The Coup of Brumaire in 1799 represented the most monumental turning point in French history. Napoleon Bonaparte, a native Corsican and military commander seized power from the French Directory. He became France’s First Consul, and would consolidate his power over the next few years, his position being upgraded to Emperor in 1804. The Jacobins declared this as a betrayal of the revolution with democracy being stripped from the French people. Napoleon gained fame at the uprising of 13 Vendemiaire, as he crushed a royalist uprising to preserve the Directory. The Emperor of France fought many wars and transformed France by the time he was deposed on 1815. Yet it is clear that the revolution came to an end in 1799, when at long last, the French Republic stabilised.
Napoleonic Domestic Reforms
Napoleon was responsible for the conversion of France into a state of total war. The Napoleonic Wars were wars of European tension, and of the ever tense battle between monarchism and liberalism, or at least, what was left of it in Napoleonic France. French society was repressed. Only four newspapers existed in Paris, the number of political journals was reduced from over 70 to just 13, and every single book published was to go through the police department. All news was to be drawn from Napoleon’s official paper Le Moniteur, and there was minimal freedom of the press.
The French economy was in a dire state in the run up to the revolution, and through the 1790s showed little signs of improvement, despite the Directory wiping 2/3rds of the French national debt. Napoleon arrived in office, and his various economic reforms were enough to successfully bring the French economy back from the brink of collapse. An increase in indirect taxes, standardisation of coinage and the foundation of the Bank of France erased the French national debt and established the French economy as the most reliable in Europe.
Napoleon consolidated his power largely through his Legion of Honour, giving important and powerful people honours in order to preserve his own power. Marquis De Lafayette was offered a position in the Legion of Honour but rejected it, saying that he would have gladly taken the honours if it was from a democratic government. Another of Napoleon’s largest changes came in his rapprochement with the Church, allowing Catholicism to be practices in France. Napoleon angered the pope when he gave himself a day in the calendar, replacing the position of the saint who had previously occupied that holy day in the calendar. Napoleon and the Pope’s relationship remained rocky until his deposition.
The police presence in France also escalated under Napoleon. The police were responsible for various measures to keep Napoleon in power. They had the job of heavy censorship of arts, as well as surveillance of the French people. In this view, the revolution was, very much, betrayed. Liberty, the central idea of the revolution had been lost in Napoleon’s police state.
The Napoleonic Wars
From 1803 until Napoleon’s final exile in 1815, war raged across Europe. The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars fought between France and its various client states and European coalitions of nations including Prussia, the Holy Roman Empire (or later, the Austrian Empire), Russia, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, various German kingdoms, and most prominently the United Kingdom. The War of the 2nd Coalition had begun as a reaction to the defeat of the 1st Coalition, which itself was a reaction to the French Revolution, with the monarchies of Prussia and Austria looking to restore the absolute monarchy of the King. France took a decisive victory in this war in 1802, which confirmed their victory in the war of the 1st coalition, as well as their previous annexations. Despite this, hostilities resumed in the War of the 3rd Coalition.
The War of the 3rd Coalition
The Napoleonic Wars began in 1803, with the War of the 3rd Coalition. The French fought alongside their satellites – a kingdom in Italy, the Netherlands and Spain against the Third Coalition: Austria, Russia, two Italian Kingdoms, and Sweden. Napoleon made plans to invade Britain, but of course, there was a large body of water between France and Britain. Napoleon began training an army for the invasion of Britain, but first set about a decisive defeat of the British Navy. This came to a head at the Battle of Trafalgar, where the Royal Navy decisively defeated the Franco-Spanish Navy under the command of Horatio Nelson and Cuthbert Collingwood. This destroyed French plans for the invasion of Britain, and the expansion turned eastwards. France took victories at the battles of Ulm and Austerlitz, the latter of which saw the French take a breath-taking victory against a larger combined Austrian and Russian armies. Austria had been defeated, and the Holy Roman Empire came to an end along with the War of the 3rd Coalition, in 1806.
The War of the 4th Coalition
The War of the 3rd Coalition also saw the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine, a French satellite state formed of a federation of German kingdoms, which greatly angered Prussia, who had claims of uniting the German people. The War of the 4th Coalition began and ended in swift fashion. Prussia was beaten in an extraordinary campaign which saw the French win the twin Battles of Jena-Auerstadt. The continental system was formed. This was a trade embargo on Britain, forced upon the nations of Europe by Napoleon. Russia agreed to join the system, as did most nations in Europe. Napoleon’s loss at Trafalgar forced a new way of defeating the UK.
The Peninsular War and the Russian Campaign
The Iberian Peninsula was growing increasingly unstable in the Napoleonic era, and when Portugal refused to submit to the continental system, Napoleon sought a less diplomatic version of making them conform. A large chunk of British imports were now going through Portugal, with the majority of other European nations signed up to the continental system. In order to decisively defeat Portugal, Napoleon sought to consolidate his power in the region, and with Spain having a succession crisis, he took the step to place his own brother as the head of the Spanish state, and this, understandably, proved very unpopular among the Spanish people. Uprisings and guerrilla rebellions began to spring up around the region, all whilst France had declared war on Spain. Napoleon had to commit far more resources to the war than expected, and this was exacerbated when a British expeditionary force landed in Portugal under the command of Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, better known as the Duke of Wellington. Wellington slowly fought back against France through the peninsula, assisted by the Spanish resistance. He was certainly aided by another French campaign a little further east.
