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NAPOLEONIC WARS: A HISTORY
FROM BEGINNING TO END
(WARS IN EUROPEAN HISTORY),
by HOURLY HISTORY.
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Well composed.
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"“There are but two powers in the world, the sword and the mind. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the mind.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
................................................................................................
"“The only victories which leave no regret are those which are gained over ignorance.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
................................................................................................
"“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
................................................................................................
"“Revolutions have never lightened the burden of tyranny: they have only shifted it to another shoulder.”
"—George Bernard Shaw"
................................................................................................
"“It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
Indeed, as attested by examples galore, from Abraham Lincoln to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
On the other hand, there was the Confederate South where they were emotional about their 'Cause', but no one dead defending it is termed a martyr, not even the killer of Abraham Lincoln. And the very word 'cause' is not familiar as a word related to the US Civil War, unless one is fond of Gone With The Wind.
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"The reason so many coalitions formed to fight against Napoleon’s forces was that he was fighting for radical changes to Europe. The rise of Napoleon was borne of the French Revolution, a revolution that sought to destroy serfdom and the monarchy as well as the influence of the Catholic Church. ... "
Admitted finally there in last couple of words!
And yet, who then was the matchstick that set fire to the tinderbox?
" ... There were many in power throughout Europe who feared those ideals. The coalition forces sought to reverse some of the changes brought by the Napoleonic Wars by restoring the Bourbon royal house to the throne in France.
"Napoleon had been successful in uniting much of western Europe under one rule, and in those European countries, French rule brought many liberal features with it. Those included the concepts of democracy, due process in the courts, the abolition of serfdom, a reduction in the power of the Catholic Church, and constitutional limits on monarchs. As commerce and industry rose in those countries, a growing middle class increasingly shared in political decisions, and thus, the monarchs restored to rule after Napoleon’s defeat and exile found it difficult to impose the absolutism that had existed prior to the French Revolution. They were forced, instead, to retain many of the reforms Napoleon enacted during his rule. To this day, many of those institutional legacies remain in the form of civil law and defined codes of law that resulted from the Napoleonic Code.
"Additionally, the borders of Europe were once again redrawn. France was no longer a dominant power in Europe, and the Congress of Vienna restored a balance of power by resizing several countries. Prussia was restored in its former borders, and it also was the recipient of large parts of Poland and Saxony. Prussia became a permanent Great Power, meaning it was recognized as having the ability to exercise influence on a global scale. As such, it was given Rhineland and Westphalia, regions which transformed it into an industrial leader in the nineteenth century. ... "
Congress of Vienna then was responsible ultimately for WWI, nazis, holocaust and WWII, not to mention Russian Revolution, massacre of much of the Romanov clan, and untold miseries that resulted from this forced reversal of establishment of Napoleonic Code through the continent, to belligerent monarchies- and their inheritors - seeking to enslave everyone else.
" ... Britain had emerged as the most important economic power in Europe, and its Royal Navy had distinguished itself with unquestioned naval superiority across the globe. This would last well into the twentieth century."
So Congress of Vienna was responsible Aldo for the untold miseries visited on India by British Empire looting India, which included not only starvation to death of millions due to British stealing harvests, but ultimate fraud established by Macaulay policy of lying - and lying very deliberately, repeatedly and sanctimoniously - about anything and everything that was good in India.
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"Following the Napoleonic Wars, nationalism emerged as a new and increasingly significant movement. That would shape European history well into the future. Fiefdoms and the aristocracy were increasingly replaced with national ideologies which sowed the seeds for the formation of nation-states, specifically Germany and Italy. Norway signed its own constitution on May 17, 1814, and following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark was forced to cede Norway to Sweden. Sweden then initiated the Swedish-Norwegian War of 1814, which lasted less than a month and ended with a Swedish victory. Norway then entered into a personal union with Sweden which was peaceably dissolved in 1905. The United Kingdom of the Netherlands, which had been created as a buffer zone against France, rapidly dissolved after the wars and ended with the independence of Belgium in 1830.
"The Napoleonic Wars also had far-reaching effects in the New World. The conflicts had weakened Spanish authority and military power in Latin America. That resulted in numerous uprisings leading to wars of independence for many countries. Brazil, which served as the seat of the Portuguese Empire, ascended to the status of kingdom, which eventually led to the Portuguese Liberal Revolution in 1820 and Brazilian independence in 1822.
"The end of the Napoleonic Wars also spurred a large inflow of immigrants to the United States with some 30 million Europeans relocating to the U.S. between 1815 and 1914. One of the failures that Napoleon lamented after his defeat was his dream of a unified Europe. His ultimate goal was to create a “European Association” that shared the same principles of government, a system of measurement, currency, and a civil code. Though he failed to achieve that dream, one and a half centuries later, his ideals re-emerged in the form of the European Union."
Indeed.
And UK questioned, joined, and seceded the EU.
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"By 1789, France was in crisis. People were starving, and there was growing resentment of the monarchy and the nobility. France was in deep economic trouble, and the peasantry blamed the nobility and King Louis XVI along with his queen, Marie Antoinette.
"The queen was a particularly despised figure by the peasantry. She was a popular subject of ridicule in the various French publications, which frequently depicted her as a sexual deviant. In a state of deep depression, the king was increasingly seeking her counsel. As France sank deeper into an economic catastrophe, Marie Antoinette came to be seen as having single-handedly ruined the national finances. She was even given the nickname of “Madame Deficit.” She was later widely reported to have said, in response to starving peasants who had no bread, “Let them eat cake.” There is, however, no evidence she actually said that. Many historians believe it was the hatred of her that generated the rumor and kept it alive for centuries."
To begin with, Europe had had far worse, what with inquisition and "Black Death", neither of which could have been blamed on royals or rich, while church was certainly to be blamed for one.
And the only guilt of the queen was being not French, which made it easier for the country to heap everything on her. Her gender did the rest - in an abrahmic society misogyny is always rampant and calling a woman sexually deviant all too easy, particularly so a queen who is a foreigner and has no defenders.
Later, England disliked Albert for being German, his daughter Victoria was disliked by Germans (after she married the son and heir of Kaiser of Prussia) for being English, and Tsarina Alexandra was disliked by Russian court for being simple while Russian people disliked her for being German.
All this dislike moreover is mostly by those who couldn't have known the object of the dislike.
In recent times, it continues - one should see the poison poured on YouTube on Megan Markle, the woman who married a prince of British realm, which is undoubtedly due to her being foreign as much as due to her ancestry from historically slaves sold in US.
Of course, the last bit isn't expressed verbally just as those criticising president Obama never said the real reason why. And misogyny was the chief reason President Trump was elected that first time - that is, misogyny of voters in US, rather than his.
That this author and publishers are merely quoting the gossip rather than look for real reasons, isn't helping the book.
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"It was in this context of growing economic turmoil and political unrest that King Louis XVI convened the Estates-General in May of 1789, and it was followed by a National Assembly in June of that same year. The finance minister, Jacques Necker, took part in the assembly, giving a speech in support of the common man. He published what was actually an inaccurate account of the government debt on July 11, 1789, and for that, he was fired by King Louis XVI who then proceeded to restructure the finance ministry. This resulted in chaos, riots, and widespread looting in Paris. On July 14, the riotous insurgents set their sights on the weaponry in the Bastille prison fortress, a potent symbol of royal power. They stormed the Bastille and the revolution officially began."
Did the author even read this compilation by the author? There have been countless times of such events individually or otherwise, without the riots following a sacking and restructuring of finance ministry by a monarch, a PM or a president of a country, much less the determination by people to even copy a Bastille, much less do an original.
The author and publishers are certainly not going into real agents of the revolution.
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"The French Revolution greatly alarmed many European rulers, and that anxiety only grew worse with the execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette after the overthrow of the French monarchy in 1793. For this reason, several European powers—Austria, the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of Naples, Prussia, Spain, and Great Britain—formed what was called the First Coalition that was intended to curtail the unrest in France. Despite the civil war going on within her borders, France was able to defeat the coalition. At this time, Napoleon Bonaparte was a general in the French army, and it was he who forced the Austrians to sign a treaty, which then left only Great Britain to oppose the newly formed French Republic."
So - if the monarchies around hadn't attacked France in the first place, fearing their own thrones, perhaps Napoleon might have remained a general at most, or returned to academic life!
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"A second coalition that included Great Britain, Austria, Naples, the Ottoman Empire, the Papal States, Portugal, Russia, and Sweden formed in 1798. At that time, the French Republic lacked funds, had lost their minister of war, and had suffered the effect of corruption and internal strife. Furthermore, Napoleon was fighting a campaign in Egypt with the intent to disrupt the British economic powerhouse in India. Because of this, France suffered several defeats against numerous enemies funded mainly by Great Britain."
How, exactly, were they "funded mainly by Great Britain", except by looting India, or as author terms it - "British economic powerhouse in India", exposing the rampant racist mindset of the author and publishers?
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"After Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt failed, he returned to France on August 23, 1799. It was then that he seized control of the government on November 9 of that year. It was a bloodless coup d’état that immediately transformed the French Republic into a dictatorship. Napoleon reorganized the military forces and established a large reserve army to support campaigns in the Rhine and Italy. The Russians were already out of the picture, and Napoleon then led the French military to victory against the Austrians in June of 1800. The Austrians were forced to sign a treaty in 1801, and that compelled the British to sign the Treaty of Amiens that established a tenuous peace—one that would only last a year."
And the comet was on its way.
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"“I am sometimes a fox and sometimes a lion. The whole secret of government lies in knowing when to be the one or the other.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
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"“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
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"It only took a few short months after the collapse of the Third Coalition for the Fourth Coalition to be formed. The coalition consisted of Britain, Prussia, Russia, Saxony, and Sweden.
"Napoleon controlled the Rhineland, and in July of 1806, he formed the Confederation of the Rhine whereby he amalgamated several smaller states into larger electorates, duchies, and kingdoms. His aim was to make the governance of this non-Prussian region of Germany smoother, and so, he also elevated the two rulers of Saxony and Bavaria to kings.
"In August of 1806, the king of Prussia, Frederick William III, decided to declare war on France even without a coalition of allies. Napoleon responded by unleashing all of his forces located east of the Rhine into Prussia. He swiftly defeated the Prussian army on October 14, 1806, in battles at Jena and Auerstädt. Napoleon’s forces numbered 160,000 when they attacked Prussia, and they caused 25,000 casualties, took 150,000 prisoners, and captured 4,000 artillery pieces and more than 100,000 muskets. The result of the war with Prussia was that Saxony left Prussia and, along with a few of the small Germanic states, allied with France."
Perhaps if he'd been able to stop here and consolidate, shape and future history of Europe would be very different, with a prolonged Renaissance instead of two disastrous world wars and a bloody revolution. Perhaps Russia would have improved by emulating a strong and progressive France as a close and large neighbour to the west, instead of a feudal German federation led by a militant and war hungry Prussia.
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"The next stage of the war was fought between Russia and France. France drove the Russian forces out of Poland, and from there, Napoleon used Polish and German soldiers in sieges fought against Silesia and Pomerania. He also had Dutch and Italian soldiers in the siege against Pomerania. After these battles, Bonaparte moved on in pursuit of the last of the Russian forces. In battles at Eylau, Danzig, and Heilsberg, Napoleon was able to force the Russian troops to withdraw further to the north. At Friedland on June 14, 1807, Napoleon decisively beat the Russian forces, which forced the Russian Emperor Alexander I to make peace with the French at Tilsit on July 7.
"Following Napoleon’s victory over Russia, the new Napoleonic client states of the Kingdom of Westphalia, the Duchy of Warsaw, and the Republic of Danzig were established. And, Napoleon’s Marshal of the State, Guillaume Brune, completed the occupation of Swedish Pomerania, which resulted in the withdrawal of the Swedish army.
"In addition to Napoleon’s military successes, Bonaparte had instituted a blockade, known as the Continental System, designed to paralyze Great Britain by destroying the country’s commerce. In decrees issued late in 1806 and again in December of 1807, Napoleon proclaimed that neutral parties and French allies were not allowed to trade with the British. And, it was effective at hurting British industries, which caused internal strife within the country.
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"Britain’s first response to this blockade was to launch a naval offensive against Denmark. While Denmark was supposedly neutral in the conflict, it was under intense pressure to ally with Napoleon, and Britain was not willing to take the chance it would give in to that pressure. Thus, in August of 1807, the British Royal Navy bombarded Copenhagen and captured the Dano-Norwegian fleet. That gave Britain the control of sea lanes in the North and Baltic seas. Denmark did ally with France in the end, but without its navy, there was little it could offer the French forces.
"Meanwhile, Russia led an invasion of Finland in February of 1808 as part of a plan to force Sweden to comply with the Continental System. Napoleon also sent troops to Denmark to participate in an invasion of Sweden after Denmark declared war on Sweden in March of 1808. The British naval superiority, however, prevented the armies from crossing the Øresund Strait, and that restricted the war to the Swedish border regions.
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"Britain tried to help Sweden with humanitarian aid during the fighting, but the aid was limited. As a result, Sweden adopted a more Napoleon-friendly policy, and at the Congress of Erfurt in September through October of 1808, France and Russia agreed to divide Sweden into two parts separated by the Gulf of Bothnia. The eastern part became part of Russia’s Grand Duchy of Finland.
"By the end of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon had succeeded in gaining significant power over territories throughout Europe. In Poland, he had created a powerful outpost in the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, consisting of lands seized from Austria and Prussia. This region would be a major contributor of soldiers for Napoleon’s forces in later conflicts. And, Napoleon’s ideals would have a major impact on Poland even after it became a state in 1918.
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"“Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
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"“A leader is a dealer in hope.”
"― Napoleon Bonaparte"
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"“My regrets are not for myself but for unhappy France! With twenty thousand men less than I had we ought to have won the battle of Waterloo. But it was fate that made me lose it.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
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"“It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
Indeed, as attested by examples galore, from Abraham Lincoln to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
On the other hand, there was the Confederate South where they were emotional about their 'Cause', but no one dead defending it is termed a martyr, not even the killer of Abraham Lincoln. And the very word 'cause' is not familiar as a word related to the US Civil War, unless one is fond of Gone With The Wind.
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"The reason so many coalitions formed to fight against Napoleon’s forces was that he was fighting for radical changes to Europe. The rise of Napoleon was borne of the French Revolution, a revolution that sought to destroy serfdom and the monarchy as well as the influence of the Catholic Church. ... "
Admitted finally there in last couple of words!
And yet, who then was the matchstick that set fire to the tinderbox?
" ... There were many in power throughout Europe who feared those ideals. The coalition forces sought to reverse some of the changes brought by the Napoleonic Wars by restoring the Bourbon royal house to the throne in France.
"Napoleon had been successful in uniting much of western Europe under one rule, and in those European countries, French rule brought many liberal features with it. Those included the concepts of democracy, due process in the courts, the abolition of serfdom, a reduction in the power of the Catholic Church, and constitutional limits on monarchs. As commerce and industry rose in those countries, a growing middle class increasingly shared in political decisions, and thus, the monarchs restored to rule after Napoleon’s defeat and exile found it difficult to impose the absolutism that had existed prior to the French Revolution. They were forced, instead, to retain many of the reforms Napoleon enacted during his rule. To this day, many of those institutional legacies remain in the form of civil law and defined codes of law that resulted from the Napoleonic Code.
