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Overview The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a

Napoleonic Wars
Background series of conflicts fought between the First Part of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
Prelude French Empire under Napoleon (1804–
1815) and a fluctuating array of European
War between Britain
coalitions. The wars originated in political
and France, 1803–1814
forces arising from the French Revolution
War of the Third
(1789–1799) and from the French
Coalition, 1805
Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802), and
War of the Fourth produced a period of French domination
Coalition, 1806–1807
over Continental Europe.[32] The wars are
Peninsular War, 1808– categorised as seven conflicts, five named
1814
after the coalitions that fought Napoleon,
War of the Fifth plus two named for their respective theatres;
Coalition, 1809
the War of the Third Coalition, War of the
Subsidiary wars Fourth Coalition, War of the Fifth Coalition,
Invasion of Russia, War of the Sixth Coalition, War of the
1812 Seventh Coalition, the Peninsular War, and

War of the Sixth the French invasion of Russia.[33]

Coalition, 1812–1814
The first stage of the war broke out with
War of the Seventh Britain having declared war on France on 18
Coalition, 1815
May 1803, alongside the Third Coalition. In
Political effects December 1805, Napoleon defeated the
Military legacy allied Russo-Austrian army at Austerlitz,
thus forcing Austria to make peace.
Use of military
intelligence Concerned about increasing French power,
Prussia led the creation of the Fourth
In fiction
Coalition, which resumed war in October
See also 1806. Napoleon soon defeated the
Notes Prussians at Jena-Auerstedt and the
Click an image to load the campaign.
References Russians at Friedland, bringing an uneasy Left to right, top to bottom:
peace to the continent. The treaty had failed Battles of Austerlitz, Berlin, Friedland, Lisbon, Madrid,
Further reading Vienna, Moscow, Leipzig, Paris, Waterloo
to end the tension, and war broke out again
External links Date 18 May 1803 – 20 November 1815
in 1809, with the Austrian-led Fifth Coalition.
(12 years, 5 months and 4 weeks)
At first, the Austrians won a significant Location Atlantic Ocean, Caucasus, Europe, French
victory at Aspern-Essling, but were quickly Guiana, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean Sea,
defeated at Wagram. North America, North Sea, Río de la Plata,
West Indies, Southern Africa, East Indies,
Middle East, South America, Pacific Ocean
Hoping to isolate and weaken Britain
Result Coalition victory
economically through his Continental Congress of Vienna
System, Napoleon launched an invasion of Full results [show]

Portugal, the only remaining British ally in Belligerents

continental Europe. After occupying Lisbon Coalition forces: France and its client
United Kingdom states:
in November 1807, and with the bulk of
Holy Roman Empire French Republic (until
French troops present in Spain, Napoleon (until 1806) 1804)
seized the opportunity to turn against his Austria[a][b][c] French Empire (from

former ally, depose the reigning Spanish Prussia[d] 1804)

Russia[e][f] French clients: [hide]

