Napoleonic Europe War: from 1792 until 1802 several coalitions of European powers fought against a France which, while changing types of governments, refused to give up its revolutionary changes In 1797 the Treaty Campo Formio formalized peace which was broken by a second coalition of powers. This second coalition failed by 1802. In 1802 all war stopped for one year In 1803 Britain formed another coalition against France

Napoleonic Europe Campo Formio ceded territory west of the Rhine river to France and compensated German states for this by giving the major German states territory east of the river in what was the Holy Roman Empire Several of the German states were quite active in this pursuit. Prussia, Bavaria, Baden-Wurttemberg grew substantially. This gave them an active interest in NOT returning to prewar territorial conditions After a debacle in Haiti, Napoleon withdrew French forces from the western hemisphere and ceded the Louisiana territory to the US

Napoleonic Europe In 1803 Britain resumed war against France, and while Napoleon was making plans to invade England, the British created a new coalition of Austria and Russia to help with its war against France In 1804 Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French and the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II declared Austria to be an empire. The tsar of Russia, Alexander I saw himself as an enlightened despot, an alternative to Napoleon, and as a liberal(?) defender of freedom against Napoleonic aggression

Napoleonic Europe In 1805 Austrian and Russian armies forced Napoleon to call off his invasion of Britain and move eastward to confront them. The British won the naval battle of Trafalgar, denying France control of the Atlantic and North Seas Napoleon defeated the Austrians in 1805 and in 1806 defeated them and the Russians at the Battle of Austerlitz. In this same year the Holy Roman Empire dissolved after existing since 800. In its place Napoleon created the Confederation of the Rhine (a complex structure of German duchies and kingdoms which would become the nucleus of a future German state)

Napoleonic Europe Napoleon also defeated Prussia in 1806, and Russia again in 1807. After this last defeat, Alexander and Napoleon composed the Treaty of Tilsit making Russia and France allies against Britain. Napoleon occupied Berlin (the Prussian capital) and ceded Prussian territories to the German Confederation. Both Russia and Prussia agreed to join Napoleons economic blockade of England (the Continental System of which more later)

Napoleon’s Apogee The Treaty of Tilsit was the high point of Napoleon’s power. All major powers had been subdued by or allied to France except Great Britain Having had to shelve his plans to invade it, Napoleon now devise an economic war against Britain known as the Continental System This system was designed to destroy British trade with the continent. No imports of British goods would be allowed nor would any exports to Britain be tolerated. Napoleon tried to force all continental nations to abide by this. Two were reluctant, Denmark and Portugal, but Denmark which had been attacked by Britain finally agreed. Portugal refused and as a result France invaded Portugal.

The decline of Napoleon Having invaded Portugal, Napoleon cast his eye on Spain, forcing the Spanish king to abdicate, and Napoleon put one of his brother on the throne of Spain. (He put relatives in charge of many kingdoms; French conquests were essentially job opportunities for Bonapartes.) The Spanish people responded by organizing and carrying out guerilla warfare (with English assistance) against the French. This ended in being Napoleon’s first great loss of territory and invincibility Napoleon’s loss of Spain encouraged new hope that France could be beaten. Other failures and bad decisions also were made.

The Decline of Napoleon In Poland, which had been partially Russian territory to begin with, Napoleon set up a new kingdom excluding the Russians from any part in governing or controlling it. Alexander of Russia was a teensy bit miffed about this, and Napoleon’s foreign minister (Talleyrand) who believed Napoleon was too aggressive abetted the tsar by encouraging his opposition to the new Polish kingdom In Austria meanwhile, the Austrians had once again gone to war with France and lost. Metternich, who was in charge of foreign relations for Austria, made peace with Napoleon. Napoleon who had no heir, divorced his empress Josephine, and married the daughter of the Austrian emperor who did give him a son.

Conclusion As you can see, this is a most difficult history to keep straight. The importance lies primarily in the continual warfare which destroyed the old order most effectively in much of Europe. As we shall see, although the old regimes appear not to have been effected in the short run, Napoleon and the French Revolution unalterably changed the continent of Europe. In the next sections of the text that you have been assigned we shall see how the spread of revolutionary ideas and the rise of nationalism were a direct result of these events.