1

Account for Napoleon’s rise to Continental dominance 1805-1812.

Introduction

In December 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of France. Eight years later, after 3 coalition
wars, he had conquered much of Europe. His success was partly due to his military strategies, the
speed, efficiency and loyalty of his armies, the mistakes of his enemies, and to a certain degree a
portion of luck.1 After each devastating victory, Napoleon’s adversaries would have to pay immense
indemnities and give up large areas of land to him or to his allies, which in turn would bolster
Napoleon's grip over Europe and increase his power.2 He also made major mistakes, mainly linked to
his policy of blockade (the Continental System) of Great Britain, which resulted in a long lasting
guerrilla war and eventual defeat in Spain and which led him to the disastrous invasion of Russia in
1812, which would mark the beginning of his downfall.3 4

The war of the Third Coalition

In 1803 Napoleon had assembled and trained an army of 200,000 French soldiers in the north of
France, at Boulogne with the intention to invade Great Britain. Although the invasion never

1
Lefebvre, Georges, “Napoleon” (New York: Routledge, 2011) Chapters 7-8 (e-book)
2
Chandler, David, “The Campaigns of Napoleon”,(London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1993), Ch.14
3
Roberts, Andrew, (BBC Radio 4), “In Our Time: Napoleon and Wellington” (25 October 2001).
Melvyn Bragg with Mike Broers, Andrew Roberts and Belinda Beaton.
4
Rothenberg, Gunther E; Keegan, John “ The Napoleonic Wars”, (London: Cassell, 2001) Ch.1
 2

materialized, the troops under Napoleon received invaluable training and discipline, which would
prove to be vital for future military campaigns which reaped many victories, hence the army would be
called ‘la grande armee’ due to its fame and success.5

When Napoleon heard word that the Austrians, as part of the newly formed Third Coalition (Great
Britain, the Holy Roman Empire (mainly Austria), Russia, Naples, Sicily and Sweden), were attacking
his ally in Bavaria, he decided to deploy his ‘grande armee’ across the Rhine to Bavaria to confront
the Austrians under the command of General Mack. Napoleon moved his troops fast and
outmanoeuvred the Austrians at the battle of Ulm. Mack was encircled and had no option to retreat, as
Napoleon had blocked off the east from incoming Russian reinforcements.

It was a major strategic victory. On 16 of October 1805, the Austrian army surrendered. About 25,000
Austrian soldiers were taken captive before the war had even really begun. The Battle of Ulm shows
the great discipline and effectiveness of the ‘grande armee’ as well as the military genius of Napoleon
who outsmarted his adversary with his modern tactics. His speed and positioning were key. But the
battle was not all up to Napoleon's genius, General Mack committed some grave mistakes, for
example he advanced and attacked too early and didn’t wait for Kutuzov’s Russian contingent. Mack
was also outnumbered so he should have retreated whilst he could, but he did not, and as a
consequence he was trapped at Ulm, and his counter attacks against Napoleon were very poorly
coordinated and ineffective.

Hearing of the Austrian surrender at Ulm, Mikhail Kutuzov the Russian General, knowing that his
army was not strong enough to face Napoleon, decided to retreat to Olmutz in today's Czech Republic
where he found both Russian and Austrian reinforcements under the command of Emperor Alexander
I of Russia, Emperor Francis II of Austria, along with General Bennigsen and Buxhoeveden.
Napoleon needed a decisive victory, his men were tired and winter was approaching, so he ordered his
troops to march to the field of Austerlitz, the site where the battle would take place.6

The battle at Austerlitz was one of the first major engagements in the third coalition which proved to
be vital for Napoleon’s consolidation of power in Europe. Through brilliant strategic moves,
Napoleon’s army of around 68,000 troops defeated a greater army of combined Russians and
Austrians. The victory at Austerlitz resulted in a peace treaty called the Treaty of Pressburg, in which
Emperor Francis II of Austria had to give up his lands in Italy and Bavaria and pay an indemnity of 40
million francs to Napoleon in exchange for peace. 7

5
Goodlad, Graham, “Napoleon at war: secrets of success, seeds of failure?” (History Today Ltd.
2009)
6
Rothenberg, Gunther, “ The Napoleonic Wars”, (London: Cassell, 2001) Ch.1
7
Goodlad, “Napoleon at war” (;) Chandler, “The Campaigns of Napoleon” (;) Rothenberg, “The
Napoleonic Wars”
 3

Treaty of Pressburg: What was the result?

