of Field Marshal Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly and a
veteran, Prince Mikhail Kutuzov, was made the new Commander-in-Chief by Tsar
Alexander. Finally, the two armies engaged in the Battle of Borodino on 7
September,[127][page needed] 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 entered Moscow on 14 September, after the Russian Army had retreated yet
again.[128] 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.[129] Alexander I refused to capitulate,
and the peace talks attempted by Napoleon failed. In October, with no sign of clear
victory in sight, 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 the French tried to reach Kaluga, where they could
find food and forage supplies. The replenished Russian Army blocked the road, and
Napoleon was forced to retreat the same way he had come to Moscow, through the
heavily ravaged areas along the Smolensk road. In the following weeks, the 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 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.[130] 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. For every twelve soldiers of the Grande Armée that entered Russia, only two
would make it out in fighting condition.

War of the Sixth Coalition, 1812–1814

Main article: War of the Sixth Coalition

Fragment from the manuscript "Memoires on Napoleon's campaigns, experienced as a

soldier of the second regiment". Written by Joseph Abbeel, a soldier participating
in the War of the Sixth Coalition, 1805–1815.[131]
Seeing an opportunity in Napoleon's historic defeat, Prussia, Sweden and several
other German states switched sides joining Russia, the United Kingdom and others
opposing Napoleon.[132][page range too broad] 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
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. Klemens von Metternich in November 1813
offered Napoleon the Frankfurt proposals. They would allow Napoleon to remain
Emperor but France would be reduced to its "natural frontiers" and lose control of
most of Italy and Germany and the Netherlands. 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.[133]

The Battle of Leipzig involved over 600,000 soldiers, making it the largest battle
in Europe prior to World War I.
In the Peninsular War, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, renewed the Anglo-
Portuguese advance into Spain just after New Year in 1812, besieging and capturing
the fortified towns of Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, and crushing a French army at the
Battle of Salamanca. As the French regrouped, the Anglo-Portuguese entered 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 Cádiz and to
permanently evacuate the provinces of Andalusia and Asturias.[134][page needed]

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 from the Iberian peninsula, over the Pyrenees.[135][page needed]

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.[133]

The Battle of Hanau (30–31 October 1813), took part between Austro-Bavarian and
French forces.
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 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 and Eugène de Beauharnais's
Kingdom of 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 could count on no more than 450,000
men in Germany—which left him outnumbered about four to one.[133]

Following the end of the armistice, 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.[136]

Russian army enters Paris, 31 March 1814

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 fought his Six
Days' Campaign, in which he won many 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.[137]

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 abdicated on
6 April. Occasional military actions continued in Italy, Spain, and Holland in
early 1814.[137] An armistice was signed with the Allied Powers on 23 April 1814.
The First Treaty of Paris, signed on 30 May 1814, officially ended the War of the
Sixth Coalition.

The victors exiled 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 to redraw the map of Europe.[137]

War of the Seventh Coalition, 1815

See also: Hundred Days and Neapolitan War

Wellington at Waterloo by Robert Alexander Hillingford

The Seventh Coalition (1815) pitted Britain, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, Switzerland,
Austria, the Netherlands and several smaller German states against France. The
period known as the Hundred Days began after Napoleon escaped from Elba and landed
at Cannes (1 March 1815). Travelling to Paris, picking up support as he went, he
eventually overthrew Louis XVIII. The Allies rapidly gathered their armies to meet
him again. 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 took about 124,000 men of the Army of the North on a pre-emptive strike
against the Allies in Belgium.[138] 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 75 per cent of their army in and around Ligny. The
Prussians forced the 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 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 regrouping. In the
first of a series of miscalculations, both Grouchy and Napoleon failed to realise
that the Prussian forces were already reorganised and were assembling at the city
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 (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 delayed the start of fighting at the 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.[139]

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. General Vandamme was defeated at the Battle of Issy and negotiations
for surrender had begun.

The charge of the French Cuirassiers at the Battle of Waterloo against a square of
Scottish Highlanders
On arriving at Paris three days after Waterloo, 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 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 (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 inciting them to war. The proclamation failed and
the Austrians soon crushed Murat at the Battle of Tolentino (2–3 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.