royal family and declare his brother King of
Spain[g][h] Batavian Republic[x]
Spain in 1808 as José I. The Spanish and Sweden[i][j] Bonapartist Spain[h]
Portuguese thus revolted, with British Portugal[k] Confederation of the
Ottoman Empire[l][m] Rhine[y][z][aa]
support, and expelled the French from Iberia
Bavaria[n] Bavaria
in 1814 after six years of fighting. Saxony
Brunswick[o]
French Royalists Westphalia
Concurrently, Russia, unwilling to bear the Württemberg
Hanover[p]
economic consequences of reduced trade, Hungary[q][r] Duchy of Warsaw[ab]
routinely violated the Continental System, Liechtenstein Etruria[ac]
Montenegro[s] Lithuania (1812)
prompting Napoleon to launch a massive
Nassau[o] Holland[ad]
invasion of Russia in 1812. The resulting Italy
Netherlands[o]
campaign ended in disaster for France and Baden Lucca-Piombino
the near-destruction of Napoleon's Grande Papal States Naples[ae]
Qajar Iran[l][t] Polish Legions[ab]
Armée. Switzerland
Sardinia
Saxony[n] Austria[b][4][af]
Encouraged by the defeat, Austria, Prussia,
Sicily[u][v] Denmark–Norway[ag][ah]
Sweden, and Russia formed the Sixth Switzerland Qajar Iran[ai][t]
Coalition and began a new campaign Tuscany[o] Ottoman Empire[l][m]
against France, decisively defeating Württemberg[n] Prussia[l][4]
Denmark[w] Russia[l][f]
Napoleon at Leipzig in October 1813. The
Spain[aj][h]
Allies then invaded France from the east,
United States[ak][5]
while the Peninsular War spilled over into Commanders and leaders
southwestern France. Coalition troops Francis I Napoleon I
captured Paris at the end of March 1814, Frederick William III Michel Ney
forced Napoleon to abdicate in April, exiled Maximilian I Joseph[al]
Ferdinand I Frederick VI
him to the island of Elba, and restored power Alexander I Józef Poniatowski †
to the Bourbons. Napoleon escaped in George III Rutger Jan
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Schimmelpenninck
February 1815, and reassumed control of
Duke of Wellington Louis Bonaparte
France for around one Hundred Days. The Henry Addington Eugène de Beauharnais
allies formed the Seventh Coalition, which William Pitt the Joachim Murat
Younger Fath Ali Shah Qajar
defeated him at Waterloo in June 1815, and William Grenville
Frederick Augustus I[al]
exiled him to the island of Saint Helena, William Cavendish
Joseph I
Spencer Perceval
where he died six years later.[34] Jerôme I
Robert Jenkinson
Ferdinand VII Frederick I[am]
The wars had profound consequences on Gustav IV Adolf
global history, including the spread of Charles John
Maria I
nationalism and liberalism, advancements in
Sultan Selim III
civil law, the rise of Britain as the world's Sultan Mustafa IV
foremost naval and economic power, the Sultan Mahmud II
William I
appearance of independence movements in
Louis XVIII
Spanish America and the subsequent
Strength
decline of the Spanish and Portuguese Russia: 900,000 French Empire:
Empires, the fundamental reorganization of regulars, cossacks and 1,200,000 regulars, sailors,
militia at peak strength marines and militia at peak
German and Italian territories into larger
(1812)[18] strength (1813)[22]
states, and the introduction of radically new Prussia: 320,000 French clients and allies:
methods of conducting warfare. After the regulars and militia at 500,000 regulars and militia
end of the Napoleonic Wars, the Congress peak strength (1806)[4] at peak strength (1813)
United Kingdom : Total: 2,000,000 regulars
of Vienna redrew Europe's borders and 250,000 regulars, sailors, and militia at peak strength
brought a relative peace to the continent, marines and militia at (1813)
peak strength (1813)[19]
lasting until the Crimean War in 1853. [citation not found]
Austria: 300,000
Overview [ edit ] regulars and militia at
peak strength (1809)
Napoleon seized power in 1799, establishing Spain: 198,520
regulars, guerrillas and
a military dictatorship.[35] There are militia at peak strength
numerous opinions on the date to use as the (1812)[20][an]
formal beginning of the Napoleonic Wars; 18 Portugal: 50,000
regulars, guerrillas and
May 1803 is often used, when Britain and militia at peak strength
France ended the only short period of peace (1809)
Sweden: 50,000
between 1792 and 1814.[36] The Napoleonic
regulars and militia at
Wars began with the War of the Third peak strength (1813)
Coalition, which was the first of the Coalition Netherlands:
36,500 regulars and
Wars against the First French Republic after militia at peak strength
Napoleon's accession as leader of France. (1815)
Ottoman Empire:
Britain ended the Treaty of Amiens, 350,000 regulars

declaring war on France in May 1803. Other coalition members:

100,000 regulars and
Among the reasons were Napoleon's militia at peak strength
changes to the international system in (1813)
Western Europe, especially in Switzerland, Total: 3,000,000 regulars
Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. and militia at peak
strength (1813)
Historian Frederick Kagan argues that
Casualties and losses
Britain was irritated in particular by Austria: 350,220 French Empire:
Napoleon's assertion of control over killed in action[23]
(500,000 total dead) 306,000 French killed in
Switzerland. Furthermore, Britons felt
Spain: more than action[29]
insulted when Napoleon stated that their 300,000 killed in 65,000 French allies
country deserved no voice in European action[24] and more than killed in action[30]
586,000 dead in total 800,000 French and
affairs, even though King George III was an
including civilians[25] allies killed by wounds,
elector of the Holy Roman Empire. For its Russia: 289,000 accidents or disease[30]
part, Russia decided that the intervention in killed in action[26] 600,000 civilians
Switzerland indicated that Napoleon was not (600,000 total dead killed[30]
including civilians)
looking toward a peaceful resolution of his Total: 2,000,000 dead[31]
Prussia: 134,000 [page needed]
differences with the other European powers. killed in action (300,000
[36] total dead including
civilians)
United Kingdom:
The British hastily enforced a naval blockade 125,000[27] killed in
of France to starve it of resources. Napoleon action (300,000 total
dead)
responded with economic embargoes
Portugal: up to
against Britain, and sought to eliminate 250,000 total dead or
Britain's Continental allies to break the missing including
civilians[27]
coalitions arrayed against him. The so-called
Italy: 120,000 total
Continental System formed a League of dead or missing including
Armed Neutrality to disrupt the blockade and civilians[24]
Ottoman Empire:
enforce free trade with France. The British
50,000 total dead or
responded by capturing the Danish fleet, missing[28]
breaking up the league, and later secured Total: 4,000,000 total
dominance over the seas, allowing it to military and civilian dead
or missing
freely continue its strategy.
V·T·E Napoleonic Wars [show]
Napoleon won the War of the Third Coalition
at Austerlitz, forcing the Austrian Empire out V·T·E [show]
Anglo-French Wars
of the war, and formally dissolving the Holy
Roman Empire. Within months, Prussia declared
Napoleonic Wars
war, triggering a War of the Fourth Coalition. This
war ended disastrously for Prussia, which had
6
been defeated and occupied within 19 days of the
beginning of the campaign. Napoleon 2
7
9
subsequently defeated Russia at Friedland, 8 5 1
creating powerful client states in Eastern Europe
and ending the Fourth Coalition. 4

3
Concurrently, the refusal of Portugal to commit to 1000km
620miles
the Continental System, and Spain's failure to
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
maintain it, led to the Peninsular War and the Key:
outbreak of the War of the Fifth Coalition. The 1 Third Coalition: Germany 1803:...Austerlitz...
2 Fourth Coalition: Prussia 1806:...Berlin...
French occupied Spain and formed a Spanish 3 Peninsular War: Portugal 1807...Torres
client kingdom, ending the alliance between the Vedras...
4 Peninsular War: Spain 1808...Vitoria...
two. Heavy British involvement in the Iberian 5 Fifth Coalition: Austria 1809:...Landshut...
Peninsula soon followed, while a British effort to 6 French invasion of Russia 1812:...Moscow...
7 Sixth Coalition: Germany 1813:...Leipzig...
capture Antwerp failed. Napoleon oversaw the 8 Sixth Coalition: France 1814:...Paris...
situation in Iberia, defeating the Spanish, and 9 Hundred Days 1815:...Waterloo...
expelling the British from the Peninsula. Austria,
eager to recover territory lost during the War of the Third Coalition, invaded France's client states
in Eastern Europe in April 1809. Napoleon defeated the Fifth Coalition at Wagram.

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

The coalition defeated Napoleon at Leipzig, precipitating his fall from power and eventual
abdication on 6 April 1814. The victors exiled Napoleon to Elba and restored the Bourbon
monarchy. Napoleon escaped from Elba in 1815, gathering enough support to overthrow the
monarchy of Louis XVIII, triggering a seventh, and final, coalition against him. Napoleon was then
decisively defeated at Waterloo, and he abdicated again on 22 June. On 15 July, he surrendered
to the British at Rochefort, and was permanently exiled to remote Saint Helena. The Treaty of
Paris, signed on 20 November 1815, formally ended the war.

The Bourbon monarchy was once again restored, and the victors began the Congress of Vienna
to restore peace to Europe. As a direct result of the war, the Kingdom of Prussia rose to become
a great power,[37] while Great Britain, with its unequalled Royal Navy and growing Empire,
became the world's dominant superpower, beginning the Pax Britannica.[38] The Holy Roman
Empire had been dissolved, and the philosophy of nationalism that emerged early in the war
contributed greatly to the later unification of the German states, and those of the Italian peninsula.
The war in Iberia greatly weakened Spanish power, and the Spanish Empire began to unravel;
Spain would lose nearly all of its American possessions by 1833. The Portuguese Empire also
shrank, with Brazil declaring independence in 1822.[39]