"Additionally, the borders of Europe were once again redrawn. France was no longer a dominant power in Europe, and the Congress of Vienna restored a balance of power by resizing several countries. Prussia was restored in its former borders, and it also was the recipient of large parts of Poland and Saxony. Prussia became a permanent Great Power, meaning it was recognized as having the ability to exercise influence on a global scale. As such, it was given Rhineland and Westphalia, regions which transformed it into an industrial leader in the nineteenth century. ... "
Congress of Vienna then was responsible ultimately for WWI, nazis, holocaust and WWII, not to mention Russian Revolution, massacre of much of the Romanov clan, and untold miseries that resulted from this forced reversal of establishment of Napoleonic Code through the continent, to belligerent monarchies- and their inheritors - seeking to enslave everyone else.
" ... Britain had emerged as the most important economic power in Europe, and its Royal Navy had distinguished itself with unquestioned naval superiority across the globe. This would last well into the twentieth century."
So Congress of Vienna was responsible Aldo for the untold miseries visited on India by British Empire looting India, which included not only starvation to death of millions due to British stealing harvests, but ultimate fraud established by Macaulay policy of lying - and lying very deliberately, repeatedly and sanctimoniously - about anything and everything that was good in India.
................................................................................................
"Following the Napoleonic Wars, nationalism emerged as a new and increasingly significant movement. That would shape European history well into the future. Fiefdoms and the aristocracy were increasingly replaced with national ideologies which sowed the seeds for the formation of nation-states, specifically Germany and Italy. Norway signed its own constitution on May 17, 1814, and following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark was forced to cede Norway to Sweden. Sweden then initiated the Swedish-Norwegian War of 1814, which lasted less than a month and ended with a Swedish victory. Norway then entered into a personal union with Sweden which was peaceably dissolved in 1905. The United Kingdom of the Netherlands, which had been created as a buffer zone against France, rapidly dissolved after the wars and ended with the independence of Belgium in 1830.
"The Napoleonic Wars also had far-reaching effects in the New World. The conflicts had weakened Spanish authority and military power in Latin America. That resulted in numerous uprisings leading to wars of independence for many countries. Brazil, which served as the seat of the Portuguese Empire, ascended to the status of kingdom, which eventually led to the Portuguese Liberal Revolution in 1820 and Brazilian independence in 1822.
"The end of the Napoleonic Wars also spurred a large inflow of immigrants to the United States with some 30 million Europeans relocating to the U.S. between 1815 and 1914. One of the failures that Napoleon lamented after his defeat was his dream of a unified Europe. His ultimate goal was to create a “European Association” that shared the same principles of government, a system of measurement, currency, and a civil code. Though he failed to achieve that dream, one and a half centuries later, his ideals re-emerged in the form of the European Union."
Indeed.
And UK questioned, joined, and seceded the EU.
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"“The only victories which leave no regret are those which are gained over ignorance.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
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"“There are but two powers in the world, the sword and the mind. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the mind.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
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"Napoleon was no stranger to the use of innovative techniques of all kinds to achieve his goals. He used mobility to offset numerical disadvantages, and he redefined the role of artillery by allowing them to form mobile, independent units. He also utilized the semaphore system to communicate with French forces. The semaphore system is a kind of optical telegraph. Visual signals communicate messages between towers or stations—this system allowed for communication throughout the Napoleonic Wars. Furthermore, the French forces employed a type of aerial surveillance for the first time in these conflicts. They utilized a hot air balloon to survey the position of coalition forces.
"With regard to the increase in the size and scope of the conflicts, historians believe that the ideological clash that began with the French Revolution spurred the growth of the conflicts. The second reason for the dramatic increases in total warfare is related to the emergence of nationalism in France, Germany, Spain, and elsewhere that made these wars important to the people of these countries rather than only to the monarchy. Furthermore, the intellectual transformations in the culture of war that resulted from the Enlightenment turned war into a total societal experience rather than a routine event. The French Revolution effectively integrated every civilian into the war effort, either as a soldier or as a vital component of the home front machinery supporting and supplying the military. That resulted in the emerging concept of militarism—the belief that the military role is superior to the civilian role in times of national crisis. Napoleon himself noted, “It is the soldier who found a Republic and it is the soldier who maintains it.” That is yet one more enduring belief that traces its roots to the Napoleonic Wars.
"Yet another novel factor in the Napoleonic Wars was the use of military intelligence. It was a pivotal factor that changed the tide of the wars by dictating the course of major battles. Napoleon employed the use of military intelligence in his strategies to outfox larger armies, to anticipate enemy movements, and to plan complex strategies. A number of battles were dictated by military intelligence to greater or lesser benefit. These include the Battle of Waterloo, the Battle of Leipzig, the Battle of Salamanca, and the Battle of Vitoria. Though military intelligence was used to great advantage, on some occasions, such as the Battle of Jena, even superior military intelligence could not overcome the sheer force of Napoleon’s army."
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"The Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts that pitted the French Empire against a variety of European coalitions, the majority of which were financed and directed by the United Kingdom. The wars were a continuation of conflicts stemming from the French Revolution, which caused great consternation throughout Europe.
"When Napoleon ascended to authority in 1799, he inherited a chaotic republic. He worked to create a financially stable state with a strong bureaucracy and a well-trained army. Despite his efforts or perhaps because of them, Austria and Russia would form a coalition to wage war against France, beginning in 1805. Some historians cite this as the start date of the Napoleonic Wars, though others argue the official start was when Napoleon took control of the government. Still others claim the start date was May of 1803 when a short period of peace between Britain and France ended, or December of 1804 when Napoleon crowned himself emperor of France.
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"Part of the reason there is no consensus among historians is that the Napoleonic Wars were really part of a series of wars that began with the French Revolution prior to Napoleon’s seizure of power. In fact, the Napoleonic Wars are categorized into five separate conflicts between France and various other European coalitions. The five conflicts are named after these coalitions: the Third Coalition (1805), the Fourth Coalition (1806-1807), the Fifth Coalition (1809), the Sixth Coalition (1813-1814), and the Seventh Coalition (1815). The first and second coalitions were associated with the French Revolution before the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars.
"However they are described, the Napoleonic Wars had a dramatic effect that left an enduring legacy throughout Europe and beyond. The wars brought radical changes to Europe including many liberal features of the French Revolution like democracy, a reduction in power of the Catholic Church, the abolition of serfdom, and a demand for constitutional limits on monarchs. Furthermore, Napoleon’s tactics forever changed military culture. He utilized a well-trained, professional army rather than mercenaries, and this enlarged the scale of warfare. He also used military innovations and military intelligence to his advantage, and those tendencies would endure long after Napoleon’s Waterloo.
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"“Revolutions have never lightened the burden of tyranny: they have only shifted it to another shoulder.”
"—George Bernard Shaw"
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"The Napoleonic Wars were a continuation of the French Revolution, which began in 1789 and ended in 1799. But what led to the French Revolution? Historians point to several factors. Beginning in the late Middle Ages, France had a political and social system known as the Ancien Régime. That basically meant a hereditary monarchy and a feudal system structured on the basis of social and economic inequality. After the Enlightenment, which emerged in France in the early 1700s, rising social and economic inequality as well as economic mismanagement and environmental factors led to agricultural failure, political mismanagement, and an unmanageable national debt. It was these factors that lay the groundwork for revolution."
It's easier to understand the latter part of "rising social and economic inequality", bad as it is; but why the former? How does social inequality rise, unless - and openly admittedly so - the caste system of the Saud society is inefficient and incapable of working in the first place?
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"Additionally, as the eighteenth century progressed, there was a rise of an idea that German philosopher Jürgen Habermas termed the concept of the public sphere. Prior to this time, France had what is referred to as a representational culture, meaning that there was a one-sided need to represent power, and while one side was active in that model, the other side was passive. An example would be the Palace of Versailles, which was constructed with the intention to overwhelm visitors and convince them of the greatness of the French state and the monarch at the time, Louis XIV. One side is representing power and the other side is passively experiencing it."
Most palaces of yore are constructed with this in mind, as are most famous residences of Newport now only visited by tourists since over half a century. Yet revolution only took place in France, not elsewhere where palatial residences of rich or powerful exist.
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"With the emergence of the concept of the public sphere, however, both sides were active. Cultural examples of public sphere entities would be things like newspapers, journals, coffee houses, masonic lodges, and reading clubs where people gather to debate and discuss the issues of the day. When the concept was emerging in France in the eighteenth century, the public sphere was outside state control, and that resulted in a shift from Versailles to Paris as the cultural capital. This also meant that what was considered culturally good and what was not went from being defined by the royal court to a matter of consumer opinion. Thus, the court was rapidly losing influence in French culture."
Has author made clear what is meant here by "both sides"?
One seriously doubts that the caste system of Europe expected people to think or have an opinion, especially so when it csme to those on lower rungs; and the church had, with various tricks from confessions and guilt doctrine to inquisition, had seen to it that people were terrified of thought, especially of independent thought.
So the development described above had more of a dimension to it than economic or political or social or even the caste system of Europe, and had far more to be interlinked with Renaissance and with people being fed up with church.
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"Inevitably, this change in philosophy and the loss of institutional influence transformed into a desire on the part of the public to also have a say in political questions. The context for these changes was complicated by the fact that the national government had numerous fiscal problems. The tax system was unjust, inefficient, and deeply hated, and France’s involvement in numerous large wars, such as the Seven Years’ War which cost France its colonial possessions in North America, had been financially disastrous. Following that debacle, Louis XVI sent some 10,000 troops and millions of dollars to support the American colonial rebels. That left France severely indebted."
It sounds more and more as if the author and publishers are desperate to hide the real situation, that of the groundswell that was Renaissance, led by rebellion against domination of thought by church. Hence this pointing fingers at France with "tax system was unjust, inefficient, and deeply hated" when, obviously, lower castes of Europe from Irish to Russian tto Spanish were all poor, and tax systems weren't exactly beneficial to them elsewhere, either.
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"Louis XVI called an Estates-General in 1789—the first time in more than a century—to address the growing crisis. The economic crisis had become so severe at that point that there wasn’t enough food to go around. For several years, there had been poor harvests, and that, combined with an insufficient transportation system, had contributed to rising food prices. The upper class, of course, was ensured a stable living; however, because of the growing inequality in wealth, the majority of France’s population was starving. Out of desperation, people were resorting to prostitution to stay alive while the royal court in Versailles was living large."
What was church doing, other than a complacent going with the systems as long as church benefited- both as an institution and at personal levels whereby priests, at least those at and above level of bishops, were well off, no matter what?
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"King Louis XVI’s response to the economic problems in France was indecisive and ineffective. And, because of the growth in public sphere entities, such as pamphlets and other published materials, the opposition began to mobilize public opinion against the monarchy using these resources. More and more, the French peasants began to resent the monarchy and the privileged class. They also blamed the Catholic Church for its influence over public policy, and there was a growing desire for religious freedom that played a role too. The monarchy and nobles responded to the growing anger by trying to repress the sources of information, thus, feeding the resentment. The stage was set for revolution."
Has writing about French Revolution always been this shoddy?
There's no discussion here, not even a question, regarding the said pamphlets and their authors, those who were behind the awakening of people.
When it comes to subsequent Russian revolution, credit is given completely to Marx, Lenin et al; when it comes to American Revolution, it's blithely assumed that people were all equally aware, capable and responsible of thinking, choices, and more - and then tea is mentioned.
But French Revolution, in contrast, is discussed what can only be termed as shoddily, at best.
If it was general French public all responsible, why were people of rest of Europe fine with their own feudal inequities? If there were other forces behind the awakening and uprising of French people, why aren't they mentioned, much less identified and discussed?
Or was it church, individually as some bishops if not as an institution?
Surely it couldn't have been that French people, en masse, decided to copy American Revolution, while other Europeans were jolly content?
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"“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”
"—John F. Kennedy"
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"By 1789, France was in crisis. People were starving, and there was growing resentment of the monarchy and the nobility. France was in deep economic trouble, and the peasantry blamed the nobility and King Louis XVI along with his queen, Marie Antoinette.
"The queen was a particularly despised figure by the peasantry. She was a popular subject of ridicule in the various French publications, which frequently depicted her as a sexual deviant. In a state of deep depression, the king was increasingly seeking her counsel. As France sank deeper into an economic catastrophe, Marie Antoinette came to be seen as having single-handedly ruined the national finances. She was even given the nickname of “Madame Deficit.” She was later widely reported to have said, in response to starving peasants who had no bread, “Let them eat cake.” There is, however, no evidence she actually said that. Many historians believe it was the hatred of her that generated the rumor and kept it alive for centuries."
To begin with, Europe had had far worse, what with inquisition and "Black Death", neither of which could have been blamed on royals or rich, while church was certainly to be blamed for one.
And the only guilt of the queen was being not French, which made it easier for the country to heap everything on her. Her gender did the rest - in an abrahmic society misogyny is always rampant and calling a woman sexually deviant all too easy, particularly so a queen who is a foreigner and has no defenders.
Later, England disliked Albert for being German, his daughter Victoria was disliked by Germans (after she married the son and heir of Kaiser of Prussia) for being English, and Tsarina Alexandra was disliked by Russian court for being simple while Russian people disliked her for being German.
All this dislike moreover is mostly by those who couldn't have known the object of the dislike.
In recent times, it continues - one should see the poison poured on YouTube on Megan Markle, the woman who married a prince of British realm, which is undoubtedly due to her being foreign as much as due to her ancestry from historically slaves sold in US.
Of course, the last bit isn't expressed verbally just as those criticising president Obama never said the real reason why. And misogyny was the chief reason President Trump was elected that first time - that is, misogyny of voters in US, rather than his.
That this author and publishers are merely quoting the gossip rather than look for real reasons, isn't helping the book.
................................................................................................
"It was in this context of growing economic turmoil and political unrest that King Louis XVI convened the Estates-General in May of 1789, and it was followed by a National Assembly in June of that same year. The finance minister, Jacques Necker, took part in the assembly, giving a speech in support of the common man. He published what was actually an inaccurate account of the government debt on July 11, 1789, and for that, he was fired by King Louis XVI who then proceeded to restructure the finance ministry. This resulted in chaos, riots, and widespread looting in Paris. On July 14, the riotous insurgents set their sights on the weaponry in the Bastille prison fortress, a potent symbol of royal power. They stormed the Bastille and the revolution officially began."
Did the author even read this compilation by the author? There have been countless times of such events individually or otherwise, without the riots following a sacking and restructuring of finance ministry by a monarch, a PM or a president of a country, much less the determination by people to even copy a Bastille, much less do an original.
The author and publishers are certainly not going into real agents of the revolution.
................................................................................................
"The French Revolution greatly alarmed many European rulers, and that anxiety only grew worse with the execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette after the overthrow of the French monarchy in 1793. For this reason, several European powers—Austria, the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of Naples, Prussia, Spain, and Great Britain—formed what was called the First Coalition that was intended to curtail the unrest in France. Despite the civil war going on within her borders, France was able to defeat the coalition. At this time, Napoleon Bonaparte was a general in the French army, and it was he who forced the Austrians to sign a treaty, which then left only Great Britain to oppose the newly formed French Republic."
So - if the monarchies around hadn't attacked France in the first place, fearing their own thrones, perhaps Napoleon might have remained a general at most, or returned to academic life!
................................................................................................