The Second Treaty of Paris, signed on 20 November 1815, officially marked the end
of the Napoleonic Wars.[citation needed]

Political effects
The Napoleonic Wars brought radical changes to Europe, but the reactionary forces
returned and restored the Bourbon house to the French throne. Napoleon had
succeeded in bringing most of Western 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 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 set by the Congress of Vienna, 1815
France's constant warfare with the combined forces of different combinations of,
and eventually all, of the other major powers of Europe for over two decades
finally took its toll. By the end of the Napoleonic Wars, 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 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 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 and Westphalia to Prussia. These industrial regions transformed
agrarian Prussia into an industrial leader in the nineteenth century.[32] Britain
emerged as the most important economic power, and its Royal Navy held unquestioned
naval superiority across the globe well into the 20th century.[6]

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 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 and Italy by starting
the process of consolidating city-states, kingdoms and principalities. At the end
of the war, Denmark was forced to cede Norway to Sweden mainly as a compensation
for the loss of Finland which the other coalition members agreed to, but because
Norway had signed its own constitution on 17 May 1814 Sweden initiated the Swedish–
Norwegian War (1814). The war was a short one taking place between 26 July – 14
August 1814 and was a Swedish victory that put Norway into a personal union with
Sweden. The union was peacefully dissolved in 1905. The United Kingdom of the
Netherlands created as a buffer state against France dissolved rapidly with the
independence of Belgium in 1830.[140]

The Napoleonic wars also played a key role in the independence of the Latin
American colonies from 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 experienced greater autonomy as it now served as seat of the
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 in 1822.[34]

The century of relative transatlantic peace, after the Congress of Vienna, enabled
the "greatest intercontinental migration in human history"[141] beginning with "a
big spurt of immigration after the release of the dam erected by the Napoleonic
Wars."[142] Immigration inflows relative to the US population rose to record levels
(peaking at 1.6 per cent in 1850–51)[143][page range too broad] as 30 million
Europeans relocated to the United States between 1815 and 1914.[144]

Another concept emerged from the Congress of Vienna—that of a unified Europe. After
his defeat, 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
Enlarged scope

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".[145]

The scale of warfare dramatically enlarged during the Revolutionary and subsequent
Napoleonic Wars. During Europe's major pre-revolutionary war, the 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 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
also increase the size of their armies, moving away from the traditional small,
well-drilled Ancien Régime armies of the 18th century to mass conscript armies.

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 which
ended the War of the Third Coalition involved fewer than 160,000 men. The Battle of
Friedland which led to peace with 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 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.[146][147][verification needed]

France had the second-largest population in Europe by the end of the 18th century
(28 million, as compared to Britain's 12 million and Russia's 35 to 40 million).
[148][page range too broad] 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 Revolutionary 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 in 1812. His 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 to almost 3 million combatants during almost 25 years of warfare.
[19]

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[149][citation not found] to a peak of 250,000 men in 1813.[18]
Over 250,000 sailors served in the Royal Navy. In September 1812, Russia had
900,000 enlisted men in its army, and between 1799 and 1815 2.1 million men served
in its army. Another 200,000 served in the Imperial Russian Navy. Out of the
900,000 men, the field armies deployed against 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 (140,000 men), 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 and 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.[4]

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 Armée which Napoleon led into Russia was about 50 per cent
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 of much-
needed manpower.

Innovations
The initial stages of the 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 and other allies.[150]

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.[36]

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 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.[37]

Total war
Main article: Total war

Goya's The Disasters of War, showing French atrocities against Spanish civilians
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 emergence of nationalism in France, Germany, Spain,
and elsewhere that made these "people's wars" instead of contests between monarchs.
[151] 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
Age of Enlightenment.[152] 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 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.[an] As Napoleon proclaimed, "It is the soldier
who founds a Republic and it is the soldier who maintains it."[153] Napoleon said
on his career "I closed the gulf of anarchy and brought order out of chaos. I
rewarded merit regardless of birth or wealth, wherever I found it. I abolished
feudalism and restored equality to all religion and before the law. I fought the
decrepit monarchies of the Old Regime because the alternative was the destruction
of all this. I purified the Revolution."[154]

Use of military intelligence

Intelligence played a pivotal factor throughout the Napoleonic Wars and could very
well have changed the tide of war. The use and misuse of military intelligence
dictated the course of many major battles during the Napoleonic Wars. Some of the
major battles that were dictated by the use of intelligence include: The Battle of
Waterloo, Battle of Leipzig, Battle of Salamanca, and the Battle of Vitoria. A
major exception to the greater use of superior military intelligence to claim
victory was the Battle of Jena in 1806. At the Battle of Jena even Prussian
superior military intelligence was not enough to counter the sheer military force
of Napoleons' armies.

