The Napoleonic Wars

Lore & Background

The wars are categorised as seven conflicts: the War of the Third Coalition, War of the Fourth Coalition, War of the Fifth Coalition, War of the Sixth Coalition, War of the Seventh Coalition, the Peninsular War, and the French invasion of Russia. The first stage broke out when Britain declared war on France on 18 May 1803. After minor campaigns, Britain allied with Austria, Russia, and minor powers to form the Third Coalition in April 1805. Napoleon defeated the allied Russo-Austrian armies, climaxing in French victories at Ulm and Austerlitz, leading to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and Austria being forced to make peace.

Britain and Russia remained at war with France. Prussia joined Britain and Russia in the Fourth Coalition, which resumed war in October 1806. Napoleon defeated the Prussians at Jena-Auerstedt and the Russians at Friedland, bringing an uneasy peace by July 1807, again leaving Britain as France's sole major enemy. Britain obtained hegemony over the seas after victories including Trafalgar.

Napoleon launched an invasion of Portugal in November 1807, then turned against Spain, deposing the Spanish royal family and declaring his brother Joseph I King of Spain in 1808. Spain joined Britain and Portugal in the Peninsular War. Austria reentered the conflict, forming the Fifth Coalition in April 1809, but was defeated at Wagram, forcing a harsh peace in October 1809. Russia violated the Continental System, prompting Napoleon to invade in June 1812.

The campaign ended in disaster for France, with the Grande Armée nearly destroyed. Encouraged by the defeat, Austria, Prussia, and several minor powers joined Russia, Britain, and Spain in a Sixth Coalition. The Sixth Coalition defeated Napoleon at Leipzig in October 1813, then invaded France from east and west. Coalition troops captured Paris in March 1814, forced Napoleon to abdicate in April, exiled him to Elba, and restored the Bourbons.

Napoleon escaped in February 1815, reassumed control for around one hundred days, igniting the Seventh Coalition, which defeated him at Waterloo in June 1815 and exiled him to Saint Helena, where he died in 1821.

Reader's Guide

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; 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. British historians occasionally refer to the nearly continuous period of warfare from 1792 to 1815 as the Great French War.

Historian Mike Rapport (2013) suggested using the term 'French Wars' to unambiguously describe the entire period from 1792 to 1815. In France, the Napoleonic Wars are generally integrated with the French Revolutionary Wars. German historiography may count the War of the Second Coalition (1798/9–1801/2) as the 'First Napoleonic War'. In Dutch historiography, it is common to refer to the 7 major wars between 1792 and 1815 as the Coalition Wars.

Did You Know?

• The wars introduced mass conscription and guerrilla warfare.
• The Napoleonic Code advanced civil law and was largely retained where adopted.
• Independence movements in Spanish America arose as a direct consequence of the wars.
• France's defeat led to the rise of Britain as the world's foremost naval and economic power.
• The Congress of Vienna redrew Europe's borders after the wars and brought relative peace until the Crimean War in 1853.