"A second coalition that included Great Britain, Austria, Naples, the Ottoman Empire, the Papal States, Portugal, Russia, and Sweden formed in 1798. At that time, the French Republic lacked funds, had lost their minister of war, and had suffered the effect of corruption and internal strife. Furthermore, Napoleon was fighting a campaign in Egypt with the intent to disrupt the British economic powerhouse in India. Because of this, France suffered several defeats against numerous enemies funded mainly by Great Britain."
How, exactly, were they "funded mainly by Great Britain", except by looting India, or as author terms it - "British economic powerhouse in India", exposing the rampant racist mindset of the author and publishers?
................................................................................................
"After Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt failed, he returned to France on August 23, 1799. It was then that he seized control of the government on November 9 of that year. It was a bloodless coup d’état that immediately transformed the French Republic into a dictatorship. Napoleon reorganized the military forces and established a large reserve army to support campaigns in the Rhine and Italy. The Russians were already out of the picture, and Napoleon then led the French military to victory against the Austrians in June of 1800. The Austrians were forced to sign a treaty in 1801, and that compelled the British to sign the Treaty of Amiens that established a tenuous peace—one that would only last a year."
And the comet was on its way.
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
"“I am sometimes a fox and sometimes a lion. The whole secret of government lies in knowing when to be the one or the other.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
................................................................................................
"The Treaty of Amiens was signed by France and Britain in March of 1802. Although the problems between the two countries had not been solved, this treaty established an uneasy cease in hostilities. The persistence of problems made the implementation of the treaty difficult. Napoleon, for example, was angry that the island of Malta had not been evacuated by British forces. He then sent what was termed an expeditionary force to Haiti to re-establish control there. The prolonged tension created by the ongoing disputes caused Britain to once again declare war on France on May 18, 1803—this despite the fact that Napoleon had accepted the British occupation of Malta.
"The expeditionary army Napoleon sent to Haiti was wiped out by disease, and that caused him to abandon his plans for rebuilding France’s New World territories. Without sugar revenues from the Caribbean, the North American territory of Louisiana had little value for France. Spain had been overseeing the transfer of Louisiana to France, but it was going too slowly for Napoleon. He became angered, and despite the fact that he didn’t actually own it yet, Napoleon decided to sell the entire territory of Louisiana to the United States for 68 million francs (approximately $15 million). On April 30, 1803, the Louisiana Purchase Treaty was signed. Napoleon spent the entirety of the 60 million francs on his planned invasion of Britain.
................................................................................................
"This prompted the formation of the Third Coalition in December of 1804. An agreement between Britain and Sweden allowed the former to use Swedish Pomerania as a military base. It was located near the French-occupied Electorate of Hanover, which was the homeland of the British monarch. For their part, Sweden had broken off diplomatic ties with France after the Duke of Enghien, Louis Antoine, had been convicted and executed on dubious evidence that he was involved in a plot to assassinate Napoleon. His execution shocked aristocrats throughout Europe, who already lacked respect for Napoleon after the bloodshed of the French Revolution.
"British Prime Minister William Pitt began a flurry of diplomatic activity with the aim of forming a new coalition against France. Though Britain had become increasingly nervous about the Baltic being dominated by Russia since it was a center crucial to supplies for the Royal Navy, Pitt worked to secure Russia as an ally in the effort to defeat France. And, though Britain had supported the Ottoman Empire when it resisted Russian incursions, both countries laid their suspicions aside to unite against France. They formed the Anglo-Russian alliance in 1805 with the stated goal of restricting France to the borders established in 1792. Austria, Naples, and Sweden would all eventually join the alliance.
................................................................................................
"Napoleon passed the time between 1801 and 1804 engaging in active military campaigns. That permitted him to consolidate his power in France. In 1802, he was proclaimed “consul for life” for his efforts to make peace with Britain. Two years later, he was proclaimed emperor of France. He was crowned as such in the Notre Dame Cathedral on December 2, 1804, and proceeded to secure the allegiance of the army by creating 18 marshals of the empire from among his top generals. In 1805, Napoleon gained control over northern Italy, thereby undermining Austrian influence over the area. That caused Austria to join the Third Coalition a few months later.
"As Britain gathered allies to join the Third Coalition, Napoleon considered invading the British Isles. He amassed 180,000 troops at Boulogne, but before he was ready to invade, he had to achieve naval superiority or get the British Royal Navy out of the English Channel. So, he developed a complex scheme to distract Britain. He threatened their possessions in the West Indies. France and Spain were allied, and so, Napoleon tried using the Spanish fleet based in Cádiz to occupy the British Navy. Vice-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve was the best senior officer available at the time because the French navy had lost officers due to execution or dismissal during the French Revolution. Villeneuve, however, had little enthusiasm for Napoleon’s plans. He had suffered a defeat to the British at the Battle of the Nile and had no desire to face the Royal Navy again.
................................................................................................
"The British had instituted a blockade of the port of Brest, the largest, most important of French naval bases, during the French Revolution. Napoleon’s plan involved having the French and Spanish fleets unite in the West Indies and then help the fleet in Brest break the blockade. That would also clear the English Channel of the Royal Navy. While the fleets were able to rendezvous in the West Indies, when Villeneuve returned from the West Indies with the intention to break the blockade, two of his ships were captured at the Battle of Cape Finisterre, and that caused him to abandon the plan.
"Napoleon’s scheme, however, depended on the combined forces, and so, he needed Villeneuve’s fleet of 32 ships. He ordered Villeneuve to sail northward to Brest, but Villeneuve, defying his orders, sailed southward to Cádiz. The French army corps were waiting for Villeneuve’s ships, and when they didn’t come, they marched to Germany. When Britain learned that the Franco-Spanish fleet was in the harbor of Cádiz, they made the decision to detach 20 of their ships in the English Channel to engage the enemy forces. That left only 11 ships to defend against invading forces.
................................................................................................
"The British ships sailed to Cádiz and blockaded the Franco-Spanish fleet in the harbor there. In October of 1805, Villeneuve finally left the harbor for Naples. The British squadron followed suit and caught the combined fleet on October 21. The Royal Navy overwhelmingly defeated the Franco-Spanish fleet, though the British commander, Lord Nelson, died in the battle. That was Napoleon’s last attempt to challenge British naval superiority, and he would never again have the opportunity to invade Britain. Instead, he focused his efforts on other enemies in Europe.
"Early in September of 1805, Austria began the war on the continent by invading Bavaria. They met the French in battle at Ulm between September 25 and October 20. Napoleon forced the surrender of Austria’s army, but not until he had suffered significant losses.
"Napoleon was also able to successfully occupy Vienna on November 13, and on December 2, he soundly defeated an Austro-Russian force under the command of Mikhail Kutuzov. This battle took place at Austerlitz and is considered Napoleon’s greatest victory. He inflicted some 25,000 casualties on his enemies and suffered fewer than 7,000 casualties in his own army. That brought Austria to the table for peace talks, and on December 26, 1805, they signed the Treaty of Pressburg and left the coalition. The terms of the treaty required that the Austrians give up Venetia to the Kingdom of Italy, now under French control, and Tyrol to Bavaria.
................................................................................................
"The withdrawal of Austria from the coalition resulted in a stalemate. Napoleon’s army on land was unbeaten, but the Russian army had yet to flex its muscles. At this point, Napoleon had consolidated his hold on France, and he now had control over Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the majority of western Germany and northern Italy. Many historians argue that Napoleon had wanted to stop at this point, but he was forced to continue to establish secure borders against those countries that still refused to accept his conquests. Others argue that it was a good time to stop the expansion since the major powers were willing to accept Napoleon. In fact, by 1806, Russia and Britain were eager to make peace and likely would have agreed to leave Napoleon’s empire nearly completely intact. Austria and Prussia merely wanted to be left alone, and they would have agreed to a compromise peace. Napoleon, however, was not making any concessions.
"All told, by the time this part of the Napoleonic Wars ended, the French had lost just over 20,000 soldiers. They also suffered over 31,000 wounded and 5,000 captured soldiers through the various campaigns. The Spanish suffered 1,200 losses and 1,600 wounded. Bavaria lost 300 and had 1,200 wounded, the Kingdom of Italy lost 350 men and had another 1,900 wounded. The Austrians lost 20,000 soldiers and had another 70,000 taken prisoner. Russian casualties included 25,000 dead and wounded, and 70,000 captured. Finally, the army of Naples that included 22,000 soldiers was wiped out by the French in 1806, with only 2,000 escaping to Sicily. There would not be much of a break as within a few months, the Fourth Coalition would begin."
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
"“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
................................................................................................
"It only took a few short months after the collapse of the Third Coalition for the Fourth Coalition to be formed. The coalition consisted of Britain, Prussia, Russia, Saxony, and Sweden.
"Napoleon controlled the Rhineland, and in July of 1806, he formed the Confederation of the Rhine whereby he amalgamated several smaller states into larger electorates, duchies, and kingdoms. His aim was to make the governance of this non-Prussian region of Germany smoother, and so, he also elevated the two rulers of Saxony and Bavaria to kings.
"In August of 1806, the king of Prussia, Frederick William III, decided to declare war on France even without a coalition of allies. Napoleon responded by unleashing all of his forces located east of the Rhine into Prussia. He swiftly defeated the Prussian army on October 14, 1806, in battles at Jena and Auerstädt. Napoleon’s forces numbered 160,000 when they attacked Prussia, and they caused 25,000 casualties, took 150,000 prisoners, and captured 4,000 artillery pieces and more than 100,000 muskets. The result of the war with Prussia was that Saxony left Prussia and, along with a few of the small Germanic states, allied with France."
Perhaps if he'd been able to stop here and consolidate, shape and future history of Europe would be very different, with a prolonged Renaissance instead of two disastrous world wars and a bloody revolution. Perhaps Russia would have improved by emulating a strong and progressive France as a close and large neighbour to the west, instead of a feudal German federation led by a militant and war hungry Prussia.
................................................................................................
"The next stage of the war was fought between Russia and France. France drove the Russian forces out of Poland, and from there, Napoleon used Polish and German soldiers in sieges fought against Silesia and Pomerania. He also had Dutch and Italian soldiers in the siege against Pomerania. After these battles, Bonaparte moved on in pursuit of the last of the Russian forces. In battles at Eylau, Danzig, and Heilsberg, Napoleon was able to force the Russian troops to withdraw further to the north. At Friedland on June 14, 1807, Napoleon decisively beat the Russian forces, which forced the Russian Emperor Alexander I to make peace with the French at Tilsit on July 7.
"Following Napoleon’s victory over Russia, the new Napoleonic client states of the Kingdom of Westphalia, the Duchy of Warsaw, and the Republic of Danzig were established. And, Napoleon’s Marshal of the State, Guillaume Brune, completed the occupation of Swedish Pomerania, which resulted in the withdrawal of the Swedish army.
"In addition to Napoleon’s military successes, Bonaparte had instituted a blockade, known as the Continental System, designed to paralyze Great Britain by destroying the country’s commerce. In decrees issued late in 1806 and again in December of 1807, Napoleon proclaimed that neutral parties and French allies were not allowed to trade with the British. And, it was effective at hurting British industries, which caused internal strife within the country.
................................................................................................
"Britain’s first response to this blockade was to launch a naval offensive against Denmark. While Denmark was supposedly neutral in the conflict, it was under intense pressure to ally with Napoleon, and Britain was not willing to take the chance it would give in to that pressure. Thus, in August of 1807, the British Royal Navy bombarded Copenhagen and captured the Dano-Norwegian fleet. That gave Britain the control of sea lanes in the North and Baltic seas. Denmark did ally with France in the end, but without its navy, there was little it could offer the French forces.
"Meanwhile, Russia led an invasion of Finland in February of 1808 as part of a plan to force Sweden to comply with the Continental System. Napoleon also sent troops to Denmark to participate in an invasion of Sweden after Denmark declared war on Sweden in March of 1808. The British naval superiority, however, prevented the armies from crossing the Øresund Strait, and that restricted the war to the Swedish border regions.
................................................................................................
"Britain tried to help Sweden with humanitarian aid during the fighting, but the aid was limited. As a result, Sweden adopted a more Napoleon-friendly policy, and at the Congress of Erfurt in September through October of 1808, France and Russia agreed to divide Sweden into two parts separated by the Gulf of Bothnia. The eastern part became part of Russia’s Grand Duchy of Finland.
"By the end of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon had succeeded in gaining significant power over territories throughout Europe. In Poland, he had created a powerful outpost in the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, consisting of lands seized from Austria and Prussia. This region would be a major contributor of soldiers for Napoleon’s forces in later conflicts. And, Napoleon’s ideals would have a major impact on Poland even after it became a state in 1918.
................................................................................................
"For Napoleon, this point in time is considered a zenith of his empire. Flush with the recent victories, he went on to capture the Iberian ports of Portugal, a long-time ally of the British. Napoleon wanted to establish a further impediment to British trade as part of his Continental System. This led to the October 1807 Treaty of Fontainebleau between France and Spain. The terms of the treaty provided that French forces were granted passage through Spain’s realm, and Spain agreed to ally with France. In return, Spain received the Portuguese territory. However, in November of 1807, the prince regent of Portugal refused to join the Continental System, and that prompted Napoleon to send an army into Spain. The stated aim was to invade Portugal, but Napoleon also wanted to establish a vanguard for the eventual French occupation of Spain.
"As a result of this conflict, Napoleon took over Spain in 1808 and installed Joseph Bonaparte, his older brother, on the Spanish throne. That prompted the Spanish populace—Bourbon Spain—to unite with Portugal, and with the assistance of Britain, they fought against the French occupying forces. The conflict is known as the Peninsular War, and it would continue through the Sixth Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars. The war also overlapped with the Spanish War of Independence, and it is regarded as one of the first wars of national liberation. The war was also notable for the emergence of large-scale guerrilla warfare. Moreover, it marks one of the bloodiest conflicts in modern Spanish history. Finally, it would be this war that would once again prompt the formation of a new coalition against France."
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
"“Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
................................................................................................
"As Napoleon was embroiled in the Peninsular War, Britain and Austria once again formed a coalition in 1809 in the attempt to rein in French expansion. This time, the sea was one of the main war theaters against Napoleon’s allies. Britain once again demonstrated her naval superiority, winning a series of victories in French colonies. Additionally, the Walcheren Expedition in 1809 was a dual effort by the British Army and the Royal Navy to help Austria, which was under intense French pressure. This expedition ultimately failed to capture the objective—French-controlled Antwerp, but the Royal Navy was successful in defeating all substantial naval opposition from France or its allies. By this point, it was clear that Britain dominated the seas.
"The Royal Navy was successful in blockading all of the remaining French-controlled ports. That enabled the British to bring French shipping to a standstill, resulting in the disruption of supplies, communications, and troops near the coasts. Additionally, whenever military actions occurred near the coast, the Royal Navy would arrive with troops and supplies to aid the coalition’s land forces. And, the Royal Navy ships were able to provide artillery support against French forces when the fighting was close enough to the shoreline.
"While it was the abilities of the land forces that ultimately determined the outcome of such battles, the disruption of French supplies was successful in undermining the Continental System. French-dominated states often tolerated and even encouraged trading with British smugglers to get sorely needed supplies. That rendered the Continental System largely ineffective. When Napoleon realized the extent of the trade that was going on, particularly through Russia and Spain, he invaded both of those countries. He was able to regain control over Spain, but he lost very badly in Russia. In Madrid, Napoleon installed a client monarchy, meaning Spain was considered a client state of the French Empire. This provoked a veritable explosion of rebellions throughout Spain, and the British were soon to become more heavily involved.
................................................................................................