The wars revolutionised European warfare; the application of mass conscription and total war led
to campaigns of unprecedented scale, as whole nations committed all their economic and
industrial resources to a collective war effort.[40] Tactically, the French Army had redefined the
role of artillery, while Napoleon emphasised mobility to offset numerical disadvantages,[41] and
aerial surveillance was used for the first time in warfare.[42] The highly successful Spanish
guerrillas demonstrated the capability of a people driven by fervent nationalism against an
occupying force.[43][page range too broad] Due to the longevity of the wars, the extent of Napoleon's
conquests, and the popularity of the ideals of the French Revolution, the period had a deep
impact on European social culture. Many subsequent revolutions, such as that of Russia, looked
to the French as a source of inspiration,[44] while its core founding tenets greatly expanded the
arena of human rights and shaped modern political philosophies in use today.[45]

Background [ edit ]

See also: French Revolutionary Wars

The outbreak of the French Revolution had been received

with great alarm by the rulers of Europe's continental powers,
further exacerbated by the execution of Louis XVI, and the
overthrow of the French monarchy. In 1793, Austria, the
Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of Naples, Prussia, the
Kingdom of Spain, and the Kingdom of Great Britain formed
the First Coalition to curtail the growing power of revolutionary French victory over the
Prussians at the Battle of Valmy in
France. Measures such as mass conscription, military 1792
reforms, and total war allowed France to defeat the coalition,
despite the concurrent civil war in France. Napoleon, then a
general of the French Revolutionary Army, forced the Austrians to sign the Treaty of Campo
Formio, leaving only Great Britain opposed to the fledgling French Republic.

A Second Coalition was formed in 1798 by Great Britain, Austria, Naples, the Ottoman Empire,
the Papal States, Portugal, Russia, and Sweden. The French Republic, under the Directory,
suffered from heavy levels of corruption and internal strife. The new republic also lacked funds,
no longer enjoying the services of Lazare Carnot, the minister of war who had guided France to
its victories during the early stages of the Revolution. Bonaparte, commander of the Armée
d'Italie in the latter stages of the First Coalition, had launched a campaign in Egypt, intending to
disrupt the British control of India. Pressed from all sides, the Republic suffered a string of
successive defeats against revitalised enemies, who were supported by Britain's financial help.

Bonaparte returned to France from Egypt on 23 August 1799,

his campaign there having failed. He seized control of the
French government on November 9, in a bloodless coup
d'état, replacing the Directory with the Consulate and
transforming the republic into a de facto dictatorship.[35] He
further reorganised the French military forces, establishing a
large reserve army positioned to support campaigns on the
Rhine or in Italy. Russia had already been knocked out of the
Bonaparte defeating the
war, and, under Napoleon's leadership, the French decisively Austrians at the Battle of Rivoli in
defeated the Austrians in June 1800, crippling Austrian 1797
capabilities in Italy. Austria was definitively defeated that
December, by Moreau's forces in Bavaria. The Austrian defeat was sealed by the Treaty of
Lunéville early the following year, further compelling the British to sign the Treaty of Amiens with
France, establishing a tenuous peace.

Start date and nomenclature [ edit ]

No consensus exists as to when the French Revolutionary Wars ended and the Napoleonic Wars
began. Possible dates include 9 November 1799, when Bonaparte seized power on 18 Brumaire,
the date according to the Republican Calendar then in use;[46] 18 May 1803, when Britain and
France ended the one short period of peace between 1792 and 1814; or 2 December 1804, when
Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor.[47]

British historians occasionally refer to the nearly continuous period of warfare from 1792 to 1815
as the Great French War, or as the final phase of the Anglo-French Second Hundred Years' War,
spanning the period 1689 to 1815.[48] Historian Mike Rapport (2013) suggested using the term
"French Wars" to unambiguously describe the entire period from 1792 to 1815.[49]

In France, the Napoleonic Wars are generally integrated with the French Revolutionary Wars: Les
guerres de la Révolution et de l'Empire.[50]

German historiography may count the War of the Second Coalition (1798/9–1801/2), during which
Napoleon had seized power, as the Erster Napoleonischer Krieg ("First Napoleonic War").[51]

In Dutch historiography, it is common to refer to the 7 major wars between 1792 and 1815 as the
Coalition Wars (coalitieoorlogen), referring to the first two as the French Revolution Wars (Franse
Revolutieoorlogen).[52]

Napoleon's tactics [ edit ]

Napoleon was, and remains, famous for his battlefield victories, and historians have spent
enormous attention in analysing them.[53][page needed] In 2008, Donald Sutherland wrote:

