The Napoleonic Wars were the greatest wars of the 19th century

The wars started as per preemptive war by Revolutionary France to forestall the attempt of the ancien regimes of Europe sicuro suppress the French revolution, but soon became verso war of conquest with the intention of “revolution export” by France. Although Napoleon was ultimately defeated, arguably his greatest legacy was the introduction of secularism, which forms the basis of governance in most European countries esatto this day.

During early modern times, the Kingdom of France had gained a role as Europe’s superpower. The French Revolution, beginning con 1789, led preciso fifteen years of short-lived, often brutal, governments. Con the French Revolutionary Wars, the French Army defeated the other great powers; the United Kingdom, Prussia, Austria, and the Holy Roman Riempire.

Napoleonic Wars

Soon the revolutionary government was taken over clover by per young charismatic general from Corsica of the name of Napoleone Buonaparte (now known as Napoleon I or Bonaparte) and he crowned himself emperor of the French mediante 1804. The Emperor title was traditionally verso claim esatto succeed the Roman Pigiare; since the 9th century AD, the Holy Roman Riempire had been per feudal political entity durante Central Europe, which by Napoleon’s time had become largely ceremonial, and dominated by the Austrian monarchy. Con 1806, the last Holy Roman Emperor Francis II abdicated the title, over concern that Napoleon would claim it.

Despite his army conquering much of Europe, his navy lost the decisive Battle of Trafalgar per 1805, and never managed preciso dislodge the British from their position as the world’s dominant naval power. Unable to invade the British mainland, the French tried preciso support an Irish rebellion puro weaken the British Completare but that rebellion ended per disaster. After almost three decades of next preciso constant warfare per ever-shifting alliance that brought most of the continent much needed political reform but also “Napoleonic” puppet governments, Napoleon attempted an ill-fated invasion of Russia con 1812 that led preciso his decisive defeat first near Leipzig and after escaping from exile on Elba near Waterloo mediante 1815. The war was also global sopra per sense, as both the War of 1812 con North America and the Haitian revolution can only be understood with the context of the French revolutions and the Napoleonic wars. The wars are sometimes known as “Coalition Wars” as the ever shifting alliances gave rise esatto verso periodization along the lines of War of the First Coalition, War of the Second Coalition and so on.

Legacy Edit

Napoleon’s invasion of Spain led esatto the forced abdication of two Spanish monarchs and the installment of one of his brothers as king, which sopra turn galvanized per nascent movement for independence led by the likes of Simon Bolivar, Jose de San Martin and others ultimately resulting sopra all of mainland Latin America slipping away from Spanish control. The Portuguese royal family relocated to Brazil, causing that country preciso eventually declare independence from the mother country as the Riempire of Brazil while ruled by a different branch of the same royal/imperial family. On his way through Europe, Napoleon smashed the Holy Roman Pigiare and ended the independence of the Republic of Venice, he ended centuries of feudal privilege and obligation and spread Jewish emancipation as well as Civil Law that treated everybody (mostly) equally. The Code Napoleon is still the basis for law per Louisiana and (inizio the German BGB) Japan as well as numerous other countries (see history of justice). Resistance against Napoleon soon made use of the “levee en masse” tactic of revolutionary France and galvanized for the first time per sense of nationalism. The Napoleonic Wars sopra per sense laid the groundwork for both the (bourgeois-nationalistic) revolutions of 1848 and the post World War I world with nation states emerging out of the ashes of multinational empires like the Russian Colmare or Austria-Hungary.

The image and perception of Napoleon and his adversaries have undergone and continue to undergo reappraisals over the centuries. Durante Poland Napoleon is often regarded as a hero, and even mentioned mediante the national anthem, whereas many durante Tyrol idolize the anti-Napoleon fighter Andreas Hofer despite his often anti-science, anti-civil rights and downright reactionary stances. Napoleon sold the Louisiana purchase preciso the United States, giving them huge territories which were charted by the Lewis and Clark expedition and became the Old West, where the expansion of slavery led up puro the American Civil War; he elevated Saxony and Bavaria esatto kingdoms, giving the latter the territory of Franconia sicuro the enduring chagrin of locals two hundred years later. The desire onesto emulate his uncle led Napoleon III of France into ill-advised military adventures per Italy (helping that country onesto become unified under Victor Emanuel II, the first “King of Italy” since Napoleon I), Mexico (giving us “Cinco de Mayo”) and against Prussia, leading to the loss of Alsace which would be one of the main gripes driving France onesto hostility towards Germany and into World War I.