"At this time, Austria also saw the opportunity to restore its imperial territories in Germany. It launched attacks against the French forces commanded by Marshal Berthier. Berthier only had 170,000 men to defend France’s eastern frontier, a task that had required five times as many men in the 1790s. For that reason, Austria was able to defeat Berthier’s forces. Austria’s attack kept Napoleon from wrapping up his operations against British forces by requiring that he depart for Austria. He was never to return to fight again in the Peninsular War.
"The Peninsular War was turning into a major disaster. While Napoleon did well and was able to regain control when he was there, his forces suffered major losses in his absence. It was a huge drain on supplies and manpower. All told, there were 60 major campaigns and 30 sieges in the Peninsular War. This was more than any of Napoleon’s other campaigns, and it lasted much longer than any of the others as well.
"In the campaign against Austria, Napoleon had much greater success. The Austrians managed to force their way into the Duchy of Warsaw, but there they suffered a defeat at the Battle of Raszyn in April of 1809. The Polish army was successful in capturing West Galicia, and when Napoleon assumed command of the forces, he bolstered that army for a counterattack on the Austrian forces. Under Napoleon’s command, a few well-run, small battles forced the Austrians to withdraw from Bavaria. Napoleon seized the opportunity to then advance into Austria, where he defeated the Austrians on July 5 and 6 at the Battle of Wagram outside Vienna.
................................................................................................
"Those victories brought an end to the War of the Fifth Coalition. On October 14, the major parties involved signed the Treaty of Schönbrunn. Only the Tyrolese rebels were still holding out against the French-Bavarian army in the east. The British and Portuguese remained confined to the area around Lisbon. That meant that by 1810, the French Empire had reached its greatest extent. In April of that year, Napoleon married the Austrian Archduchess Marie Louise in order to ensure a more stable alliance with Austria. He also hoped that she would give him an heir to his empire, which his first wife had failed to do.
"The French also controlled the Swiss Confederation, the Confederation of the Rhine, the Duchy of Warsaw, and the Kingdom of Italy. France’s allies included Denmark, Spain, which was ruled by Napoleon’s older brother, the Kingdom of Westphalia, over which Napoleon installed his younger brother, Jérôme, as king, the Kingdom of Naples—ruled by the husband of Napoleon’s sister Caroline—and the Principality of Lucca and Piombino, which were controlled by Napoleon’s sister Elisa and her husband Felice Baciocchi. Napoleon’s former enemies—Sweden, Prussia, and Austria—were all now also his allies.
"While it seemed Napoleon could do no wrong, the Spanish Peninsular War raged on, and that would become a major reason behind Napoleon’s ultimate defeat."
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
"“A leader is a dealer in hope.”
"― Napoleon Bonaparte"
................................................................................................
"When Russia and France signed the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, that resulted in the Russian Emperor Alexander I declaring war on Britain later that same year. British warships supported the Swedish fleet during the war with Finland. They also won significant victories over Russian forces in the Gulf of Finland in July of 1808 and August of 1809. The Russian forces were superior, however, on the land, and that resulted in peace treaties between Sweden and Russia in 1809 and Sweden and France in 1810. However, the relationship between Russia and France began to deteriorate after 1810, as the Russian war with Britain was ending. By 1812, Britain, Russia, and Sweden were conspiring in secret agreements directed against Napoleon.
"The main problem in the Franco-Russian relations was the control of Poland. Each side wanted a semi-independent state over which they could exercise full control. Additionally, Russia refused to support Napoleon’s Continental System. For these reasons, Napoleon decided to invade Russia. He employed a pan-European Grande Armée that consisted of 450,000 men, half of which were French soldiers.
................................................................................................
"On June 24, 1812, Napoleon crossed the Niemen River, causing Russia to declare war against France. Napoleon proclaimed the Second Polish War, so named because the political pretext for the war was to liberate Poland from the threat of Russia. With 100,000 Polish soldiers and his own Grande Armée, Napoleon marched through Russia. He won some minor battles and a major one, the Battle of Smolensk in August, but French forces under the command of Marshal Nicolas Oudinot were defeated in the Battle of Polotsk. That prevented the French forces from marching on the Russian capital of Saint Petersburg. Instead, the French invasion was directed to Moscow, where Napoleon led his army in person.
"The Russian forces used what is called a scorched-earth technique, burning everything behind them as the army retreated. It was a technique that had served Russia well in numerous wars. As they retreated, burning anything useful as they went, they also used the light Cossack cavalry to attack the French army. These attacks cost the French army 95,000 men in one week.
................................................................................................
"The Russian forces kept going like this for nearly three months, until finally, the two armies engaged in battle at Borodino on September 7, near Moscow. This was the largest, most bloody single-day battle of all the Napoleonic Wars. The battle was fought with more than 250,000 men and it resulted in 70,000 casualties. Though it was bloody, it was indecisive.
"The French captured their objective but did not manage to destroy the Russian army. On September 14, Napoleon and his forces entered Moscow only to find that the Russians had left the city. They had also released criminals from their prisons just to frustrate the French. The Russian governor of the city, Fyodor Rostopchin, ordered that it be burnt, but Tsar Alexander I refused and attempted peace talks with Napoleon.
................................................................................................
"The peace talks came to nothing, however, and in October, Napoleon began what would be a disastrous retreat from Moscow. His forces were running out of supplies, and amidst intermittent battles with the replenished Russian forces, they desperately attempted to get somewhere where they could find food and forage supplies. They were blocked when they tried to reach Kaluga and were forced to retreat the same way they had come—back to Moscow.
"In the weeks that followed, Napoleon and his forces were dealt the most catastrophic blow of all, “General Winter,” which saw temperatures drop as low as -37 degrees Celsius (or -35 degrees Fahrenheit). All along the way, they were met with constant guerrilla warfare by Russian troops. When what was left of Napoleon’s army finally crossed the Berezina River in November, only 27,000 soldiers remained. Some 380,000 men were dead or missing, and another 100,000 had been captured. For their part, the Russians had lost 210,000 men, but they were quickly able to replenish their armies.
................................................................................................
"Upon seeing Napoleon’s defeat in Russia, Prussia, Sweden, Austria, and various German states re-entered the war, forming the Sixth Coalition. Meanwhile, the Peninsular War in Spain continued to be a source of frustration for French forces. In 1812, Arthur Wellesley, the duke of Wellington, had renewed the Anglo-Portuguese advance into Spain. He had been making progress, capturing the fortified towns of Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, and Salamanca. As a result of these incursions, the French ended the long siege of Cadiz. This provided an opportunity for the duke of Wellington to move his supply base to Santander, and from there, his forces seized Burgos. Then, on June 21, the Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish armies were victorious in Vitoria against Joseph Bonaparte. This ended the French power in Spain and the French were forced to leave the Iberian Peninsula.
"In Paris, Napoleon quickly rebuilt his forces from 30,000 to 400,000 men, allowing him to inflict some 40,000 casualties on the coalition forces at Lützen and Bautzen in May of 1813. Deterred, the coalition forces offered Napoleon the Frankfurt proposals in November. Under the terms of these proposals, Napoleon would remain emperor of France, but his empire would be reduced to its natural borders. He would lose control of most of Italy and Germany as well as the Netherlands. Napoleon, still confident of his eventual victory, rejected the proposals.
................................................................................................
"In June, two Austrian armies added their forces to coalition armies in Germany, bringing the forces there to some 800,000 strong with a strategic reserve of 350,000. Napoleon brought approximately 650,000 soldiers to the region, 250,000 of which were under his direct command. Those forces were joined by another 250,000 French forces from the Confederation of the Rhine, the Kingdom of Naples, Italy, and retreating French forces from Spain. That brought the total French forces to approximately 900,000, though it is notable that most of the German troops fighting for the French were unreliable at best and frequently on the verge of defection to the coalition forces. That meant that Napoleon was seriously outnumbered by about four-to-one.
"Nevertheless, following a ceasefire agreed to by all sides, Napoleon seemed to regain the initiative in Dresden in August of 1813. He defeated the numerically superior coalition forces, inflicting large numbers of casualties as he did so. However, he was slow to resume the offensive after this victory, and he suffered a serious defeat at Leipzig in October. After that battle, the French forces had to withdraw from Germany into France. With their withdrawal, the Dano-Norwegian forces switched sides and joined the coalition.
................................................................................................
"Following Napoleon’s retreat into France, there were a series of battles where the French continued to suffer defeats. The coalition forces finally entered Paris on March 30, 1814. It was during this time that Napoleon fought what is known as the Six Days’ Campaign. He won multiple battles as the enemy forces advanced on Paris; these victories are notable since he never had more than 70,000 men against more than half a million coalition soldiers. Napoleon was determined to keep fighting. He was, as his quote implies, dealing in hope. He finally ran out of hope, however, on April 6, 1814, when he abdicated. The coalition leaders exiled Napoleon to the island of Elba and restored the brother of King Louis XVI to the throne. The peace terms were set with the Treaty of Fontainebleau on April 11.
"For his part, Napoleon blamed the circumstances of his defeat on the Peninsular War, later writing, “That unfortunate war destroyed me . . . All the circumstances of my disasters are bound up in that fatal knot.” It was that knot that historian David Gates termed the “Spanish ulcer.” Yet the world had not yet seen the last of Napoleon Bonaparte."
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
"“My regrets are not for myself but for unhappy France! With twenty thousand men less than I had we ought to have won the battle of Waterloo. But it was fate that made me lose it.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
................................................................................................
"In 1815, Napoleon escaped from Elba, landing on the southern shore of France on March 1. From there, he traveled to Paris, picking up support as he went. By the time he reached Paris, he had enough support to overthrow King Louis XVIII. Napoleon was ready to go back into battle.
"In response to these developments, Britain, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, and several Germanic states formed the Seventh Coalition against France. As the coalition forces formed their armies, Napoleon was raising his own army. He managed to gather 280,000 men whom he distributed among several smaller divisions. On the other side, the coalition forces gathered around 700,000 soldiers.
"Napoleon knew he was outnumbered, and once his attempts to dissuade one or more of the coalition members from invading failed, he realized his only chance lay in attacking the coalition before it mobilized. He took 124,000 men to preemptively strike coalition forces in Belgium before they combined with other forces. By doing that, he hoped to drive the British from the continent, and he also hoped to take the Prussians out of the war altogether.
................................................................................................
"Napoleon was successful in catching the Anglo-Dutch army in a dispersed arrangement, and that achieved the surprise he wanted. He was also able to defeat the Prussian army at Ligny in June. As they retreated in disarray, Napoleon sent the left wing of his army, under the command of Marshal Michel Ney, to stop the British forces from aiding the Prussians. When the Prussians retreated, the British forces led by the duke of Wellington were forced to retreat too. Wellington fell back to Mont-Saint-Jean, which was located a few miles south of Waterloo.
"Napoleon then united his army with the forces of Ney and took up pursuit of Wellington’s army. He ordered Marshal Grouchy to stop the Prussians from re-grouping, but neither Grouchy nor Napoleon realized that they were already gathering at the village of Wavre. The Prussians sent three of their corps to march through the town of Wavre toward Waterloo. Meanwhile, the Third Prussian Corps took up a blocking position across the river. There, Grouchy’s forces engaged and defeated the rearguard on June 18-19, but the victory came about too late. The Prussians had kept Grouchy’s forces from joining Napoleon at Waterloo.
................................................................................................
"On the morning of June 18, Napoleon waited to start the fighting against the Anglo-allied army at Waterloo until the ground dried from the previous night’s rain. Napoleon had planned to keep the coalition forces divided, but the French army was unsuccessful in driving away Wellington’s forces, and Prussians forces were arriving in increasing numbers to attack the French right flank. The result was that the combined coalition forces were able to drive Napoleon’s army from the field in confusion.
"At that point, Grouchy organized a successful, orderly retreat towards Paris. Meanwhile, General Vandamme’s French forces had been defeated at the Battle of Issy, and negotiations for surrender began. Napoleon still had hope that a concerted national resistance could be organized in his favor, but neither the French legislative chambers nor the public were on his side. Napoleon was once again forced to abdicate on June 22, 1815. On July 15, he surrendered to the British at Rochefort, and he was once again exiled to an island, this time to Saint Helena off the coast of western Africa. He would remain there until he died six years later.
"Napoleon’s brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, whom he had put in charge of the Kingdom of Naples, had supported Napoleon during this last phase of the war and thereby triggered the Neapolitan War from March to May of 1815. On May 2-3, Murat was soundly defeated at the Battle of Tolentino. Murat was forced to flee and the Bourbons were returned to the throne of Naples before the end of the month. After trying to regain the throne, Murat was executed by firing squad on October 13, 1815. Thus, the last of the Napoleonic Wars ended, but the legacy they created still endures today."
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"“It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
Indeed, as attested by examples galore, from Abraham Lincoln to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
On the other hand, there was the Confederate South where they were emotional about their 'Cause', but no one dead defending it is termed a martyr, not even the killer of Abraham Lincoln. And the very word 'cause' is not familiar as a word related to the US Civil War, unless one is fond of Gone With The Wind.
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"The reason so many coalitions formed to fight against Napoleon’s forces was that he was fighting for radical changes to Europe. The rise of Napoleon was borne of the French Revolution, a revolution that sought to destroy serfdom and the monarchy as well as the influence of the Catholic Church. ... "
Admitted finally there in last couple of words!
And yet, who then was the matchstick that set fire to the tinderbox?
" ... There were many in power throughout Europe who feared those ideals. The coalition forces sought to reverse some of the changes brought by the Napoleonic Wars by restoring the Bourbon royal house to the throne in France.
"Napoleon had been successful in uniting much of western Europe under one rule, and in those European countries, French rule brought many liberal features with it. Those included the concepts of democracy, due process in the courts, the abolition of serfdom, a reduction in the power of the Catholic Church, and constitutional limits on monarchs. As commerce and industry rose in those countries, a growing middle class increasingly shared in political decisions, and thus, the monarchs restored to rule after Napoleon’s defeat and exile found it difficult to impose the absolutism that had existed prior to the French Revolution. They were forced, instead, to retain many of the reforms Napoleon enacted during his rule. To this day, many of those institutional legacies remain in the form of civil law and defined codes of law that resulted from the Napoleonic Code.
"Additionally, the borders of Europe were once again redrawn. France was no longer a dominant power in Europe, and the Congress of Vienna restored a balance of power by resizing several countries. Prussia was restored in its former borders, and it also was the recipient of large parts of Poland and Saxony. Prussia became a permanent Great Power, meaning it was recognized as having the ability to exercise influence on a global scale. As such, it was given Rhineland and Westphalia, regions which transformed it into an industrial leader in the nineteenth century. ... "
Congress of Vienna then was responsible ultimately for WWI, nazis, holocaust and WWII, not to mention Russian Revolution, massacre of much of the Romanov clan, and untold miseries that resulted from this forced reversal of establishment of Napoleonic Code through the continent, to belligerent monarchies- and their inheritors - seeking to enslave everyone else.
" ... Britain had emerged as the most important economic power in Europe, and its Royal Navy had distinguished itself with unquestioned naval superiority across the globe. This would last well into the twentieth century."
So Congress of Vienna was responsible Aldo for the untold miseries visited on India by British Empire looting India, which included not only starvation to death of millions due to British stealing harvests, but ultimate fraud established by Macaulay policy of lying - and lying very deliberately, repeatedly and sanctimoniously - about anything and everything that was good in India.
................................................................................................