The ideal Napoleonic battle was to manipulate the enemy into an unfavourable position
through manoeuvre and deception, force him to commit his main forces and reserve to
the main battle and then undertake an enveloping attack with uncommitted or reserve
troops on the flank or rear. Such a surprise attack would either produce a devastating
effect on morale or force him to weaken his main battle line. Either way, the enemy's
own impulsiveness began the process by which even a smaller French army could
defeat the enemy's forces one by one.[54]

After 1807, Napoleon's creation of a highly mobile, well-armed artillery force gave artillery usage
an increased tactical importance. Napoleon, rather than relying on infantry to wear away the
enemy's defences, could now use massed artillery as a spearhead to pound a break in the
enemy's line. Once that was achieved he sent in infantry and cavalry.[55][page range too broad]

Prelude [ edit ]

Britain was irritated by several French actions following the

Treaty of Amiens. Bonaparte annexed Piedmont and Elba,
made himself President of the Italian Republic, a state in
northern Italy that France had set up, and failed to evacuate
Holland, as it had agreed to do in the treaty. France then
continued to interfere with British trade despite peace having
been made and complained about Britain harbouring certain
individuals and not cracking down on the anti-French press.
[56] French victory over the
Austrians and Russians at the
Second Battle of Zürich
Malta was captured by Britain during the war and was subject
to a complex arrangement in the 10th article of the Treaty of
Amiens, where it was to be restored to the Knights of St. John with a Neapolitan garrison and
placed under the guarantee of third powers. The weakening of the Knights of St. John by the
confiscation of their assets in France and Spain along with delays in obtaining guarantees
prevented the British from evacuating it after three months as stipulated in the treaty.[57]

The Helvetic Republic was set up by France when it invaded

Switzerland in 1798. France had withdrawn its troops, but
violent strife broke out against the government, which many
Swiss saw as overly centralised. Bonaparte reoccupied the
country in October 1802 and imposed a compromise
settlement. This caused widespread outrage in Britain, which
protested that this was a violation of the Treaty of Lunéville. The British victory over the
Although continental powers were unprepared to act, the French at the Battle of Alexandria,
resulted in the end of Napoleon's
British decided to send an agent to help the Swiss obtain
military presence in Egypt.
supplies, and also ordered their military not to return Cape
Colony to Holland as they had committed to do in the Treaty
of Amiens.[58]

Swiss resistance collapsed before anything could be accomplished, and, after a month, Britain
countermanded the orders to not restore Cape Colony. At the same time, Russia finally joined the
guarantee regarding Malta. Concerned that there would be hostilities when Bonaparte found out
that Cape Colony had been retained, the British began to procrastinate on the evacuation of
Malta.[59] In January 1803, a government paper in France published a report from a commercial
agent which noted the ease with which Egypt could be conquered. The British seized on this to
demand satisfaction and security before evacuating Malta, which was a convenient stepping
stone to Egypt. France disclaimed any desire to seize Egypt and asked what sort of satisfaction
was required, but the British were unable to give a response.[60] There was still no thought of
going to war; Prime Minister Henry Addington publicly affirmed that Britain was in a state of
peace.[61]

In early March 1803, the Addington ministry received word that Cape Colony had been
reoccupied by the British army, in accordance with the orders which had subsequently been
countermanded. On 8 March they ordered military preparations to guard against possible French
retaliation and justified them by falsely claiming that it was only in response to French
preparations and that they were conducting serious negotiations with France. In a few days, it
was known that Cape Colony had been surrendered in accordance with the counter-orders, but it
was too late. Bonaparte berated the British ambassador in front of 200 spectators over the
military preparations.[62]

The Addington ministry realised they would face an inquiry over their false reasons for the military
preparations, and during April unsuccessfully attempted to secure the support of William Pitt the
Younger to shield them from damage.[63] In the same month, the ministry issued an ultimatum to
France, demanding a retention of Malta for at least ten years, the permanent acquisition of the
island of Lampedusa from the Kingdom of Sicily, and the evacuation of Holland. They also offered
to recognise French gains in Italy if they evacuated Switzerland and compensated the King of
Sardinia for his territorial losses. France offered to place Malta in the hands of Russia to satisfy
British concerns, pull out of Holland when Malta was evacuated, and form a convention to give
satisfaction to Britain on other issues. The British falsely denied that Russia had made an offer,
and their ambassador left Paris.[64] Desperate to avoid a war, Bonaparte sent a secret offer where
he agreed to let Britain retain Malta if France could occupy the Otranto peninsula in Naples.[65] All
efforts were futile, and Britain declared war on 18 May 1803.

