1799-1815

In 1804 Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) declared himself Emperor of the French. Wide swaths of the French people in a plebiscite accepted his accession to the throne.  Napoleon’s strength was compounded by his ability to mobilize the French population in war and muster over 700,000 men to arms. His resources were seemingly limitless compared to other states of the time, and he used them to conquer and wage war against all the major powers of Europe. With his massive armies, Napoleon remade the map of continental Europe and changed its social make up permanently.1

Napoleon began his reign of conquest by unsuccessfully attempting to restore the Republic of Haiti to French colonial rule. On the continent of Europe, however, Napoleon successfully waged war against the Dutch Republic, Switzerland and Italy while co-opting German princes by permitting them greater holdings along the Rhine for their capitulation to his authority. Napoleon’s conquests alarmed the British who responded by declaring war in 1803 and forming a coalition with Russia and Austria in 1805.2

On the European continent Napoleon’s conquests were far reaching. He defeated the combined forces of Russia and Austria in late 1805, occupied Vienna, and was named king of all Italian territory north of Rome when Austrian forces withdrew. In 1806 Napoleon invaded Germany, causing the Holy Roman Emperor Franz II (1768-1835) to abdicate his authority over the German states and accept the sole emperorship of Austria as Franz I. Prussia responded to French encroachment by declaring war and was subsequently defeated in late 1806 and early 1807 with Napoleon’s complete occupation of Germany.3     

For a time Britain was also at risk for invasion. Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson (1758-1805) of the British Navy successfully prevented any opportunity of this when he destroyed the combined fleets of occupied Spain and France during the Battle of Trafalgar off the Spanish Coast October 21, 1805. While this victory emboldened Britain and protected it from conquest, Napoleon’s continental victories denied the British trade, and Russia and Prussia’s subjugation to France under the Treaty of Tilsit on July 7, 1807, left Britain without military allies.4  

Napoleon’s occupation of Europe only served to foment revolt. He placed family members in high-ranking positions in conquered territories and refused to implement free trade reforms that might have created a thriving economic system. Instead, the economics of occupation under Napoleon’s rule served only France. While the British lost the continent because of Napoleon’s restriction, they survived through trade with North and South American states. Smuggling became a serious problem on the European continent. Napoleonic rule augmented the spread of French Revolutionary doctrine by destroying church and aristocratic power and opening up economic and social opportunity to many who had been denied it for hundreds of years.5

Napoleon’s first misstep was to invade his ally Spain in hopes of quashing Britain’s alliance with Portugal. Napoleon then seized the Bourbon Crown of Spain and gave it to his brother Joseph (1768-1844) in 1808. This act, along with attacks on the Spanish Catholic Church, instigated massive popular revolt, and the Spanish populace waged a massive guerilla warfare campaign against the French with the assistance of Britain and its peninsula Commander Sir Arthur Wellesley (1769-1852), otherwise known as the Duke of Wellington. Austria once again declared war but was defeated and subjected to a harsh peace that denied it territory, millions of subject and the hand of the 18-year-old Austria Archduchess whom Napoleon married after divorcing his wife with whom he had no children.6

Czar Alexander (1777-1825) of Russia began rebuilding his forces in the wake of Napoleon’s continental excesses. Napoleon invaded Russia with a force of 600,000 men in 1812. The Russians, with only 160,000 men, refused to meet Napoleon in open battle. Instead, Russia committed to a policy of burning Russian lands to prevent any salvaging on the part of Napoleon who soon overran his supply lines. The strategy worked until Napoleon sacked Moscow and forced the Russian army onto the field. Although the Russians lost 60,000 men, twice that of the French, Napoleon was unsuccessful in defeating the Russian force, and by winter his army was left to starve when he returned to France to check usurpers to his throne in Paris. Of the 600,000 men who left for Russia, only 100,000 returned.7

Napoleon returned to France and raised another army of over 350,000 men to fight back against his emboldened opponents. While skillfully battling through Central Europe, Napoleon faced the collective might of Russia, Austria, Prussia, and the Peninsula Army of the Duke of Wellington. Although he succeeded at the Battle of Dresden, he was defeated at Leipzig in what was dubbed the Battle of the Nations, and by March of 1814 the Allies had occupied Paris. Napoleon fled to the island of Elba in northern Italy where he remained under guard.8

The victorious Allies formed the Quadruple Alliance and met at Vienna where they agreed to a twenty-year agreement to maintain the terms of Napoleon’s defeat. The Bourbon Monarchy was reestablished in France. The Kingdoms of the Netherland and Belgium, as well as Genoa and Piedmont were established while Prussia and Austria took defensible geographic territories to shore up their own security.9

The Alliance was put to the test when Napoleon escaped Elba and returned to France promising a liberal constitution and peaceful foreign policy. The Allies responded by declaring war. Napoleon’s army met the combined force of the Quadruple Alliance under Wellington at Waterloo on June 18, 1815. Wellington and Prussian Field Marshal Blucher (1742-1819) defeated Napoleon who was dispatched to the African Island of St. Helena where he died a prisoner in 1821.10

The conquests of Napoleon left a lasting impression on Europe that far exceeded the changes in boundaries. The response to French occupation brought nationalism to the forefront and created a diplomatic system of relations that revolved around states rather than monarchs. The democratic ideals of the French Revolution disrupted traditional social systems and opened up economic opportunity to former peasants. Out of the reforms he put in place many states emerged into free trading economies. These developments considerably improved the standards of living and education throughout Europe, and the peace of the Quadruple Alliance persisted for nearly half a century.11