"Following the Napoleonic Wars, nationalism emerged as a new and increasingly significant movement. That would shape European history well into the future. Fiefdoms and the aristocracy were increasingly replaced with national ideologies which sowed the seeds for the formation of nation-states, specifically Germany and Italy. Norway signed its own constitution on May 17, 1814, and following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark was forced to cede Norway to Sweden. Sweden then initiated the Swedish-Norwegian War of 1814, which lasted less than a month and ended with a Swedish victory. Norway then entered into a personal union with Sweden which was peaceably dissolved in 1905. The United Kingdom of the Netherlands, which had been created as a buffer zone against France, rapidly dissolved after the wars and ended with the independence of Belgium in 1830.
"The Napoleonic Wars also had far-reaching effects in the New World. The conflicts had weakened Spanish authority and military power in Latin America. That resulted in numerous uprisings leading to wars of independence for many countries. Brazil, which served as the seat of the Portuguese Empire, ascended to the status of kingdom, which eventually led to the Portuguese Liberal Revolution in 1820 and Brazilian independence in 1822.
"The end of the Napoleonic Wars also spurred a large inflow of immigrants to the United States with some 30 million Europeans relocating to the U.S. between 1815 and 1914. One of the failures that Napoleon lamented after his defeat was his dream of a unified Europe. His ultimate goal was to create a “European Association” that shared the same principles of government, a system of measurement, currency, and a civil code. Though he failed to achieve that dream, one and a half centuries later, his ideals re-emerged in the form of the European Union."
Indeed.
And UK questioned, joined, and seceded the EU.
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"“The only victories which leave no regret are those which are gained over ignorance.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
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"Until the Napoleonic Wars, when European states went to war, they typically employed national soldiers and mercenaries to form small armies. That meant that they could only deploy small field armies limited to some 30,000 men under a single commander. In the mid-eighteenth century, military innovators had begun to envision the potential of a nation at war, but it wasn’t until the Napoleonic Wars that the scale of warfare was dramatically enlarged. The French use of a separate corps which allowed a single commander to effectively command more than the traditional 30,000 men and the concept of living off the land which freed the military leaders from needing to make supply arrangements meant that Napoleon’s armies were much larger than those of his opponents. Additionally, he successfully commanded separate field armies, which meant they operated as a single army under one control, and that gave him a distinct advantage in outnumbering his opponents. It also forced his opponents to increase the size of their armies. This led to the shift from small, well-drilled armies to the mass conscript armies seen in subsequent wars.
"By the time the Napoleonic Wars ended, the last battles were fought with more than 500,000 soldiers with casualties as high as 150,000 wounded or killed. Britain’s army expanded to a peak of approximately 250,000 men, and Austria’s forces peaked in the Sixth Coalition at about 576,000 men. Prussia’s forces peaked at 320,000 soldiers, and by 1813, its armies were characterized by competence and determination. Spain’s forces peaked at around 200,000 men but also included more than 50,000 guerrillas scattered throughout its territories. Even small nations managed to gather armies that rivaled the size of the armies of the so-called Great Powers, although their forces were often poorly trained.
"At this time in world history, the Industrial Revolution resulted in the mass production of weapons to equip larger armies. Britain was the largest single weapons manufacturer, supplying most of the coalition forces’ weaponry throughout the various conflicts. France was the second-largest producer and supplied its own forces as well as those of the Confederation of the Rhine and other allies.
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"One characteristic of Napoleon’s tactics that made him particularly successful was his intense drilling of his soldiers. He trained them in speedy battlefield movement, combined arms assaults between infantry, cavalry, and artillery utilizing cannons, short-range musket fire, and bayonet charges. Napoleon was considered a master of these tactics, and they continued to be used long after his demise. In fact, they were used long after they were rendered technologically impractical, and that led to large-scale slaughters in the American Civil War, the Austro-Prussian War, and the Franco-Prussian War.
"Napoleon also abandoned the concept of marching in lines, instead favoring attacking columns, which presented less of a target to the enemy. He wanted his infantry to be skilled in the flexible use of weaponry. They were supplied with smoothbore, flintlock muskets that had a short effective range of about 50 to 70 yards (46 to 64 meters), and a highly trained soldier would fire approximately once every 15 to 20 seconds. They also used the French musket, which had a range of about 100 yards (91 meters) but misfired one out of every six rounds. Napoleon’s strategy was to have his soldiers stay in the battle, fighting shoulder to shoulder, two or three lines deep, in volleys. He also positioned officers with swords and halberds to keep the infantrymen in line. Moreover, he had them wear colorful uniforms so they were visible from a distance and could be seen if they were abandoning their duty.
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"Napoleon’s cavalry strategy provided a shock element similar to that of tanks in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The cavalry units would quickly close on infantry units to avoid the horsemen being overcome with musket fire. The cavalry would charge infantry units and force them into semi-static squares of men, which made them easier targets. The speed of the cavalry made them especially effective at surprising enemy forces, particularly since the battlefields were often covered in thick, black smoke.
"Lastly, the Napoleonic Wars witnessed many innovations in field artillery, which is defined as a class of mobile artillery that backs up armies on the battlefield. The guns during this time were designed to emphasize mobility and accuracy over long distances. When Napoleon organized the French army into corps, he established semi-autonomous artillery formations led and coordinated by artillery officers, and he utilized field artillery that consisted of foot, horse, and mountain artillery. All of these strategies made Napoleon a true pioneer of military strategy, and his tactics are still the subject of military academies across the world."
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"“There are but two powers in the world, the sword and the mind. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the mind.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
................................................................................................
"Napoleon was no stranger to the use of innovative techniques of all kinds to achieve his goals. He used mobility to offset numerical disadvantages, and he redefined the role of artillery by allowing them to form mobile, independent units. He also utilized the semaphore system to communicate with French forces. The semaphore system is a kind of optical telegraph. Visual signals communicate messages between towers or stations—this system allowed for communication throughout the Napoleonic Wars. Furthermore, the French forces employed a type of aerial surveillance for the first time in these conflicts. They utilized a hot air balloon to survey the position of coalition forces.
"With regard to the increase in the size and scope of the conflicts, historians believe that the ideological clash that began with the French Revolution spurred the growth of the conflicts. The second reason for the dramatic increases in total warfare is related to the emergence of nationalism in France, Germany, Spain, and elsewhere that made these wars important to the people of these countries rather than only to the monarchy. Furthermore, the intellectual transformations in the culture of war that resulted from the Enlightenment turned war into a total societal experience rather than a routine event. The French Revolution effectively integrated every civilian into the war effort, either as a soldier or as a vital component of the home front machinery supporting and supplying the military. That resulted in the emerging concept of militarism—the belief that the military role is superior to the civilian role in times of national crisis. Napoleon himself noted, “It is the soldier who found a Republic and it is the soldier who maintains it.” That is yet one more enduring belief that traces its roots to the Napoleonic Wars.
"Yet another novel factor in the Napoleonic Wars was the use of military intelligence. It was a pivotal factor that changed the tide of the wars by dictating the course of major battles. Napoleon employed the use of military intelligence in his strategies to outfox larger armies, to anticipate enemy movements, and to plan complex strategies. A number of battles were dictated by military intelligence to greater or lesser benefit. These include the Battle of Waterloo, the Battle of Leipzig, the Battle of Salamanca, and the Battle of Vitoria. Though military intelligence was used to great advantage, on some occasions, such as the Battle of Jena, even superior military intelligence could not overcome the sheer force of Napoleon’s army."
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
"The Napoleonic Wars were significant for a number of reasons. Originating with the French Revolution, the post-Enlightenment concepts of democracy, individual rights, a reduction or elimination of serfdom, a reduction in the power of monarchs, and a reduction in the influence of the Catholic Church made numerous European powers nervous. When Napoleon was finally successful in overthrowing the monarchy in France and began a campaign to spread these concepts throughout Europe, the European powers, led mostly by Great Britain, saw no other option than to limit French expansion in order to maintain their power structures.
"To do so, numerous European countries became part of a series of coalitions with the aim of confronting France on the battlefield. Yet Napoleon was no ordinary leader. He was a veritable genius at devising and employing various military strategies. Using innovative military training tactics, repurposing the use of artillery, and bringing multiple smaller army corps under his central command helped Napoleon defeat larger combined European forces on numerous occasions. Over the course of more than a decade and countless military engagements, Napoleon showed his prowess as a military leader.
"Once started, the wars served to bring the liberal French concepts introduced by the French Revolution to the rest of Europe. Those ideas persist to this very day. In fact, modern military tacticians study Napoleon, and the spread of the liberal concepts heralded by Napoleon and his supporters have taken permanent hold throughout Europe and the rest of the world as well. Moreover, the concept of militarism that integrates the civilian into the military effort and glorifies the soldier is now a fully realized ideal in most modern societies. Even Napoleon’s dream of a unified Europe was finally realized with the formation of the European Union in 1993. The legacy of the Napoleonic Wars is a testament to the power of one man’s global influence throughout time."
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Table of Contents
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Introduction
Prelude to Revolution
French Revolutionary Wars
The Third Coalition: War Breaks Out
The Fourth Coalition
The Fifth Coalition
The Sixth Coalition and the Invasion of Russia
The Seventh Coalition: The Battle of Waterloo
Aftermath
Military Legacy
Napoleonic Innovations
Conclusion
Bibliography
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REVIEW
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Introduction
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"The Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts that pitted the French Empire against a variety of European coalitions, the majority of which were financed and directed by the United Kingdom. The wars were a continuation of conflicts stemming from the French Revolution, which caused great consternation throughout Europe.
"When Napoleon ascended to authority in 1799, he inherited a chaotic republic. He worked to create a financially stable state with a strong bureaucracy and a well-trained army. Despite his efforts or perhaps because of them, Austria and Russia would form a coalition to wage war against France, beginning in 1805. Some historians cite this as the start date of the Napoleonic Wars, though others argue the official start was when Napoleon took control of the government. Still others claim the start date was May of 1803 when a short period of peace between Britain and France ended, or December of 1804 when Napoleon crowned himself emperor of France.
................................................................................................
"Part of the reason there is no consensus among historians is that the Napoleonic Wars were really part of a series of wars that began with the French Revolution prior to Napoleon’s seizure of power. In fact, the Napoleonic Wars are categorized into five separate conflicts between France and various other European coalitions. The five conflicts are named after these coalitions: the Third Coalition (1805), the Fourth Coalition (1806-1807), the Fifth Coalition (1809), the Sixth Coalition (1813-1814), and the Seventh Coalition (1815). The first and second coalitions were associated with the French Revolution before the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars.
"However they are described, the Napoleonic Wars had a dramatic effect that left an enduring legacy throughout Europe and beyond. The wars brought radical changes to Europe including many liberal features of the French Revolution like democracy, a reduction in power of the Catholic Church, the abolition of serfdom, and a demand for constitutional limits on monarchs. Furthermore, Napoleon’s tactics forever changed military culture. He utilized a well-trained, professional army rather than mercenaries, and this enlarged the scale of warfare. He also used military innovations and military intelligence to his advantage, and those tendencies would endure long after Napoleon’s Waterloo.
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November 21, 2022 - November 21, 2022.
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Chapter 1. Prelude to Revolution
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"“Revolutions have never lightened the burden of tyranny: they have only shifted it to another shoulder.”
"—George Bernard Shaw"
................................................................................................
"The Napoleonic Wars were a continuation of the French Revolution, which began in 1789 and ended in 1799. But what led to the French Revolution? Historians point to several factors. Beginning in the late Middle Ages, France had a political and social system known as the Ancien Régime. That basically meant a hereditary monarchy and a feudal system structured on the basis of social and economic inequality. After the Enlightenment, which emerged in France in the early 1700s, rising social and economic inequality as well as economic mismanagement and environmental factors led to agricultural failure, political mismanagement, and an unmanageable national debt. It was these factors that lay the groundwork for revolution."
It's easier to understand the latter part of "rising social and economic inequality", bad as it is; but why the former? How does social inequality rise, unless - and openly admittedly so - the caste system of the Saud society is inefficient and incapable of working in the first place?
................................................................................................
"Additionally, as the eighteenth century progressed, there was a rise of an idea that German philosopher Jürgen Habermas termed the concept of the public sphere. Prior to this time, France had what is referred to as a representational culture, meaning that there was a one-sided need to represent power, and while one side was active in that model, the other side was passive. An example would be the Palace of Versailles, which was constructed with the intention to overwhelm visitors and convince them of the greatness of the French state and the monarch at the time, Louis XIV. One side is representing power and the other side is passively experiencing it."
Most palaces of yore are constructed with this in mind, as are most famous residences of Newport now only visited by tourists since over half a century. Yet revolution only took place in France, not elsewhere where palatial residences of rich or powerful exist.
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"With the emergence of the concept of the public sphere, however, both sides were active. Cultural examples of public sphere entities would be things like newspapers, journals, coffee houses, masonic lodges, and reading clubs where people gather to debate and discuss the issues of the day. When the concept was emerging in France in the eighteenth century, the public sphere was outside state control, and that resulted in a shift from Versailles to Paris as the cultural capital. This also meant that what was considered culturally good and what was not went from being defined by the royal court to a matter of consumer opinion. Thus, the court was rapidly losing influence in French culture."
Has author made clear what is meant here by "both sides"?
One seriously doubts that the caste system of Europe expected people to think or have an opinion, especially so when it csme to those on lower rungs; and the church had, with various tricks from confessions and guilt doctrine to inquisition, had seen to it that people were terrified of thought, especially of independent thought.
So the development described above had more of a dimension to it than economic or political or social or even the caste system of Europe, and had far more to be interlinked with Renaissance and with people being fed up with church.
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"Inevitably, this change in philosophy and the loss of institutional influence transformed into a desire on the part of the public to also have a say in political questions. The context for these changes was complicated by the fact that the national government had numerous fiscal problems. The tax system was unjust, inefficient, and deeply hated, and France’s involvement in numerous large wars, such as the Seven Years’ War which cost France its colonial possessions in North America, had been financially disastrous. Following that debacle, Louis XVI sent some 10,000 troops and millions of dollars to support the American colonial rebels. That left France severely indebted."
It sounds more and more as if the author and publishers are desperate to hide the real situation, that of the groundswell that was Renaissance, led by rebellion against domination of thought by church. Hence this pointing fingers at France with "tax system was unjust, inefficient, and deeply hated" when, obviously, lower castes of Europe from Irish to Russian tto Spanish were all poor, and tax systems weren't exactly beneficial to them elsewhere, either.
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"Louis XVI called an Estates-General in 1789—the first time in more than a century—to address the growing crisis. The economic crisis had become so severe at that point that there wasn’t enough food to go around. For several years, there had been poor harvests, and that, combined with an insufficient transportation system, had contributed to rising food prices. The upper class, of course, was ensured a stable living; however, because of the growing inequality in wealth, the majority of France’s population was starving. Out of desperation, people were resorting to prostitution to stay alive while the royal court in Versailles was living large."
What was church doing, other than a complacent going with the systems as long as church benefited- both as an institution and at personal levels whereby priests, at least those at and above level of bishops, were well off, no matter what?
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"King Louis XVI’s response to the economic problems in France was indecisive and ineffective. And, because of the growth in public sphere entities, such as pamphlets and other published materials, the opposition began to mobilize public opinion against the monarchy using these resources. More and more, the French peasants began to resent the monarchy and the privileged class. They also blamed the Catholic Church for its influence over public policy, and there was a growing desire for religious freedom that played a role too. The monarchy and nobles responded to the growing anger by trying to repress the sources of information, thus, feeding the resentment. The stage was set for revolution."