War between Britain and France, 1803–1814 [ edit ]

Main article: United Kingdom in the Napoleonic Wars

British motivations [ edit ]

Britain ended the uneasy truce created by the Treaty of Amiens when it had declared war on
France in May 1803. The British were increasingly angered by Napoleon's reordering of the
international system in Western Europe, especially in Switzerland, Germany, Italy and the
Netherlands. Kagan argues that Britain was especially alarmed by Napoleon's assertion of control
over Switzerland. The British felt insulted when Napoleon said it deserved no voice in European
affairs (even though King George was an elector of the Holy Roman Empire) and sought to
restrict the London newspapers that were vilifying him.[36]

Britain had a sense of loss of control, as well as loss of markets, and were worried by Napoleon's
possible threat to its overseas colonies. McLynn argues that Britain went to war in 1803 out of a
"mixture of economic motives and national neuroses—an irrational anxiety about Napoleon's
motives and intentions." McLynn concludes that it proved to be the right choice for Britain
because, in the long run, Napoleon's intentions were hostile to the British national interest.
Napoleon was not ready for war, and so this was the best time for Britain to stop them. Britain
seized upon the Malta issue, refusing to follow the terms of the Treaty of Amiens and evacuate
the island.[66]

The deeper British grievance was their perception that Napoleon was taking personal control of
Europe, making the international system unstable, and forcing Britain to the sidelines.[67][68]
[page needed][36][page needed] Numerous scholars have argued that Napoleon's aggressive posture
made him enemies and cost him potential allies.[69] As late as 1808, the continental powers
affirmed most of his gains and titles, but the continuing conflict with Britain led him to start the
Peninsular War and the invasion of Russia, which many scholars see as a dramatic
miscalculation.[70][71][72]

There was one serious attempt to negotiate peace with

France during the war, made by Charles James Fox in 1806.
The British wanted to retain their overseas conquests and
have Hanover restored to George III in exchange for
accepting French conquests on the continent. The French
were willing to cede Malta, Cape Colony, Tobago, and French
Indian posts to Britain but wanted to obtain Sicily in exchange The Battle of San Domingo, 6
February 1806
for the restoration of Hanover, a condition which the British
refused.[73][page needed]

Unlike its many coalition partners, Britain remained at war

during the period of the Napoleonic Wars. Protected by naval
supremacy (in the words of Admiral Jervis to the House of
Lords "I do not say, my Lords, that the French will not come. I
say only they will not come by sea"), Britain did not have to
spend the entire war defending itself and could thus focus on
The Battle of the Pyrenees,
supporting its embattled allies, maintaining low-intensity land July 1813
warfare on a global scale for over a decade. The British
government paid out a large amount of money to other
European states so that they could pay armies in the field against France. These payments are
colloquially known as the Golden Cavalry of St George. The British Army provided long-term
support to the Spanish rebellion in the Peninsular War of 1808–1814, assisted by Spanish
guerrilla ('little war') tactics. Anglo-Portuguese forces under Arthur Wellesley supported the
Spanish, who campaigned successfully against the French armies, eventually driving them from
Spain and allowing Britain to invade southern France. By 1815, the British Army played the
central role in the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.

Beyond minor naval actions against British imperial

interests, the Napoleonic Wars were much less global in
their scope than preceding conflicts such as the Seven
Years' War, which historians term a "world war".

Economic warfare [ edit ] The British managed to occupy and

take control of Cape Colony, British
In response to the naval blockade of the French coasts Guiana, Malta, Mauritius and Ceylon
enacted by the British government on 16 May 1806, during the Napoleonic Wars.

Napoleon issued the Berlin Decree on November 21,

1806, which brought into effect the Continental System.[74] This policy aimed to eliminate the
threat from Britain by closing French-controlled territory to its trade. Britain maintained a standing
army of 220,000 at the height of the Napoleonic Wars, of whom less than 50% were available for
campaigning. The rest were necessary for garrisoning Ireland and the colonies and providing
security for Britain. France's strength peaked at around 2,500,000 full-time and part-time soldiers
including several hundred thousand National Guardsmen whom Napoleon could draft into the
military if necessary. Both nations enlisted large numbers of sedentary militia who were unsuited
for campaigning and were mostly employed to release regular forces for active duty.[75]

The Royal Navy disrupted France's extra-continental trade by seizing and threatening French
shipping and colonial possessions, but could do nothing about France's trade with the major
continental economies, and posed little threat to French territory in Europe. France's population
and agricultural capacity greatly outstripped Britain's. Britain had the greatest industrial capacity
in Europe, and its mastery of the seas allowed it to build up considerable economic strength
through trade. This ensured that France could never consolidate its control over Europe in peace.
Many in the French government believed that cutting Britain off from the Continent would end its
economic influence over Europe and isolate it.