The use of intelligence varied greatly across the major world powers of the war.
Napoleon at this time had more supply of intelligence given to him than any French
general before him. However, Napoleon was not an advocate of military intelligence
at this time as he often found it unreliable and inaccurate when compared to his
own preconceived notions of the enemy. Napoleon rather studied his enemy via
domestic newspapers, diplomatic publications, maps, and prior documents of military
engagements in the theaters of war in which he would operate. It was this stout and
constant study of the enemy which made Napoleon the military mastermind of his
time. Whereas, his opponents—Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia—were much more
reliant on traditional intelligence-gathering methods and were much more quickly
and willing to act on them.

The methods of Intelligence during these wars were to include the formation of vast
and complex networks of corresponding agents, codebreaking, and cryptanalysis. The
greatest cipher to be used to hide military operations during this time was known
as the Great Paris Cipher used by the French. However, thanks to the hard work of
British codebreakers like George Scovell, the British were able to crack French
ciphers and gain vast amounts of military intelligence on Napoleon and his armies.
[155][page needed]

In fiction
Main article: Napoleonic Wars in fiction
See also: List of Napoleonic Wars films
The Napoleonic Wars were a defining event of the early 19th century, and inspired
many works of fiction, from then until the present day.

Leo Tolstoy's epic novel War and Peace recounts Napoleon's wars between 1805 and
1812 (especially the disastrous 1812 invasion of Russia and subsequent retreat)
from a Russian perspective.
Stendhal's novel The Charterhouse of Parma opens with a ground-level recounting of
the Battle of Waterloo and the subsequent chaotic retreat of French forces.
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo takes place against the backdrop of the Napoleonic
Wars and subsequent decades, and in its unabridged form contains an epic telling of
the Battle of Waterloo.
Adieu is a novella by Honoré de Balzac in which can be found a short description of
the French retreat from Russia, particularly the battle of Berezina, where the
fictional couple of the story are tragically separated. Years later after
imprisonment, the husband returns to find his wife still in a state of utter shock
and amnesia. He has the battle and their separation reenacted, hoping the memory
will heal her state.
William Makepeace Thackeray's novel Vanity Fair takes place during the 1815
Napoleonic War – one of its protagonists dies at the Battle of Waterloo. Thackeray
states in Chapter XXX "We do not claim to rank among the military novelists. Our
place is with the non-combatants. When the decks are cleared for action we go below
and wait meekly." And indeed he presents no descriptions of military leaders,
strategy, or combat; he describes anxious non-combatants waiting in Brussels for
news.
Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell is set in the English home-front during the
Napoleonic Wars and depicts the impressment of sailors by roving press gangs.
The Duel, a short story by Joseph Conrad, recounts the story based on true events
of two French Hussar officers who carry a long grudge and fight in duels each time
they meet during the Napoleonic wars. The short story was adapted by director
Ridley Scott into the 1977 Cannes Film Festival's Best First Work award-winning
film The Duellists.
"Mr Midshipman Easy" (1836), semi-autobiographical novel by Captain Frederick
Marryat, who served as a Royal Navy officer (1806–1830) including during Napoleonic
Wars, and who wrote many novels, and who was a pioneer of the Napoleonic wars sea
story about the experiences of British naval officers.
Le Colonel Chabert by Honoré de Balzac. After being severely wounded during the
Battle of Eylau (1807), Chabert, a famous colonel of the cuirassiers, was
erroneously recorded as dead and buried unconscious with French casualties. After
extricating himself from his grave and being nursed back to health by local
peasants, it takes several years for him to recover. When he returns to the Paris
of the Bourbon Restoration, he discovers that his "widow", a former prostitute that
Chabert made rich and honourable, has married the wealthy Count Ferraud. She has
also liquidated all of Chabert's belongings and pretends not to recognise her first
husband. Seeking to regain his name and monies that were wrongly given away as