Effectively, the defeat of the coalition resulted in the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II bidding for
peace, which ultimately ended the third coalition. Part of the provisions in the peace treaty meant that
certain lands would be given to Napoleon, such as the regions of Tyrol in Austria, Veneto in Italy, and
Istria and Dalmatia which today belong to Croatia. With the loss of vital territories and the creation,
some weeks later, of the ‘Confederation of the Rhine’ by Napoleon, the Holy Roman Empire was
dissolved by Francis II as he was afraid of Napoleon usurping his imperial title, but also because the
empire had been rendered useless, as it had no longer any practical use, and most of the territory
belonged to or was allied to Napoleon. Francis II took the pragmatic decision and just kept his other
title as ‘Emperor of Austria’. Napoleon’s domination of Europe increased further.8

The war of the Fourth Coalition

With the rise of Napoleon in Germany, Prussia felt threatened and signed a secret agreement with
Russia, which then led to the formation of the Fourth Coalition. Prussia was also concerned because
France had agreed to give Hanover, a German de jure state, to George III of England. Seeing this,
Frederick William III, decided that the only option for Prussia would be to declare war against
Napoleon.

The double battle of Jena-Auerstedt, was a defeat for the Prussian army, which forced them to retreat
whereupon they were pursued by Napoleon and lost control over several vital German cities such as
Berlin, Prenzlau, Lubeck, and Magdeburg. Then Napoleon marched to east Germany, towards Russia
where he had another encounter, in Eylau against a combined Russian-Prussian Army. The battle of
Eylau 7-8 February 1807 proved to be an inconclusive battle as both sides lost a great deal of men and
resources. Ultimately the coalition forces retreated but Napoleon’s troops were in no condition to
pursue them. This was the first time that Napoleon failed to achieve a conclusive victory. The final
battle which took place, which indeed was the most decisive battle, was the Battle of Friedland on 14
June 1807. It was a crushing defeat for the Russians, they lost about 30 to 40,000 troops which was
approximately 40% of the Russian army.9

Napoleon decimated the coalition, both the Prussians and the Russians receiving humiliating defeats.
Again, the fourth coalition committed many blunders that ultimately caused their own defeats, for

8
Chandler, David, “The Campaigns of Napoleon”,(London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1993), Ch.14
9
Lefebvre, Georges, “Napoleon” (New York: Routledge, 2011) Chapters 9-10 (e-book)
 4

example the Prussians declared war on France too soon without consulting their allies Sweden and
Russia, which meant that they were all alone, with the exception of Saxony which had very little
influence. Also, in the battle of Friedland, the Russian General, Bennigsen should have withdrawn his
army or positioned it in a better location, for when they were attacked, they were backed against the
Alle river, which ended up being their only escape route, leading to thousands of men being drowned.
He was taken by surprise by the speed with which Napoleon could move his army. 10

Treaty of Tilsit: What was the result?

Napoleon's overwhelming victory at Friedland forced Alexander I of Russia to sue for peace, which
would only be granted through concessions that would further bolster Napoleon's dominance and
power over Europe. Effectively, this treaty was so detrimental to Prussia, that they had to give up large
swaths of lands, including parts of Prussia, the lower Rhine, today's Lithuania, which were
incorporated into the new kingdom of Westphalia, which would be led by Napoleon's brother Jerome.
Prussia would also have to give Poland to Napoleon, which would be renamed as the duchy of
Warsaw, and would be ruled by the King of Saxony, Napoleon’s new ally, Frederick Augustus. Russia
only had to give up the Ionian Islands in Greece, but had to accept an alliance with Napoleon as well
as agree to join the Continental System to blockade Great Britain.11

What was the Continental System?