Financing the war [ edit ]

A key element in British success was its ability to mobilise the nation's industrial and financial
resources, and apply them to defeating France. Though the UK had a population of approximately
16 million against France's 30 million, the French numerical advantage was offset by British
subsidies that paid for many of the Austrian and Russian soldiers, peaking at about 450,000 men
in 1813.[75][76][page needed] Under the Anglo–Russian agreement of 1803, Britain paid a subsidy of
£1.5 million for every 100,000 Russian soldiers in the field.[77]

British national output continued to be strong, and the well-organised business sector channeled
products into what the military needed. Britain used its economic power to expand the Royal
Navy, doubling the number of frigates, adding 50 per cent more large ships of the line, and
increasing the number of sailors from 15,000 to 133,000 in eight years after the war began in
1793. France saw its navy shrink by more than half.[78] The smuggling of finished products into
the continent undermined French efforts to weaken the British economy by cutting off markets.
Subsidies to Russia and Austria kept them in the war. The British budget in 1814 reached
£98 million, including £10 million for the Royal Navy, £40 million for the army, £10 million for the
allies, and £38 million as interest on the national debt, which had soared to £679 million, more
than double the GDP. This debt was supported by hundreds of thousands of investors and
taxpayers, despite the higher taxes on land and a new income tax. The cost of the war amounted
to £831 million.[ao] In contrast, the French financial system was inadequate and Napoleon's forces
had to rely in part on requisitions from conquered lands.[80][page range too broad][81][page needed][82]

From London in 1813 to 1815, Nathan Mayer Rothschild was crucial in almost single-handedly
financing the British war effort, organising the shipment of bullion to the Duke of Wellington's
armies across Europe, as well as arranging the payment of British financial subsidies to their
continental allies.[83]

War of the Third Coalition, 1805 [ edit ]

Main article: War of the Third Coalition

Britain gathered together allies to form the Third Coalition

against The French Empire after Napoleon self-proclaimed as
emperor.[85][page range too broad][86] In response, Napoleon
seriously considered an invasion of Great Britain,[87][88]
massing 180,000 troops at Boulogne. Before he could invade,
he needed to achieve naval superiority—or at least to pull the
British fleet away from the English Channel. A complex plan The British HMS Sandwich fires
to distract the British by threatening their possessions in the at the French flagship Bucentaure
(completely dismasted) in the
West Indies failed when a Franco-Spanish fleet under Admiral battle of Trafalgar. Bucentaure
Villeneuve turned back after an indecisive action off Cape also fights HMS Victory (behind
her) and HMS Temeraire (left side
Finisterre on 22 July 1805. The Royal Navy blockaded of the picture). HMS Sandwich did
Villeneuve in Cádiz until he left for Naples on 19 October; the not fight at Trafalgar and her
depiction is a mistake by the
British squadron caught and overwhelmingly defeated the
painter.[84]
combined enemy fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October
(the British commander, Lord Nelson, died in the battle).
Napoleon never again had the opportunity to challenge the British at sea, nor to threaten an
invasion. He again turned his attention to the enemies on the Continent.

In April 1805, Britain and Russia signed a treaty with the

aim of removing the French from the Batavian Republic
(roughly present-day Netherlands) and the Swiss
Confederation. Austria joined the alliance after the
annexation of Genoa and the proclamation of Napoleon
as King of Italy on 17 March 1805. Sweden, which had
already agreed to lease Swedish Pomerania as a
military base for British troops against France, entered
European strategic situation in 1805 the coalition on 9 August.
before the War of the Third Coalition
The Austrians began the war by invading Bavaria on 8
September[89] 1805 with an army of about 70,000 under
Karl Mack von Leiberich, and the French army marched out from Boulogne in late July 1805 to
confront them. At Ulm (25 September – 20 October) Napoleon surrounded Mack's army, forcing
its surrender without significant losses.

With the main Austrian army north of the Alps defeated (another army under Archduke Charles
fought against André Masséna's French army in Italy), Napoleon occupied Vienna on 13
November. Far from his supply lines, he faced a larger Austro–Russian army under the command
of Mikhail Kutuzov, with Emperor Alexander I of Russia personally present. On 2 December,
Napoleon crushed the Austro–Russian force in Moravia at Austerlitz (usually considered his
greatest victory). He inflicted 25,000 casualties on a numerically superior enemy army while
sustaining fewer than 7,000 in his own force.