inheritance, he hires Derville, an attorney, to win back his money and his honour.
A poem Borodino by Mikhail Lermontov describes the Battle of Borodino from the
perspective of poet's uncle, a Russian officer.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, père starts during the tail-end of
the Napoleonic Wars. The main character, Edmond Dantès, suffers imprisonment
following false accusations of Bonapartist leanings.
The novelist Jane Austen lived much of her life during the French Revolutionary and
Napoleonic Wars, and two of her brothers served in the Royal Navy. Austen almost
never refers to specific dates or historical events in her novels, but wartime
England forms part of the general backdrop to several of them: in Pride and
Prejudice (1813, but possibly written during the 1790s), the local militia
(civilian volunteers) has been called up for home defence and its officers play an
important role in the plot; in Mansfield Park (1814), Fanny Price's brother William
is a midshipman (officer in training) in the Royal Navy; and in Persuasion (1818),
Frederic Wentworth and several other characters are naval officers recently
returned from service.
Charlotte Brontë's novel Shirley (1849), set during the Napoleonic Wars, explores
some of the economic effects of war on rural Yorkshire.
Arthur Conan Doyle's Brigadier Gerard serves as a French soldier during the
Napoleonic Wars
Fyodor Dostoevsky's book The Idiot had a character, General Ivolgin, who witnessed
and recounted his relationship with Napoleon during the Campaign of Russia.
Roger Brook is a fictional secret agent and Napoleonic Wars Era gallant, later
identified as the Chevalier de Breuc, in a series of twelve novels by Dennis
Wheatley
The Hornblower books by C.S. Forester follow the naval career of Horatio Hornblower
during the Napoleonic Wars. The 1951 film "Captain Horatio Hornblower" starring
Gregory Peck and Virginia Mayo and directed by Raoul Walsh is a film adaption based
on Forester's series of novels. Also by C.S. Forester two novels of the Peninsular
War in Spain and Portugal: "Death to the French" (1932, published in the United
States under the title "Rifleman Dodd"), and "The Gun" (1933), later made into a
1957 film, "The Pride and the Passion", with Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, Sophia
Loren, directed by Stanley Kramer.
R. F. Delderfield, two novels about the Napoleonic Wars; Seven Men of Gascony
(1949) about seven French infantrymen serving in a succession of Napoleonic
campaigns, and Too Few For Drums (1964) about British soldiers cut off behind the
French lines in Portugal in 1810, during the Peninsular War.
The Aubrey–Maturin series of novels is a sequence of 20 historical novels by
Patrick O'Brian portraying the rise of Jack Aubrey from Lieutenant to Rear Admiral
during the Napoleonic Wars. The film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the
World starring Russell Crowe and directed by Peter Weir is based on this series of
books.
The Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell stars the character Richard Sharpe, a soldier
in the British Army, who fights throughout the Napoleonic Wars. It was adapted into
the Sharpe TV Series starring Sean Bean.
The Bloody Jack book series by Louis A. Meyer is set during the Second Coalition of
the Napoleonic Wars, and retells many famous battles of the age. The heroine,
Jacky, meets Bonaparte.
The Napoleonic Wars provide the backdrop for The Emperor, The Victory, The Regency
and The Campaigners, Volumes 11, 12, 13 and 14 respectively of The Morland Dynasty,
a series of historical novels by the author Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.
The Richard Bolitho series by Alexander Kent novels portray this period of history
from a naval perspective.
G.S. Beard, author of two novels (2010) about John Fury, British naval officer
during the Napoleonic Wars.
Napoleon's Blackguards, a novel by Stephen McGarry, set in Spain during the
Napoleonic Wars about the travails of an elite unit of Napoleon's Irish Legion.
Robert Challoner, author of three novels in the series about Charles Oakshott,
British naval officer in Napoleonic Wars.
David Donachie's John Pearce series about a pressed seaman who becomes a British
naval officer during the French Revolution wars and Napoleonic Wars.
Julian Stockwin's Thomas Kydd series portrays one man's journey from pressed man to
Admiral in the time of the French and Napoleonic Wars
Simon Scarrow – Napoleonic series. Rise of Napoleon and Wellington from humble
beginnings to history's most remarkable and notable leaders. Four books in the
series.
The Lord Ramage series by Dudley Pope takes place during the Napoleonic Wars.