Has writing about French Revolution always been this shoddy?
There's no discussion here, not even a question, regarding the said pamphlets and their authors, those who were behind the awakening of people.
When it comes to subsequent Russian revolution, credit is given completely to Marx, Lenin et al; when it comes to American Revolution, it's blithely assumed that people were all equally aware, capable and responsible of thinking, choices, and more - and then tea is mentioned.
But French Revolution, in contrast, is discussed what can only be termed as shoddily, at best.
If it was general French public all responsible, why were people of rest of Europe fine with their own feudal inequities? If there were other forces behind the awakening and uprising of French people, why aren't they mentioned, much less identified and discussed?
Or was it church, individually as some bishops if not as an institution?
Surely it couldn't have been that French people, en masse, decided to copy American Revolution, while other Europeans were jolly content?
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November 21, 2022 - November 21, 2022.
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Chapter 2. French Revolutionary Wars
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"“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”
"—John F. Kennedy"
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"By 1789, France was in crisis. People were starving, and there was growing resentment of the monarchy and the nobility. France was in deep economic trouble, and the peasantry blamed the nobility and King Louis XVI along with his queen, Marie Antoinette.
"The queen was a particularly despised figure by the peasantry. She was a popular subject of ridicule in the various French publications, which frequently depicted her as a sexual deviant. In a state of deep depression, the king was increasingly seeking her counsel. As France sank deeper into an economic catastrophe, Marie Antoinette came to be seen as having single-handedly ruined the national finances. She was even given the nickname of “Madame Deficit.” She was later widely reported to have said, in response to starving peasants who had no bread, “Let them eat cake.” There is, however, no evidence she actually said that. Many historians believe it was the hatred of her that generated the rumor and kept it alive for centuries."
To begin with, Europe had had far worse, what with inquisition and "Black Death", neither of which could have been blamed on royals or rich, while church was certainly to be blamed for one.
And the only guilt of the queen was being not French, which made it easier for the country to heap everything on her. Her gender did the rest - in an abrahmic society misogyny is always rampant and calling a woman sexually deviant all too easy, particularly so a queen who is a foreigner and has no defenders.
Later, England disliked Albert for being German, his daughter Victoria was disliked by Germans (after she married the son and heir of Kaiser of Prussia) for being English, and Tsarina Alexandra was disliked by Russian court for being simple while Russian people disliked her for being German.
All this dislike moreover is mostly by those who couldn't have known the object of the dislike.
In recent times, it continues - one should see the poison poured on YouTube on Megan Markle, the woman who married a prince of British realm, which is undoubtedly due to her being foreign as much as due to her ancestry from historically slaves sold in US.
Of course, the last bit isn't expressed verbally just as those criticising president Obama never said the real reason why. And misogyny was the chief reason President Trump was elected that first time - that is, misogyny of voters in US, rather than his.
That this author and publishers are merely quoting the gossip rather than look for real reasons, isn't helping the book.
................................................................................................
"It was in this context of growing economic turmoil and political unrest that King Louis XVI convened the Estates-General in May of 1789, and it was followed by a National Assembly in June of that same year. The finance minister, Jacques Necker, took part in the assembly, giving a speech in support of the common man. He published what was actually an inaccurate account of the government debt on July 11, 1789, and for that, he was fired by King Louis XVI who then proceeded to restructure the finance ministry. This resulted in chaos, riots, and widespread looting in Paris. On July 14, the riotous insurgents set their sights on the weaponry in the Bastille prison fortress, a potent symbol of royal power. They stormed the Bastille and the revolution officially began."
Did the author even read this compilation by the author? There have been countless times of such events individually or otherwise, without the riots following a sacking and restructuring of finance ministry by a monarch, a PM or a president of a country, much less the determination by people to even copy a Bastille, much less do an original.
The author and publishers are certainly not going into real agents of the revolution.
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"The French Revolution greatly alarmed many European rulers, and that anxiety only grew worse with the execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette after the overthrow of the French monarchy in 1793. For this reason, several European powers—Austria, the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of Naples, Prussia, Spain, and Great Britain—formed what was called the First Coalition that was intended to curtail the unrest in France. Despite the civil war going on within her borders, France was able to defeat the coalition. At this time, Napoleon Bonaparte was a general in the French army, and it was he who forced the Austrians to sign a treaty, which then left only Great Britain to oppose the newly formed French Republic."
So - if the monarchies around hadn't attacked France in the first place, fearing their own thrones, perhaps Napoleon might have remained a general at most, or returned to academic life!
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"A second coalition that included Great Britain, Austria, Naples, the Ottoman Empire, the Papal States, Portugal, Russia, and Sweden formed in 1798. At that time, the French Republic lacked funds, had lost their minister of war, and had suffered the effect of corruption and internal strife. Furthermore, Napoleon was fighting a campaign in Egypt with the intent to disrupt the British economic powerhouse in India. Because of this, France suffered several defeats against numerous enemies funded mainly by Great Britain."
How, exactly, were they "funded mainly by Great Britain", except by looting India, or as author terms it - "British economic powerhouse in India", exposing the rampant racist mindset of the author and publishers?
................................................................................................
"After Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt failed, he returned to France on August 23, 1799. It was then that he seized control of the government on November 9 of that year. It was a bloodless coup d’état that immediately transformed the French Republic into a dictatorship. Napoleon reorganized the military forces and established a large reserve army to support campaigns in the Rhine and Italy. The Russians were already out of the picture, and Napoleon then led the French military to victory against the Austrians in June of 1800. The Austrians were forced to sign a treaty in 1801, and that compelled the British to sign the Treaty of Amiens that established a tenuous peace—one that would only last a year."
And the comet was on its way.
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November 21, 2022 - November 21, 2022.
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Chapter 3. The Third Coalition: War Breaks Out
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"“I am sometimes a fox and sometimes a lion. The whole secret of government lies in knowing when to be the one or the other.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
................................................................................................
"The Treaty of Amiens was signed by France and Britain in March of 1802. Although the problems between the two countries had not been solved, this treaty established an uneasy cease in hostilities. The persistence of problems made the implementation of the treaty difficult. Napoleon, for example, was angry that the island of Malta had not been evacuated by British forces. He then sent what was termed an expeditionary force to Haiti to re-establish control there. The prolonged tension created by the ongoing disputes caused Britain to once again declare war on France on May 18, 1803—this despite the fact that Napoleon had accepted the British occupation of Malta.
"The expeditionary army Napoleon sent to Haiti was wiped out by disease, and that caused him to abandon his plans for rebuilding France’s New World territories. Without sugar revenues from the Caribbean, the North American territory of Louisiana had little value for France. Spain had been overseeing the transfer of Louisiana to France, but it was going too slowly for Napoleon. He became angered, and despite the fact that he didn’t actually own it yet, Napoleon decided to sell the entire territory of Louisiana to the United States for 68 million francs (approximately $15 million). On April 30, 1803, the Louisiana Purchase Treaty was signed. Napoleon spent the entirety of the 60 million francs on his planned invasion of Britain.
................................................................................................
"This prompted the formation of the Third Coalition in December of 1804. An agreement between Britain and Sweden allowed the former to use Swedish Pomerania as a military base. It was located near the French-occupied Electorate of Hanover, which was the homeland of the British monarch. For their part, Sweden had broken off diplomatic ties with France after the Duke of Enghien, Louis Antoine, had been convicted and executed on dubious evidence that he was involved in a plot to assassinate Napoleon. His execution shocked aristocrats throughout Europe, who already lacked respect for Napoleon after the bloodshed of the French Revolution.
"British Prime Minister William Pitt began a flurry of diplomatic activity with the aim of forming a new coalition against France. Though Britain had become increasingly nervous about the Baltic being dominated by Russia since it was a center crucial to supplies for the Royal Navy, Pitt worked to secure Russia as an ally in the effort to defeat France. And, though Britain had supported the Ottoman Empire when it resisted Russian incursions, both countries laid their suspicions aside to unite against France. They formed the Anglo-Russian alliance in 1805 with the stated goal of restricting France to the borders established in 1792. Austria, Naples, and Sweden would all eventually join the alliance.
................................................................................................
"Napoleon passed the time between 1801 and 1804 engaging in active military campaigns. That permitted him to consolidate his power in France. In 1802, he was proclaimed “consul for life” for his efforts to make peace with Britain. Two years later, he was proclaimed emperor of France. He was crowned as such in the Notre Dame Cathedral on December 2, 1804, and proceeded to secure the allegiance of the army by creating 18 marshals of the empire from among his top generals. In 1805, Napoleon gained control over northern Italy, thereby undermining Austrian influence over the area. That caused Austria to join the Third Coalition a few months later.
"As Britain gathered allies to join the Third Coalition, Napoleon considered invading the British Isles. He amassed 180,000 troops at Boulogne, but before he was ready to invade, he had to achieve naval superiority or get the British Royal Navy out of the English Channel. So, he developed a complex scheme to distract Britain. He threatened their possessions in the West Indies. France and Spain were allied, and so, Napoleon tried using the Spanish fleet based in Cádiz to occupy the British Navy. Vice-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve was the best senior officer available at the time because the French navy had lost officers due to execution or dismissal during the French Revolution. Villeneuve, however, had little enthusiasm for Napoleon’s plans. He had suffered a defeat to the British at the Battle of the Nile and had no desire to face the Royal Navy again.
................................................................................................
"The British had instituted a blockade of the port of Brest, the largest, most important of French naval bases, during the French Revolution. Napoleon’s plan involved having the French and Spanish fleets unite in the West Indies and then help the fleet in Brest break the blockade. That would also clear the English Channel of the Royal Navy. While the fleets were able to rendezvous in the West Indies, when Villeneuve returned from the West Indies with the intention to break the blockade, two of his ships were captured at the Battle of Cape Finisterre, and that caused him to abandon the plan.
"Napoleon’s scheme, however, depended on the combined forces, and so, he needed Villeneuve’s fleet of 32 ships. He ordered Villeneuve to sail northward to Brest, but Villeneuve, defying his orders, sailed southward to Cádiz. The French army corps were waiting for Villeneuve’s ships, and when they didn’t come, they marched to Germany. When Britain learned that the Franco-Spanish fleet was in the harbor of Cádiz, they made the decision to detach 20 of their ships in the English Channel to engage the enemy forces. That left only 11 ships to defend against invading forces.
................................................................................................
"The British ships sailed to Cádiz and blockaded the Franco-Spanish fleet in the harbor there. In October of 1805, Villeneuve finally left the harbor for Naples. The British squadron followed suit and caught the combined fleet on October 21. The Royal Navy overwhelmingly defeated the Franco-Spanish fleet, though the British commander, Lord Nelson, died in the battle. That was Napoleon’s last attempt to challenge British naval superiority, and he would never again have the opportunity to invade Britain. Instead, he focused his efforts on other enemies in Europe.
"Early in September of 1805, Austria began the war on the continent by invading Bavaria. They met the French in battle at Ulm between September 25 and October 20. Napoleon forced the surrender of Austria’s army, but not until he had suffered significant losses.
"Napoleon was also able to successfully occupy Vienna on November 13, and on December 2, he soundly defeated an Austro-Russian force under the command of Mikhail Kutuzov. This battle took place at Austerlitz and is considered Napoleon’s greatest victory. He inflicted some 25,000 casualties on his enemies and suffered fewer than 7,000 casualties in his own army. That brought Austria to the table for peace talks, and on December 26, 1805, they signed the Treaty of Pressburg and left the coalition. The terms of the treaty required that the Austrians give up Venetia to the Kingdom of Italy, now under French control, and Tyrol to Bavaria.
................................................................................................
"The withdrawal of Austria from the coalition resulted in a stalemate. Napoleon’s army on land was unbeaten, but the Russian army had yet to flex its muscles. At this point, Napoleon had consolidated his hold on France, and he now had control over Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the majority of western Germany and northern Italy. Many historians argue that Napoleon had wanted to stop at this point, but he was forced to continue to establish secure borders against those countries that still refused to accept his conquests. Others argue that it was a good time to stop the expansion since the major powers were willing to accept Napoleon. In fact, by 1806, Russia and Britain were eager to make peace and likely would have agreed to leave Napoleon’s empire nearly completely intact. Austria and Prussia merely wanted to be left alone, and they would have agreed to a compromise peace. Napoleon, however, was not making any concessions.
"All told, by the time this part of the Napoleonic Wars ended, the French had lost just over 20,000 soldiers. They also suffered over 31,000 wounded and 5,000 captured soldiers through the various campaigns. The Spanish suffered 1,200 losses and 1,600 wounded. Bavaria lost 300 and had 1,200 wounded, the Kingdom of Italy lost 350 men and had another 1,900 wounded. The Austrians lost 20,000 soldiers and had another 70,000 taken prisoner. Russian casualties included 25,000 dead and wounded, and 70,000 captured. Finally, the army of Naples that included 22,000 soldiers was wiped out by the French in 1806, with only 2,000 escaping to Sicily. There would not be much of a break as within a few months, the Fourth Coalition would begin."
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November 21, 2022 - November 21, 2022.
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Chapter 4. The Fourth Coalition
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"“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
................................................................................................
"It only took a few short months after the collapse of the Third Coalition for the Fourth Coalition to be formed. The coalition consisted of Britain, Prussia, Russia, Saxony, and Sweden.
"Napoleon controlled the Rhineland, and in July of 1806, he formed the Confederation of the Rhine whereby he amalgamated several smaller states into larger electorates, duchies, and kingdoms. His aim was to make the governance of this non-Prussian region of Germany smoother, and so, he also elevated the two rulers of Saxony and Bavaria to kings.
"In August of 1806, the king of Prussia, Frederick William III, decided to declare war on France even without a coalition of allies. Napoleon responded by unleashing all of his forces located east of the Rhine into Prussia. He swiftly defeated the Prussian army on October 14, 1806, in battles at Jena and Auerstädt. Napoleon’s forces numbered 160,000 when they attacked Prussia, and they caused 25,000 casualties, took 150,000 prisoners, and captured 4,000 artillery pieces and more than 100,000 muskets. The result of the war with Prussia was that Saxony left Prussia and, along with a few of the small Germanic states, allied with France."
Perhaps if he'd been able to stop here and consolidate, shape and future history of Europe would be very different, with a prolonged Renaissance instead of two disastrous world wars and a bloody revolution. Perhaps Russia would have improved by emulating a strong and progressive France as a close and large neighbour to the west, instead of a feudal German federation led by a militant and war hungry Prussia.
................................................................................................
"The next stage of the war was fought between Russia and France. France drove the Russian forces out of Poland, and from there, Napoleon used Polish and German soldiers in sieges fought against Silesia and Pomerania. He also had Dutch and Italian soldiers in the siege against Pomerania. After these battles, Bonaparte moved on in pursuit of the last of the Russian forces. In battles at Eylau, Danzig, and Heilsberg, Napoleon was able to force the Russian troops to withdraw further to the north. At Friedland on June 14, 1807, Napoleon decisively beat the Russian forces, which forced the Russian Emperor Alexander I to make peace with the French at Tilsit on July 7.
"Following Napoleon’s victory over Russia, the new Napoleonic client states of the Kingdom of Westphalia, the Duchy of Warsaw, and the Republic of Danzig were established. And, Napoleon’s Marshal of the State, Guillaume Brune, completed the occupation of Swedish Pomerania, which resulted in the withdrawal of the Swedish army.