Austria signed the Treaty

of Pressburg (26
December 1805) and left
the coalition. The treaty
required the Austrians to
give up Venetia to the
French-dominated Surrender of the town of Ulm,
The French entering Vienna on 20 October 1805
13 November 1805 Kingdom of Italy and the
Tyrol to Bavaria. With the
withdrawal of Austria from the war, stalemate ensued.
Napoleon's army had a record of continuous unbroken victories on land, but the full force of the
Russian army had not yet come into play. Napoleon had now consolidated his hold on France,
had taken control of Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and most of Western Germany and
northern Italy. His admirers say that Napoleon wanted to stop now, but was forced to continue in
order to gain greater security from the countries that refused to accept his conquests. Esdaile
rejects that explanation and instead says that it was a good time to stop expansion, for the major
powers were ready to accept Napoleon as he was:

in 1806 both Russia and Britain had been positively eager to make peace, and they
might well have agreed to terms that would have left the Napoleonic imperium almost
completely intact. As for Austria and Prussia, they simply wanted to be left alone. To
have secured a compromise peace, then, would have been comparatively easy. But
Napoleon was prepared to make no concessions.[90]

War of the Fourth Coalition, 1806–1807 [ edit ]

Main article: War of the Fourth Coalition

Within months of the collapse of the Third Coalition, the

Fourth Coalition (1806–1807) against France was formed by
Britain, Prussia, Russia, Saxony, and Sweden. In July 1806,
Napoleon formed the Confederation of the Rhine out of the
many small German states which constituted the Rhineland
and most other western parts of Germany. He amalgamated
many of the smaller states into larger electorates, duchies, Entry of Napoleon into Berlin.
and kingdoms to make the governance of non-Prussian After defeating Prussian forces at
Jena, the French Army entered
Germany smoother. Napoleon elevated the rulers of the two
Berlin on 27 October 1806.
largest Confederation states, Saxony and Bavaria, to the
status of kings.

In August 1806, the Prussian king, Frederick William III, decided to go to war independently of
any other great power. The army of Russia, a Prussian ally, in particular, was too far away to
assist. On October 8, 1806, Napoleon unleashed all the French forces east of the Rhine into
Prussia. Napoleon defeated a Prussian army at Jena (14 October 1806), and Davout defeated
another at Auerstädt on the same day. 160,000 French soldiers (increasing in number as the
campaign went on) attacked Prussia, moving with such speed that they destroyed the entire
Prussian Army as an effective military force. Out of 250,000 troops, the Prussians sustained
25,000 casualties, lost a further 150,000 as prisoners, 4,000 artillery pieces, and over 100,000
muskets. At Jena, Napoleon had fought only a detachment of the Prussian force. The battle at
Auerstädt involved a single French corps defeating the bulk of the Prussian army. Napoleon
entered Berlin on 27 October 1806. He visited the tomb of Frederick the Great and instructed his
marshals to remove their hats there, saying, "If he were alive we wouldn't be here today".
Napoleon had taken only 19 days from beginning his attack on Prussia to knock it out of the war
with the capture of Berlin and the destruction of its principal armies at Jena and Auerstädt.
Saxony abandoned Prussia, and together with small states from north Germany, allied with
France.

In the next stage of the war, the French drove Russian forces
out of Poland and employed many Polish and German
soldiers in several sieges in Silesia and Pomerania, with the
assistance of Dutch and Italian soldiers in the latter case.
Napoleon then turned north to confront the remainder of the
Charge of the Russian Imperial Russian army and to try to capture the temporary Prussian
Guard cavalry against French
cuirassiers at the Battle of capital at Königsberg. A tactical draw at Eylau (7–8 February
Friedland, 14 June 1807 1807), followed by capitulation at Danzig (24 May 1807) and
the Battle of Heilsberg (10 June 1807), forced the Russians to
withdraw further north. Napoleon decisively beat the Russian army at Friedland (14 June 1807),
following which Alexander had to make peace with Napoleon at Tilsit (7 July 1807). In Germany
and Poland, new Napoleonic client states, such as the Kingdom of Westphalia, Duchy of Warsaw,
and Republic of Danzig, were established. Early that same year, the French besieged the fortified