Jeanette Winterson's 1987 novel The Passion
Georgette Heyer's 1937 novel An Infamous Army recounts the fortunes of a family in
the run-up to and during the course of, the Battle of Waterloo. Heyer's novel is
noted for its meticulous research on the progress of the battle, combining her
noted period romance writing with her detailed research into regency history.
The Battle (French: La Bataille) is a historical novel by the French author Patrick
Rambaud that was first published in 1997 and again in English in 2000. The book
describes the 1809 Battle of Aspern-Essling between the French Empire under
Napoleon and the Austrian Empire. The novel was awarded the Prix Goncourt and the
Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française for 1997.
In Jasper Kent's novel Twelve, 1812 Russian Invasion serves as a base story for the
book. In later books from The Danilov Quintet, this war is constantly mentioned.
The Fighting Sail series by Alaric Bond portrays life and action aboard Royal Naval
vessels during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. From the lower decks to the
quarterdeck Bond's detailed settings are realistic. Narratives are told not just
from a commissioned officer's point of view but include varied perspectives,
including warranted officers, ordinary and able seamen, marines, supernumeraries,
and women aboard presenting a broader, more complete picture of the Georgian Navy.
[156]
See also
flag France portal
Serbian Revolution
Austro-Polish War
British Army during the Napoleonic Wars
Haitian Revolution
Imperial and Royal Army during the Napoleonic Wars
International relations (1648–1814), for diplomacy
Lists of battles of the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars
Royal Prussian Army of the Napoleonic Wars
Spanish American wars of independence
Uniforms of La Grande Armée
War of 1812
World war
Notes
1805, 1809, 1813–1815
The term Austrian Empire came into use after Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of
the French in 1804, by which Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor took the title Emperor
of Austria (Kaiser von Österreich) in response. The 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.
Both Austria and Prussia briefly became allies of France and contributed forces to
the French Invasion of Russia in 1812.
1806–1807, 1813–1815
1804–1807, 1812–1815
Russia became an ally of 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 waged war against Sweden (1808–1809) and the Ottoman Empire (1806–
1812), and nominally against Britain (1807–1812).
1808–1815
Spain was an ally of France until a stealthy French invasion in 1808, then fought
France in the Peninsular War.
1804–1809, 1812–1815
Nominally, Sweden declared war against Great Britain after its defeat by Russia in
the Finnish War (1808–1809).
1800–1807, 1809–1815
1807–1812
The Ottoman Empire fought against 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 in the Russo-Turkish War
(1806–1812). Russia was allied with Napoleon 1807–1810.
1813–1815
1815
Hanover was in a personal union with Great Britain
1809
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.
1806–1807, 1813–1814
Qajar dynasty fought against Russia from 1804 to 1813; the Russians were allied
with Napoleon 1807–1812.
1806–1815
Sicily remained in personal union with Naples until Naples became a French client-
republic following the Battle of Campo Tenese in 1806.
1814
From 1803 till 1806, when it became the Kingdom of Holland
1808–1813
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 (December 1805). Following the 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
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.
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 Etruria in 1807.
The French Empire annexed the Kingdom of Holland in 1810. Dutch troops fought
against Napoleon during the Hundred Days in 1815.
Naples, briefly allied with Austria in 1814, allied with France again and fought
against Austria during the Neapolitan War in 1815.
1809–1813
Denmark–Norway remained neutral until the Battle of Copenhagen (1807). Denmark was
compelled to cede Norway to Sweden by the Treaty of Kiel in 1814. Following a brief
Swedish campaign against Norway, Norway entered a personal union with Sweden.
1807–1814
1804–1807, 1812–1813
1803–1808
until the eve of the Battle of Leipzig, 1813
until 1813
 £3 trillion in modern economic cost terms.[75]
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. ISBN 978-1-
59797-578-0. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 18 June
2015.
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Further reading