"In addition to Napoleon’s military successes, Bonaparte had instituted a blockade, known as the Continental System, designed to paralyze Great Britain by destroying the country’s commerce. In decrees issued late in 1806 and again in December of 1807, Napoleon proclaimed that neutral parties and French allies were not allowed to trade with the British. And, it was effective at hurting British industries, which caused internal strife within the country.
................................................................................................
"Britain’s first response to this blockade was to launch a naval offensive against Denmark. While Denmark was supposedly neutral in the conflict, it was under intense pressure to ally with Napoleon, and Britain was not willing to take the chance it would give in to that pressure. Thus, in August of 1807, the British Royal Navy bombarded Copenhagen and captured the Dano-Norwegian fleet. That gave Britain the control of sea lanes in the North and Baltic seas. Denmark did ally with France in the end, but without its navy, there was little it could offer the French forces.
"Meanwhile, Russia led an invasion of Finland in February of 1808 as part of a plan to force Sweden to comply with the Continental System. Napoleon also sent troops to Denmark to participate in an invasion of Sweden after Denmark declared war on Sweden in March of 1808. The British naval superiority, however, prevented the armies from crossing the Øresund Strait, and that restricted the war to the Swedish border regions.
................................................................................................
"Britain tried to help Sweden with humanitarian aid during the fighting, but the aid was limited. As a result, Sweden adopted a more Napoleon-friendly policy, and at the Congress of Erfurt in September through October of 1808, France and Russia agreed to divide Sweden into two parts separated by the Gulf of Bothnia. The eastern part became part of Russia’s Grand Duchy of Finland.
"By the end of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon had succeeded in gaining significant power over territories throughout Europe. In Poland, he had created a powerful outpost in the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, consisting of lands seized from Austria and Prussia. This region would be a major contributor of soldiers for Napoleon’s forces in later conflicts. And, Napoleon’s ideals would have a major impact on Poland even after it became a state in 1918.
................................................................................................
"For Napoleon, this point in time is considered a zenith of his empire. Flush with the recent victories, he went on to capture the Iberian ports of Portugal, a long-time ally of the British. Napoleon wanted to establish a further impediment to British trade as part of his Continental System. This led to the October 1807 Treaty of Fontainebleau between France and Spain. The terms of the treaty provided that French forces were granted passage through Spain’s realm, and Spain agreed to ally with France. In return, Spain received the Portuguese territory. However, in November of 1807, the prince regent of Portugal refused to join the Continental System, and that prompted Napoleon to send an army into Spain. The stated aim was to invade Portugal, but Napoleon also wanted to establish a vanguard for the eventual French occupation of Spain.
"As a result of this conflict, Napoleon took over Spain in 1808 and installed Joseph Bonaparte, his older brother, on the Spanish throne. That prompted the Spanish populace—Bourbon Spain—to unite with Portugal, and with the assistance of Britain, they fought against the French occupying forces. The conflict is known as the Peninsular War, and it would continue through the Sixth Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars. The war also overlapped with the Spanish War of Independence, and it is regarded as one of the first wars of national liberation. The war was also notable for the emergence of large-scale guerrilla warfare. Moreover, it marks one of the bloodiest conflicts in modern Spanish history. Finally, it would be this war that would once again prompt the formation of a new coalition against France."
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November 21, 2022 - November 21, 2022.
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Chapter 5. The Fifth Coalition
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"“Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
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"As Napoleon was embroiled in the Peninsular War, Britain and Austria once again formed a coalition in 1809 in the attempt to rein in French expansion. This time, the sea was one of the main war theaters against Napoleon’s allies. Britain once again demonstrated her naval superiority, winning a series of victories in French colonies. Additionally, the Walcheren Expedition in 1809 was a dual effort by the British Army and the Royal Navy to help Austria, which was under intense French pressure. This expedition ultimately failed to capture the objective—French-controlled Antwerp, but the Royal Navy was successful in defeating all substantial naval opposition from France or its allies. By this point, it was clear that Britain dominated the seas.
"The Royal Navy was successful in blockading all of the remaining French-controlled ports. That enabled the British to bring French shipping to a standstill, resulting in the disruption of supplies, communications, and troops near the coasts. Additionally, whenever military actions occurred near the coast, the Royal Navy would arrive with troops and supplies to aid the coalition’s land forces. And, the Royal Navy ships were able to provide artillery support against French forces when the fighting was close enough to the shoreline.
"While it was the abilities of the land forces that ultimately determined the outcome of such battles, the disruption of French supplies was successful in undermining the Continental System. French-dominated states often tolerated and even encouraged trading with British smugglers to get sorely needed supplies. That rendered the Continental System largely ineffective. When Napoleon realized the extent of the trade that was going on, particularly through Russia and Spain, he invaded both of those countries. He was able to regain control over Spain, but he lost very badly in Russia. In Madrid, Napoleon installed a client monarchy, meaning Spain was considered a client state of the French Empire. This provoked a veritable explosion of rebellions throughout Spain, and the British were soon to become more heavily involved.
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"At this time, Austria also saw the opportunity to restore its imperial territories in Germany. It launched attacks against the French forces commanded by Marshal Berthier. Berthier only had 170,000 men to defend France’s eastern frontier, a task that had required five times as many men in the 1790s. For that reason, Austria was able to defeat Berthier’s forces. Austria’s attack kept Napoleon from wrapping up his operations against British forces by requiring that he depart for Austria. He was never to return to fight again in the Peninsular War.
"The Peninsular War was turning into a major disaster. While Napoleon did well and was able to regain control when he was there, his forces suffered major losses in his absence. It was a huge drain on supplies and manpower. All told, there were 60 major campaigns and 30 sieges in the Peninsular War. This was more than any of Napoleon’s other campaigns, and it lasted much longer than any of the others as well.
"In the campaign against Austria, Napoleon had much greater success. The Austrians managed to force their way into the Duchy of Warsaw, but there they suffered a defeat at the Battle of Raszyn in April of 1809. The Polish army was successful in capturing West Galicia, and when Napoleon assumed command of the forces, he bolstered that army for a counterattack on the Austrian forces. Under Napoleon’s command, a few well-run, small battles forced the Austrians to withdraw from Bavaria. Napoleon seized the opportunity to then advance into Austria, where he defeated the Austrians on July 5 and 6 at the Battle of Wagram outside Vienna.
................................................................................................
"Those victories brought an end to the War of the Fifth Coalition. On October 14, the major parties involved signed the Treaty of Schönbrunn. Only the Tyrolese rebels were still holding out against the French-Bavarian army in the east. The British and Portuguese remained confined to the area around Lisbon. That meant that by 1810, the French Empire had reached its greatest extent. In April of that year, Napoleon married the Austrian Archduchess Marie Louise in order to ensure a more stable alliance with Austria. He also hoped that she would give him an heir to his empire, which his first wife had failed to do.
"The French also controlled the Swiss Confederation, the Confederation of the Rhine, the Duchy of Warsaw, and the Kingdom of Italy. France’s allies included Denmark, Spain, which was ruled by Napoleon’s older brother, the Kingdom of Westphalia, over which Napoleon installed his younger brother, Jérôme, as king, the Kingdom of Naples—ruled by the husband of Napoleon’s sister Caroline—and the Principality of Lucca and Piombino, which were controlled by Napoleon’s sister Elisa and her husband Felice Baciocchi. Napoleon’s former enemies—Sweden, Prussia, and Austria—were all now also his allies.
"While it seemed Napoleon could do no wrong, the Spanish Peninsular War raged on, and that would become a major reason behind Napoleon’s ultimate defeat."
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November 21, 2022 - November 21, 2022.
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Chapter 6. The Sixth Coalition and the Invasion of Russia
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"“A leader is a dealer in hope.”
"― Napoleon Bonaparte"
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"When Russia and France signed the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, that resulted in the Russian Emperor Alexander I declaring war on Britain later that same year. British warships supported the Swedish fleet during the war with Finland. They also won significant victories over Russian forces in the Gulf of Finland in July of 1808 and August of 1809. The Russian forces were superior, however, on the land, and that resulted in peace treaties between Sweden and Russia in 1809 and Sweden and France in 1810. However, the relationship between Russia and France began to deteriorate after 1810, as the Russian war with Britain was ending. By 1812, Britain, Russia, and Sweden were conspiring in secret agreements directed against Napoleon.
"The main problem in the Franco-Russian relations was the control of Poland. Each side wanted a semi-independent state over which they could exercise full control. Additionally, Russia refused to support Napoleon’s Continental System. For these reasons, Napoleon decided to invade Russia. He employed a pan-European Grande Armée that consisted of 450,000 men, half of which were French soldiers.
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"On June 24, 1812, Napoleon crossed the Niemen River, causing Russia to declare war against France. Napoleon proclaimed the Second Polish War, so named because the political pretext for the war was to liberate Poland from the threat of Russia. With 100,000 Polish soldiers and his own Grande Armée, Napoleon marched through Russia. He won some minor battles and a major one, the Battle of Smolensk in August, but French forces under the command of Marshal Nicolas Oudinot were defeated in the Battle of Polotsk. That prevented the French forces from marching on the Russian capital of Saint Petersburg. Instead, the French invasion was directed to Moscow, where Napoleon led his army in person.
"The Russian forces used what is called a scorched-earth technique, burning everything behind them as the army retreated. It was a technique that had served Russia well in numerous wars. As they retreated, burning anything useful as they went, they also used the light Cossack cavalry to attack the French army. These attacks cost the French army 95,000 men in one week.
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"The Russian forces kept going like this for nearly three months, until finally, the two armies engaged in battle at Borodino on September 7, near Moscow. This was the largest, most bloody single-day battle of all the Napoleonic Wars. The battle was fought with more than 250,000 men and it resulted in 70,000 casualties. Though it was bloody, it was indecisive.
"The French captured their objective but did not manage to destroy the Russian army. On September 14, Napoleon and his forces entered Moscow only to find that the Russians had left the city. They had also released criminals from their prisons just to frustrate the French. The Russian governor of the city, Fyodor Rostopchin, ordered that it be burnt, but Tsar Alexander I refused and attempted peace talks with Napoleon.
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"The peace talks came to nothing, however, and in October, Napoleon began what would be a disastrous retreat from Moscow. His forces were running out of supplies, and amidst intermittent battles with the replenished Russian forces, they desperately attempted to get somewhere where they could find food and forage supplies. They were blocked when they tried to reach Kaluga and were forced to retreat the same way they had come—back to Moscow.
"In the weeks that followed, Napoleon and his forces were dealt the most catastrophic blow of all, “General Winter,” which saw temperatures drop as low as -37 degrees Celsius (or -35 degrees Fahrenheit). All along the way, they were met with constant guerrilla warfare by Russian troops. When what was left of Napoleon’s army finally crossed the Berezina River in November, only 27,000 soldiers remained. Some 380,000 men were dead or missing, and another 100,000 had been captured. For their part, the Russians had lost 210,000 men, but they were quickly able to replenish their armies.
................................................................................................
"Upon seeing Napoleon’s defeat in Russia, Prussia, Sweden, Austria, and various German states re-entered the war, forming the Sixth Coalition. Meanwhile, the Peninsular War in Spain continued to be a source of frustration for French forces. In 1812, Arthur Wellesley, the duke of Wellington, had renewed the Anglo-Portuguese advance into Spain. He had been making progress, capturing the fortified towns of Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, and Salamanca. As a result of these incursions, the French ended the long siege of Cadiz. This provided an opportunity for the duke of Wellington to move his supply base to Santander, and from there, his forces seized Burgos. Then, on June 21, the Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish armies were victorious in Vitoria against Joseph Bonaparte. This ended the French power in Spain and the French were forced to leave the Iberian Peninsula.
"In Paris, Napoleon quickly rebuilt his forces from 30,000 to 400,000 men, allowing him to inflict some 40,000 casualties on the coalition forces at Lützen and Bautzen in May of 1813. Deterred, the coalition forces offered Napoleon the Frankfurt proposals in November. Under the terms of these proposals, Napoleon would remain emperor of France, but his empire would be reduced to its natural borders. He would lose control of most of Italy and Germany as well as the Netherlands. Napoleon, still confident of his eventual victory, rejected the proposals.
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"In June, two Austrian armies added their forces to coalition armies in Germany, bringing the forces there to some 800,000 strong with a strategic reserve of 350,000. Napoleon brought approximately 650,000 soldiers to the region, 250,000 of which were under his direct command. Those forces were joined by another 250,000 French forces from the Confederation of the Rhine, the Kingdom of Naples, Italy, and retreating French forces from Spain. That brought the total French forces to approximately 900,000, though it is notable that most of the German troops fighting for the French were unreliable at best and frequently on the verge of defection to the coalition forces. That meant that Napoleon was seriously outnumbered by about four-to-one.
"Nevertheless, following a ceasefire agreed to by all sides, Napoleon seemed to regain the initiative in Dresden in August of 1813. He defeated the numerically superior coalition forces, inflicting large numbers of casualties as he did so. However, he was slow to resume the offensive after this victory, and he suffered a serious defeat at Leipzig in October. After that battle, the French forces had to withdraw from Germany into France. With their withdrawal, the Dano-Norwegian forces switched sides and joined the coalition.
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"Following Napoleon’s retreat into France, there were a series of battles where the French continued to suffer defeats. The coalition forces finally entered Paris on March 30, 1814. It was during this time that Napoleon fought what is known as the Six Days’ Campaign. He won multiple battles as the enemy forces advanced on Paris; these victories are notable since he never had more than 70,000 men against more than half a million coalition soldiers. Napoleon was determined to keep fighting. He was, as his quote implies, dealing in hope. He finally ran out of hope, however, on April 6, 1814, when he abdicated. The coalition leaders exiled Napoleon to the island of Elba and restored the brother of King Louis XVI to the throne. The peace terms were set with the Treaty of Fontainebleau on April 11.
"For his part, Napoleon blamed the circumstances of his defeat on the Peninsular War, later writing, “That unfortunate war destroyed me . . . All the circumstances of my disasters are bound up in that fatal knot.” It was that knot that historian David Gates termed the “Spanish ulcer.” Yet the world had not yet seen the last of Napoleon Bonaparte."
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November 21, 2022 - November 21, 2022.
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Chapter 7. The Seventh Coalition: The Battle of Waterloo
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"“My regrets are not for myself but for unhappy France! With twenty thousand men less than I had we ought to have won the battle of Waterloo. But it was fate that made me lose it.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
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"In 1815, Napoleon escaped from Elba, landing on the southern shore of France on March 1. From there, he traveled to Paris, picking up support as he went. By the time he reached Paris, he had enough support to overthrow King Louis XVIII. Napoleon was ready to go back into battle.
"In response to these developments, Britain, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, and several Germanic states formed the Seventh Coalition against France. As the coalition forces formed their armies, Napoleon was raising his own army. He managed to gather 280,000 men whom he distributed among several smaller divisions. On the other side, the coalition forces gathered around 700,000 soldiers.
"Napoleon knew he was outnumbered, and once his attempts to dissuade one or more of the coalition members from invading failed, he realized his only chance lay in attacking the coalition before it mobilized. He took 124,000 men to preemptively strike coalition forces in Belgium before they combined with other forces. By doing that, he hoped to drive the British from the continent, and he also hoped to take the Prussians out of the war altogether.
