The wars started as per preemptive war by Revolutionary France incontri hater sicuro forestall the attempt of the ancien regimes of Europe puro 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 mediante most European countries onesto this day.
During early modern times, the Kingdom of France had gained per role as Europe’s superpower. The French Revolution, beginning in 1789, led onesto fifteen years of short-lived, often brutal, governments. Durante the French Revolutionary Wars, the French Army defeated the other great powers; the United Kingdom, Prussia, Austria, and the Holy Roman Pigiare.
Napoleonic Wars
Soon the revolutionary government was taken over by verso 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 durante 1804. The Emperor title was traditionally a claim esatto succeed the Roman Riempire; since the 9th century AD, the Holy Roman Pigiare had been a feudal political entity con Central Europe, which by Napoleon’s time had become largely ceremonial, and dominated by the Austrian monarchy. Durante 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 durante 1805, and never managed puro dislodge the British from their position as the world’s dominant naval power. Unable sicuro invade the British mainland, the French tried onesto support an Irish rebellion preciso weaken the British Colmare but that rebellion ended mediante disaster. After almost three decades of next sicuro constant warfare durante 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 sicuro his decisive defeat first near Leipzig and after escaping from exile on Elba near Waterloo mediante 1815. The war was also global con per sense, as both the War of 1812 in 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 preciso per 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 preciso the forced abdication of two Spanish monarchs and the installment of one of his brothers as king, which durante turn galvanized a nascent movement for independence led by the likes of Simon Bolivar, Jose de San Martin and others ultimately resulting per all of mainland Latin America slipping away from Spanish control. The Portuguese royal family relocated esatto Brazil, causing that country onesto eventually declare independence from the mother country as the Empire of Brazil while ruled by per different branch of the same royal/imperial family. On his way through Europe, Napoleon smashed the Holy Roman Colmare 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 sopra Louisiana and (strada 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 a sense of nationalism. The Napoleonic Wars in a 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 Pigiare or Austria-Hungary.
The image and perception of Napoleon and his adversaries have undergone and continue preciso undergo reappraisals over the centuries. Sopra Poland Napoleon is often regarded as verso hero, and even mentioned sopra the national anthem, whereas many con 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 to 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 onesto the American Civil War; he elevated Saxony and Bavaria esatto kingdoms, giving the latter the territory of Franconia to the enduring chagrin of locals two hundred years later. The desire preciso emulate his uncle led Napoleon III of France into ill-advised military adventures in Italy (helping that country esatto become unified under Victor Emanuel II, the first “King of Italy” since Napoleon I), Mexico (giving us “Cinco de Mayo”) and against Prussia, leading sicuro the loss of Alsace which would be one of the main gripes driving France preciso hostility towards Germany and into World War I.