Napoleon had ordered all territory controlled by France or its allies to stop trading with Britain. This
economic embargo was called the Continental System, its objective was to wreck Britain's economy
and force its government to make peace. All connections were to be cut, even mail. Napoleon thought
that the best way to contain Britain would be by controlling the ports of Europe, and preventing
British products from landing. But in reality, the Continental System was futile because large scale
smuggling took place, and it ended up damaging French trade just as much as British trade.
Napoleon’s allies started to become disgruntled about the Continental System, and many decided to
ignore it, which led to divisions within the Napoleonic coalition. In a sense, the Continental System
was a disastrous policy, it led to the Peninsular War, which drew many troops away from the
battlefields of central Europe in the war of the Fifth Coalition and was also the cause of the ill-fated
military invasion of Russia in 1812.12

10
Rothenberg, Gunther, “ The Napoleonic Wars”, (London: Cassell, 2001) Ch.2
11
Lefebvre, Georges, “Napoleon” (New York: Routledge, 2011) Chapter 1 (e-book)
12
Lefebvre, Georges, “Napoleon” Chapter 4 (e-book)
 5

The war of the Fifth Coalition

Whilst in the middle of the Peninsular war campaign in Spain, Napoleon heard word of Archduke
Charles of Austria preparing for War with France, in an attempt to challenge Napoleon to possibly
regain lost lands, and to avenge Austria’s defeat at Austerlitz. This time the coalition consisted of
Austria, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal and other states of lesser importance such as Sardinia and
Sicily who had a minimal role in the wars. This Fifth Coalition was the smallest of the series of
coalitions formed to fight Napoleon, because Prussia decided to remain neutral and Russia was
technically allied to France after the treaty of Tilsit but did not participate in the war.

Napoleon withdrew some of his troops from Spain to reinforce the French army in Bavaria and
counteract the Austrian army at its border. He also called to arms some of his allied troops from the
Rhineland to support the campaign. This was the first time Napoleon had to do without his ‘grande
armee’, this time he had a mixed-nationality army, and on top of that was outnumbered by the
Austrians. At the battle of Aspern-Essling, Napoleon experienced his first defeat and the French and
their allies were driven back by the Austrians. However it was not a decisive victory as Napoleon
managed to withdraw most of his troops across the Danube river safely. However, it showed that
Napoleon could be defeated and that the Austrian army had adapted and learned from previous
experience.13

The campaign came to an end with a French victory at the battle of Wagram in July 1809. The battle
lasted 2 days and was a decisive victory but costly for Napoleon. The battle was not an overwhelming
victory as Napoleon had more or less lost the same amount of men as Archduke Charles of around
30-40,000, and his troops were unable to immediately pursue the retreating Austrians. However, it did
force the Austrians to sign a new peace treaty.14 15

Treaty of Schonbrunn: What was the result?

The Treaty of Schonbrunn was harsh on the Austrians and resulted in the loss of about 3 million
subjects, which is nearly one-fifth of Austria's population. Parts of Bohemia were handed over to
Saxony, Salzburg would be given to Bavaria, West Galica to the Duchy of Warsaw, East Galica to
Russia and the Illyrian provinces to France. This further bolstered Napoleon’s dominance over
Europe.

13
Chandler, “The Campaigns of Napoleon” (;) Rothenberg, “The Napoleonic Wars”
14
Lefebvre, Georges, “Napoleon” (New York: Routledge, 2011) Chapters 10-12 (e-book)
15
Leggiere, Michael, “The Fall of Napoleon”, (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2007)
 6

However, the war of the Fifth Coalition would be Napoleon’s last successful military campaign before
his catastrophe in Russia. The casualty rates for both sides were high, the Austrian army was a much
improved military machine. Napoleon’s victory came at a cost and he had even been defeated, for the
first time ever, at Aspern-Essling.

Conclusion

Napoleon dominated Europe through his victories in the wars against the coalitions. His successes
were due to his well trained ‘Grande Armee’, his military ability, modern tactics, and his enemies'
mistakes. By 1812 he was the master of Europe, but not completely: Napoleon ruled on land, but
Britain ruled the seas. Also, his rule was under threat. His enemies were learning from their mistakes,
they were getting stronger and more numerous. The conquered people were tired of an arrogant
foreign leader telling them what to do. The Continental System was a failure, which led to two
unsuccessful wars: the invasion of Russia in 1812, and the Peninsular War, in which the French were
driven out of Spain in 1814. This was the beginning of the end of Napoleon’s domination of Europe.

Word Count: 2059

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