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that may not follow Wikipedia's guidelines. Please ensure that only a reasonable
number of balanced, topical, reliable, and notable further reading suggestions are
given; removing less relevant or redundant publications with the same point of view
where appropriate. Consider utilising appropriate texts as inline sources or
creating a separate bibliography article. (May 2021) (Learn how and when to remove
this template message)
General and reference books
Bruun, Geoffrey. 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
Clausewitz, Carl von (2018). Napoleon's 1796 Italian Campaign. Trans and ed.
Nicholas Murray and Christopher Pringle. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN
978-0-7006-2676-2
Clausewitz, Carl von (2020). Napoleon Absent, Coalition Ascendant: The 1799
Campaign in Italy and Switzerland, Volume 1. Trans and ed. Nicholas Murray and
Christopher Pringle. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-3025-7
Clausewitz, Carl von (2021). The Coalition Crumbles, Napoleon Returns: The 1799
Campaign in Italy and Switzerland, Volume 2. Trans and ed. Nicholas Murray and
Christopher Pringle. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-3034-9
Gates, David. The Napoleonic Wars 1803–1815 (NY: Random House, 2011)
Gulick, E.V. "The final coalition and the Congress of Vienna, 1813–15," in C.W.
Crawley, ed. The New Cambridge Modern History: IX. War and Peace in an age of
upheaval 1793–1830 (Cambridge University Press, 1965) pp. 629–668; online.
Markham, Felix. "The Napoleonic Adventure" in C.W. Crawley, ed. The New Cambridge
Modern History: IX. War and Peace in an age of upheaval 1793–1830 (Cambridge
University Press, 1965) pp. 307–336; online.
Pope, Stephen (1999). The Cassel Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars. Cassel. ISBN 0-
304-35229-2.
Ross, Steven T. European Diplomatic History, 1789–1815: France Against Europe
(1969)
Ross, Steven T. The A to Z of the Wars of the French Revolution (Rowman &
Littlefield, 2010); 1st ed. was Historical dictionary of the wars of the French
Revolution (Scarecrow Press, 1998)
Rothenberg, Gunther E. (1988). "The Origins, Causes, and Extension of the Wars of
the French Revolution and Napoleon". Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 18 (4):
771–793. doi:10.2307/204824. 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
(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
Smith, Digby George. The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book: Actions and Losses in
Personnel, Colours, Standards, and 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 and French
Chandler, David G., ed. Napoleon's Marshals (1987) short scholarly biographies
Dwyer, Philip. Napoleon: The Path to Power (2008) excerpt vol 1
Elting, John R. Swords Around a Throne: Napoleon's Grand Armée (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 and Napoleon (1917) online free
Nester, William R. 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 Invade Russia? A Study in Motivation and the
Interrelations of Personality and Social Structure," Journal of Military History
(1990) 54#2 pp. 131–146 in JSTOR.
Riley, Jonathon P. Napoleon as a General (Hambledon Press, 2007)
Mikaberidze, Alexander. The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History (Oxford University
Press) February 2020
Wilkin Bernard and Wilkin René: Fighting for Napoleon: French Soldiers’ Letters
1799–1815 Pen and Sword Military (2016)
Wilkin Bernard and Wilkin René: Fighting the British: French Eyewitness Accounts
from the Napoleonic Wars Pen and Sword Military (2018)
Geerts, Gérard A. Samenwerking en Confrontatie: De Frans-Nederlandse militaire
betrekkingen, voornamelijk in Franse tijd (Bataafschse Leeuw, 2002)
Austrian, Prussian and Russian roles
Haythornthwaite, Philip J. The Russian Army of the Napoleonic Wars (1987) vol 1:
Infantry 1799–1814; vol 2: Cavalry, 1799–1814
Lieven, D. C. "Russia and the Defeat of Napoleon (1812–14)," Kritika: Explorations
in Russian and Eurasian History (2006) 7#2 pp. 283–308.
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.
Historiography and memory
Esdaile, Charles. "The Napoleonic Period: Some Thoughts on Recent Historiography,"
European History Quarterly, (1993) 23: 415–432 online
Forrest, Alan et al. eds. War Memories: The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars in
Modern European Culture (2013)
Gill, John H. "From Great Captains to Common Grognards: research opportunities in
Napoleonic military history." War & Society 41.1 (2022): 69–84.
doi:10.1080/07292473.2022.2021752
Hyatt, Albert M.J. "The Origins of Napoleonic Warfare: A Survey of
Interpretations." Military Affairs (1966) 30#4 pp. 177–185.
Linch, Kevin. "War Memories: The Revolutionary and 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. ISBN 978-1-135-95970-8. evaluation of the major books on 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
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 in German Central
Europe (2013), diaries, letters and accounts by civilians Online review
External links

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Texts on Wikisource:
Beck, Archibald Frank (1911). "Waterloo Campaign, 1815". Encyclopædia Britannica.
Vol. 28 (11th ed.). pp. 371–381.
Maude, Frederic Natusch (1911). "Napoleonic Campaigns". Encyclopædia Britannica.
Vol. 19 (11th ed.). pp. 212–236.
Robinson, Charles Walker (1911). "Peninsular War". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21
(11th ed.). pp. 90–98.
Rose, John Holland (1911). "Napoleon I.". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th
ed.). pp. 190–211.
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