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"Napoleon was successful in catching the Anglo-Dutch army in a dispersed arrangement, and that achieved the surprise he wanted. He was also able to defeat the Prussian army at Ligny in June. As they retreated in disarray, Napoleon sent the left wing of his army, under the command of Marshal Michel Ney, to stop the British forces from aiding the Prussians. When the Prussians retreated, the British forces led by the duke of Wellington were forced to retreat too. Wellington fell back to Mont-Saint-Jean, which was located a few miles south of Waterloo.
"Napoleon then united his army with the forces of Ney and took up pursuit of Wellington’s army. He ordered Marshal Grouchy to stop the Prussians from re-grouping, but neither Grouchy nor Napoleon realized that they were already gathering at the village of Wavre. The Prussians sent three of their corps to march through the town of Wavre toward Waterloo. Meanwhile, the Third Prussian Corps took up a blocking position across the river. There, Grouchy’s forces engaged and defeated the rearguard on June 18-19, but the victory came about too late. The Prussians had kept Grouchy’s forces from joining Napoleon at Waterloo.
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"On the morning of June 18, Napoleon waited to start the fighting against the Anglo-allied army at Waterloo until the ground dried from the previous night’s rain. Napoleon had planned to keep the coalition forces divided, but the French army was unsuccessful in driving away Wellington’s forces, and Prussians forces were arriving in increasing numbers to attack the French right flank. The result was that the combined coalition forces were able to drive Napoleon’s army from the field in confusion.
"At that point, Grouchy organized a successful, orderly retreat towards Paris. Meanwhile, General Vandamme’s French forces had been defeated at the Battle of Issy, and negotiations for surrender began. Napoleon still had hope that a concerted national resistance could be organized in his favor, but neither the French legislative chambers nor the public were on his side. Napoleon was once again forced to abdicate on June 22, 1815. On July 15, he surrendered to the British at Rochefort, and he was once again exiled to an island, this time to Saint Helena off the coast of western Africa. He would remain there until he died six years later.
"Napoleon’s brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, whom he had put in charge of the Kingdom of Naples, had supported Napoleon during this last phase of the war and thereby triggered the Neapolitan War from March to May of 1815. On May 2-3, Murat was soundly defeated at the Battle of Tolentino. Murat was forced to flee and the Bourbons were returned to the throne of Naples before the end of the month. After trying to regain the throne, Murat was executed by firing squad on October 13, 1815. Thus, the last of the Napoleonic Wars ended, but the legacy they created still endures today."
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November 21, 2022 - November 21, 2022.
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Chapter 8. Aftermath
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"“It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
Indeed, as attested by examples galore, from Abraham Lincoln to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
On the other hand, there was the Confederate South where they were emotional about their 'Cause', but no one dead defending it is termed a martyr, not even the killer of Abraham Lincoln. And the very word 'cause' is not familiar as a word related to the US Civil War, unless one is fond of Gone With The Wind.
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"The reason so many coalitions formed to fight against Napoleon’s forces was that he was fighting for radical changes to Europe. The rise of Napoleon was borne of the French Revolution, a revolution that sought to destroy serfdom and the monarchy as well as the influence of the Catholic Church. ... "
Admitted finally there in last couple of words!
And yet, who then was the matchstick that set fire to the tinderbox?
" ... There were many in power throughout Europe who feared those ideals. The coalition forces sought to reverse some of the changes brought by the Napoleonic Wars by restoring the Bourbon royal house to the throne in France.
"Napoleon had been successful in uniting much of western Europe under one rule, and in those European countries, French rule brought many liberal features with it. Those included the concepts of democracy, due process in the courts, the abolition of serfdom, a reduction in the power of the Catholic Church, and constitutional limits on monarchs. As commerce and industry rose in those countries, a growing middle class increasingly shared in political decisions, and thus, the monarchs restored to rule after Napoleon’s defeat and exile found it difficult to impose the absolutism that had existed prior to the French Revolution. They were forced, instead, to retain many of the reforms Napoleon enacted during his rule. To this day, many of those institutional legacies remain in the form of civil law and defined codes of law that resulted from the Napoleonic Code.
"Additionally, the borders of Europe were once again redrawn. France was no longer a dominant power in Europe, and the Congress of Vienna restored a balance of power by resizing several countries. Prussia was restored in its former borders, and it also was the recipient of large parts of Poland and Saxony. Prussia became a permanent Great Power, meaning it was recognized as having the ability to exercise influence on a global scale. As such, it was given Rhineland and Westphalia, regions which transformed it into an industrial leader in the nineteenth century. ... "
Congress of Vienna then was responsible ultimately for WWI, nazis, holocaust and WWII, not to mention Russian Revolution, massacre of much of the Romanov clan, and untold miseries that resulted from this forced reversal of establishment of Napoleonic Code through the continent, to belligerent monarchies- and their inheritors - seeking to enslave everyone else.
" ... Britain had emerged as the most important economic power in Europe, and its Royal Navy had distinguished itself with unquestioned naval superiority across the globe. This would last well into the twentieth century."
So Congress of Vienna was responsible Aldo for the untold miseries visited on India by British Empire looting India, which included not only starvation to death of millions due to British stealing harvests, but ultimate fraud established by Macaulay policy of lying - and lying very deliberately, repeatedly and sanctimoniously - about anything and everything that was good in India.
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"Following the Napoleonic Wars, nationalism emerged as a new and increasingly significant movement. That would shape European history well into the future. Fiefdoms and the aristocracy were increasingly replaced with national ideologies which sowed the seeds for the formation of nation-states, specifically Germany and Italy. Norway signed its own constitution on May 17, 1814, and following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark was forced to cede Norway to Sweden. Sweden then initiated the Swedish-Norwegian War of 1814, which lasted less than a month and ended with a Swedish victory. Norway then entered into a personal union with Sweden which was peaceably dissolved in 1905. The United Kingdom of the Netherlands, which had been created as a buffer zone against France, rapidly dissolved after the wars and ended with the independence of Belgium in 1830.
"The Napoleonic Wars also had far-reaching effects in the New World. The conflicts had weakened Spanish authority and military power in Latin America. That resulted in numerous uprisings leading to wars of independence for many countries. Brazil, which served as the seat of the Portuguese Empire, ascended to the status of kingdom, which eventually led to the Portuguese Liberal Revolution in 1820 and Brazilian independence in 1822.
"The end of the Napoleonic Wars also spurred a large inflow of immigrants to the United States with some 30 million Europeans relocating to the U.S. between 1815 and 1914. One of the failures that Napoleon lamented after his defeat was his dream of a unified Europe. His ultimate goal was to create a “European Association” that shared the same principles of government, a system of measurement, currency, and a civil code. Though he failed to achieve that dream, one and a half centuries later, his ideals re-emerged in the form of the European Union."
Indeed.
And UK questioned, joined, and seceded the EU.
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November 21, 2022 - November 21, 2022.
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Chapter 9. Military Legacy
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"“The only victories which leave no regret are those which are gained over ignorance.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
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"Until the Napoleonic Wars, when European states went to war, they typically employed national soldiers and mercenaries to form small armies. That meant that they could only deploy small field armies limited to some 30,000 men under a single commander. In the mid-eighteenth century, military innovators had begun to envision the potential of a nation at war, but it wasn’t until the Napoleonic Wars that the scale of warfare was dramatically enlarged. The French use of a separate corps which allowed a single commander to effectively command more than the traditional 30,000 men and the concept of living off the land which freed the military leaders from needing to make supply arrangements meant that Napoleon’s armies were much larger than those of his opponents. Additionally, he successfully commanded separate field armies, which meant they operated as a single army under one control, and that gave him a distinct advantage in outnumbering his opponents. It also forced his opponents to increase the size of their armies. This led to the shift from small, well-drilled armies to the mass conscript armies seen in subsequent wars.
"By the time the Napoleonic Wars ended, the last battles were fought with more than 500,000 soldiers with casualties as high as 150,000 wounded or killed. Britain’s army expanded to a peak of approximately 250,000 men, and Austria’s forces peaked in the Sixth Coalition at about 576,000 men. Prussia’s forces peaked at 320,000 soldiers, and by 1813, its armies were characterized by competence and determination. Spain’s forces peaked at around 200,000 men but also included more than 50,000 guerrillas scattered throughout its territories. Even small nations managed to gather armies that rivaled the size of the armies of the so-called Great Powers, although their forces were often poorly trained.
"At this time in world history, the Industrial Revolution resulted in the mass production of weapons to equip larger armies. Britain was the largest single weapons manufacturer, supplying most of the coalition forces’ weaponry throughout the various conflicts. France was the second-largest producer and supplied its own forces as well as those of the Confederation of the Rhine and other allies.
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"One characteristic of Napoleon’s tactics that made him particularly successful was his intense drilling of his soldiers. He trained them in speedy battlefield movement, combined arms assaults between infantry, cavalry, and artillery utilizing cannons, short-range musket fire, and bayonet charges. Napoleon was considered a master of these tactics, and they continued to be used long after his demise. In fact, they were used long after they were rendered technologically impractical, and that led to large-scale slaughters in the American Civil War, the Austro-Prussian War, and the Franco-Prussian War.
"Napoleon also abandoned the concept of marching in lines, instead favoring attacking columns, which presented less of a target to the enemy. He wanted his infantry to be skilled in the flexible use of weaponry. They were supplied with smoothbore, flintlock muskets that had a short effective range of about 50 to 70 yards (46 to 64 meters), and a highly trained soldier would fire approximately once every 15 to 20 seconds. They also used the French musket, which had a range of about 100 yards (91 meters) but misfired one out of every six rounds. Napoleon’s strategy was to have his soldiers stay in the battle, fighting shoulder to shoulder, two or three lines deep, in volleys. He also positioned officers with swords and halberds to keep the infantrymen in line. Moreover, he had them wear colorful uniforms so they were visible from a distance and could be seen if they were abandoning their duty.
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"Napoleon’s cavalry strategy provided a shock element similar to that of tanks in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The cavalry units would quickly close on infantry units to avoid the horsemen being overcome with musket fire. The cavalry would charge infantry units and force them into semi-static squares of men, which made them easier targets. The speed of the cavalry made them especially effective at surprising enemy forces, particularly since the battlefields were often covered in thick, black smoke.
"Lastly, the Napoleonic Wars witnessed many innovations in field artillery, which is defined as a class of mobile artillery that backs up armies on the battlefield. The guns during this time were designed to emphasize mobility and accuracy over long distances. When Napoleon organized the French army into corps, he established semi-autonomous artillery formations led and coordinated by artillery officers, and he utilized field artillery that consisted of foot, horse, and mountain artillery. All of these strategies made Napoleon a true pioneer of military strategy, and his tactics are still the subject of military academies across the world."
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November 21, 2022 - November 21, 2022.
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Chapter 10. Napoleonic Innovations
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"“There are but two powers in the world, the sword and the mind. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the mind.”
"—Napoleon Bonaparte"
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"Napoleon was no stranger to the use of innovative techniques of all kinds to achieve his goals. He used mobility to offset numerical disadvantages, and he redefined the role of artillery by allowing them to form mobile, independent units. He also utilized the semaphore system to communicate with French forces. The semaphore system is a kind of optical telegraph. Visual signals communicate messages between towers or stations—this system allowed for communication throughout the Napoleonic Wars. Furthermore, the French forces employed a type of aerial surveillance for the first time in these conflicts. They utilized a hot air balloon to survey the position of coalition forces.
"With regard to the increase in the size and scope of the conflicts, historians believe that the ideological clash that began with the French Revolution spurred the growth of the conflicts. The second reason for the dramatic increases in total warfare is related to the emergence of nationalism in France, Germany, Spain, and elsewhere that made these wars important to the people of these countries rather than only to the monarchy. Furthermore, the intellectual transformations in the culture of war that resulted from the Enlightenment turned war into a total societal experience rather than a routine event. The French Revolution effectively integrated every civilian into the war effort, either as a soldier or as a vital component of the home front machinery supporting and supplying the military. That resulted in the emerging concept of militarism—the belief that the military role is superior to the civilian role in times of national crisis. Napoleon himself noted, “It is the soldier who found a Republic and it is the soldier who maintains it.” That is yet one more enduring belief that traces its roots to the Napoleonic Wars.
"Yet another novel factor in the Napoleonic Wars was the use of military intelligence. It was a pivotal factor that changed the tide of the wars by dictating the course of major battles. Napoleon employed the use of military intelligence in his strategies to outfox larger armies, to anticipate enemy movements, and to plan complex strategies. A number of battles were dictated by military intelligence to greater or lesser benefit. These include the Battle of Waterloo, the Battle of Leipzig, the Battle of Salamanca, and the Battle of Vitoria. Though military intelligence was used to great advantage, on some occasions, such as the Battle of Jena, even superior military intelligence could not overcome the sheer force of Napoleon’s army."
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November 21, 2022 - November 21, 2022.
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Conclusion
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"The Napoleonic Wars were significant for a number of reasons. Originating with the French Revolution, the post-Enlightenment concepts of democracy, individual rights, a reduction or elimination of serfdom, a reduction in the power of monarchs, and a reduction in the influence of the Catholic Church made numerous European powers nervous. When Napoleon was finally successful in overthrowing the monarchy in France and began a campaign to spread these concepts throughout Europe, the European powers, led mostly by Great Britain, saw no other option than to limit French expansion in order to maintain their power structures.
"To do so, numerous European countries became part of a series of coalitions with the aim of confronting France on the battlefield. Yet Napoleon was no ordinary leader. He was a veritable genius at devising and employing various military strategies. Using innovative military training tactics, repurposing the use of artillery, and bringing multiple smaller army corps under his central command helped Napoleon defeat larger combined European forces on numerous occasions. Over the course of more than a decade and countless military engagements, Napoleon showed his prowess as a military leader.
"Once started, the wars served to bring the liberal French concepts introduced by the French Revolution to the rest of Europe. Those ideas persist to this very day. In fact, modern military tacticians study Napoleon, and the spread of the liberal concepts heralded by Napoleon and his supporters have taken permanent hold throughout Europe and the rest of the world as well. Moreover, the concept of militarism that integrates the civilian into the military effort and glorifies the soldier is now a fully realized ideal in most modern societies. Even Napoleon’s dream of a unified Europe was finally realized with the formation of the European Union in 1993. The legacy of the Napoleonic Wars is a testament to the power of one man’s global influence throughout time."
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November 21, 2022 - November 21, 2022.
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Bibliography
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"Bell, David A. (2008). The First Total War: Napoleon's Europe and the Birth of Warfare as We Know It.
"Chandler, David G. (1973). The Campaigns of Napoleon.
"Esdaile, Charles (2008). Napoleon's Wars: An International History, 1803–1815.
"Gates, David. (2011) The Napoleonic Wars 1803–1815.
"Harvey, Robert (2013). The War of Wars. McLynn, Frank (1997). Napoleon: A Biography.
"Riehn, Richard K. (1991). 1812: Napoleon's Russian Campaign.
"Roberts, Andrew (2014). Napoleon: A Life.
"Schneid, Frederick C. (2005). Napoleon's Conquest of Europe: The War of the Third Coalition.
"White, Matthew (2014). Statistics of Wars, Oppressions and Atrocities of the Nineteenth Century."
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November 21, 2022 - November 21, 2022.
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NAPOLEONIC WARS: A HISTORY
FROM BEGINNING TO END
(WARS IN EUROPEAN HISTORY),
by Hourly History.
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November 19, 2022 - November 21, 2022.
Purchased November 19, 2022.
ASIN:- B08PBHFYNH
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5113970504
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