In Russia, it was known as the Patriotic War of 1812, as is has any war fought in aggression against Russia since. The First World War was knows as the Second Patriotic War, and the Second World War known as the Great Patriotic War. Russia slowly refused to comply with the continental system, and after a dispute over the Finnish War - when Russia annexed Finland from Sweden, as well as after a dispute over the sovereignty of the Duchy of Warsaw, Napoleon's soldiers crossed into Russian territory. Napoleon's Grand Armee totalled around 650,000 soldiers, and experienced emphatic success. The Russians retreated through Belarus and Ukraine, but destroyed everything in their wake. Farms, villages and food stocks were destroyed by the retreating Imperial Russian Army in a tactic now known as Scorched Earth. Napoleon's armies had constantly relied on living off the land in order to carry out a quick and decisive strike against the army. The Russians countered each of these tactics - destroying crops so they couldn't eat off the land, and retreating before a decisive blow can be landed against them. Napoleon's supply lines increasingly stretched, and Russian supply lines increasingly shortened. Finally French Forces reached Moscow, and took the victory they had been desiring at the Battle of Borodino. Napoleon seized Moscow, and surely victory - but no surrender came. Napoleon waited in Moscow for four weeks, as the winter became more intense, and with food supplies running out rapidly, he made the decision to retreat. On the way, the Grand Armee was hounded by the Russian Army - picking off stragglers, striking stranded and starving forces. As the wintry weather became the increasingly severe more and more soldiers were killed by the Russians, or simply starved. Napoleon's forces have been reduced to just 120,000, as 400,000 died in Russia, with only some 25,000 French men left. This would prove decisive, as Prussia and Austria would turn on Napoleon, and force him back further into Germany.
As Wellington pushed French forces all the way back to Toulouse, the Grand Armee was defeated decisively at the Battle of Leipzig, otherwise known as the Battle of Nations. British, Russian, Austrian and Prussian forces encircled the French army at Leipzig, and destroyed much of what remained of it. Napoleon was chased all the way to Paris, and exiled to Elba, never to be heard from again.
But Napoleon was tenacious, and found his way back to France in 1815. He landed in the south, and, with a small band of followers confronted royalist forces at Grenoble. He stepped out in front of them saying "If any of you will shoot your Emperor, here I am." The soldiers joined him, and went to Paris, to overthrow the restored monarchy in order to raise one more army, to take it to the coalition powers one last time. Napoleon and his new army confronted Wellington once more outside a small Belgian village called Waterloo. Some 30,000 British along with 50,000 Prussians who arrived on the east of the battlefield defeated Napoleon for the last time.
The former General, Commander, First Consul and Emperor was exiled to Saint Helena, and this time, really, was never heard from again until his death in 1821, just 6 years later. War wasn't to break out across Europe on such a scale for one hundred years.
In Russia, it was known as the Patriotic War of 1812, as is has any war fought in aggression against Russia since. The First World War was knows as the Second Patriotic War, and the Second World War known as the Great Patriotic War. Russia slowly refused to comply with the continental system, and after a dispute over the Finnish War - when Russia annexed Finland from Sweden, as well as after a dispute over the sovereignty of the Duchy of Warsaw, Napoleon's soldiers crossed into Russian territory. Napoleon's Grand Armee totalled around 650,000 soldiers, and experienced emphatic success. The Russians retreated through Belarus and Ukraine, but destroyed everything in their wake. Farms, villages and food stocks were destroyed by the retreating Imperial Russian Army in a tactic now known as Scorched Earth. Napoleon's armies had constantly relied on living off the land in order to carry out a quick and decisive strike against the army. The Russians countered each of these tactics - destroying crops so they couldn't eat off the land, and retreating before a decisive blow can be landed against them. Napoleon's supply lines increasingly stretched, and Russian supply lines increasingly shortened. Finally French Forces reached Moscow, and took the victory they had been desiring at the Battle of Borodino. Napoleon seized Moscow, and surely victory - but no surrender came. Napoleon waited in Moscow for four weeks, as the winter became more intense, and with food supplies running out rapidly, he made the decision to retreat. On the way, the Grand Armee was hounded by the Russian Army - picking off stragglers, striking stranded and starving forces. As the wintry weather became the increasingly severe more and more soldiers were killed by the Russians, or simply starved. Napoleon's forces have been reduced to just 120,000, as 400,000 died in Russia, with only some 25,000 French men left. This would prove decisive, as Prussia and Austria would turn on Napoleon, and force him back further into Germany.
As Wellington pushed French forces all the way back to Toulouse, the Grand Armee was defeated decisively at the Battle of Leipzig, otherwise known as the Battle of Nations. British, Russian, Austrian and Prussian forces encircled the French army at Leipzig, and destroyed much of what remained of it. Napoleon was chased all the way to Paris, and exiled to Elba, never to be heard from again.
But Napoleon was tenacious, and found his way back to France in 1815. He landed in the south, and, with a small band of followers confronted royalist forces at Grenoble. He stepped out in front of them saying "If any of you will shoot your Emperor, here I am." The soldiers joined him, and went to Paris, to overthrow the restored monarchy in order to raise one more army, to take it to the coalition powers one last time. Napoleon and his new army confronted Wellington once more outside a small Belgian village called Waterloo. Some 30,000 British along with 50,000 Prussians who arrived on the east of the battlefield defeated Napoleon for the last time.
The former General, Commander, First Consul and Emperor was exiled to Saint Helena, and this time, really, was never heard from again until his death in 1821, just 6 years later. War wasn't to break out across Europe on such a scale for one hundred years.
