The Period of Napoleonic Wars

In 1793 England severed diplomatic relations with France and declared war. England together with Austria, Prussia and Spain already at war with France formed the first coalition which lasted four years up to 1797.The defeat of Austria put an end to the first coalition. At this stage Napoleon decided to strike at England through her possessions in India. Egypt was an important link in his strategic plans. Napoleon captured the island of Malta and in the battle of pyramids took Cairo. From Alexandria and Cairo he hoped to make an Eastern empire and then occupy India. However, these plans were disrupted by the English fleet under the command of Admiral Nelson.

Napoleon was forced to return to France secretly when he learned that the English prime-minister William Pitt the Younger was forming the second coalition of Austria, Russia, Spain, the kingdom of Naples, Portugal and Turkey against France. On returning to France Napoleon overthrew the existing government, and eventually established his personal dictatorship.

Meanwhile, Malta was recaptured. The French army was defeated. Napoleon had abandoned them. During the second coalition the allies attempted to undo the gains made by Napoleon previously. The Russian army in severe conditions under the command of Suvorov defeated the French in north Italy and was approaching French territory while admiral Ushakov dealt severe blows to the French fleet.

However, Napoleon managed to defeat Austria in 1800 and Russia formed an army neutrality with Denmark and Sweden. Soon England made peace with France. The collapse of the second coalition masterminded by William Pitt the Younger meant that he was to become the scapegoat. In 1801 he resigned and was replaced by a Tory Addington by name. The latter, compared with Pitt was a weak prime minister. In 1802 the Peace of Amiens was signed between England and France. In 1804 Napoleon consolidated his autocratic power being declared emperor. Tension between England and France broke into open war and a third coalition of England, Austria and Sweden was formed in 1805.

Napoleon was determined to invade England and gathered a large army at the French channel port of Boulogne. All England was in great tension awaiting the invasion. In this tense period a march of Russian and Austrian troops under the command of Kutuzov to the Bavarian border frustrated Napoleon's plans. The immediate danger to Britain was past. Moreover, Napoleon was eventually compelled to abandon his invasion plans especially after admiral Nelson's brilliant victory near Cape Trafalgar, about fifty kilometers south of Cadiz in 1805 when he destroyed the combined forces of the French and Spanish fleets. The emperor decided to confine his military operations on the mainland. In the same year he seized Vienna and won a crushing victory over Austria at Austerlitz. This meant the collapse of he third coalition. Russia and France negotiated the Peace of Tilsit when Napoleon and the Russian tsar met in the river Niemen.

Of all those nations that fought Napoleon, England alone seemed unconquerable. The English, however, had one weak spot in their armour-their commercial dependence on Europe-and that spot the French emperor determined to strike. Without the European market, British products would find little sale, and British factories would close. Hence the economy could collapse. Therefore Napoleon imposed a continental blockade of the British Isles: no French trader or trader of the occupied countries was allowed to deal commercially with Britain and British traders. Britain did the same for France. It was difficult for Napoleon to close all of ports to the British. The British lost no time in making friends with the Portuguese, who welcomed assistance. It became necessary, therefore, for the French to reach Portugal, and to do so they had to go through Spain. Napoleon sent the army into Spain in 1808. He forced the Spanish ruler and his son to abdicate and placed his brother Joseph on the throne of Spain. That act led to a popular uprising which was a source of much concern to Napoleon. The English sent their ablest leader, the Duke Wellington, into Portugal. He gradually recovered that territory from French control, extended his operations to Spain.

Meanwhile, the United States decided to take advantage of the war between England and France and seize Canada. The English blockade against France affected American trading interests. Moreover, the British held up American ships and seized some British naval deserters and many Americans. War between England and the USA became imminent and it lasted from 1812 to 1814.1n 1814 the English captured Washington, burned the Capitol and the White House. The Americans saw the danger for their independence, so the British had to withdraw. In 1814 the Peace of Ghent was signed.

The fate of Napoleon's empire was decided in Russia. It was the heroic resistance of the Russian people and the army in 1812 that led Napoleon to his downfall. The brilliant victory of Russia in 1812 campaign encouraged wide-scale resistance to Napoleon all throughout Europe. Though the emperor managed, by extraordinary efforts, to raise another army, but the Allies met and scattered his troops at Leipzig in 1813. The Allies then entered Paris and forced the Emperor to abdicate the throne. Napoleon was given sovereignty of the island of Elba in the Mediterranean Sea and the Bourbons were restored.

The Allies assembled at the Congress of Vienna, which met from November 1814 to November 1815 to redraw the map of Europe which Napoleon had drawn. Quite naturally England, Russia, Prussia, Austria, who had led in the fight against France, -dominated the meetings. However, soon serious dissensions began to occur among the allied diplomats. Napoleon, hearing of these events, returned to France, made a triumphal entry into Paris, and proceeded once more to occupy the throne. His return known as the 'Hundred Days' caused the allies to bury all differences for the time being and to make one more grand coalition against him. They accomplished his final defeat at Waterloo in 1815, a village situated near Brussels, the capital of Belgium. This was the greatest battle for the Duke of Wellington who commanded the allied forces and it made him a national hero. Napoleon became a prisoner of the British and was banished to the far-off island of St Helena, where he spent the remaining six years of his life.

The allied powers at the Vienna Congress formed the so-called Holy Alliance which was set to establish a regime of reaction all throughout Europe, to suppress progressive liberation movements.

England made serious gains to her empire. She secured Malta, Ceylon, the Cape of Good Hope and surrounding territory (in South Africa), Mauritius, Trinidad, Santa Lucia, Tobago, Heligoland, and a protectorate over the Ionian Islands. As we see most of the colonies were important strategic key points. The Congress of Vienna boosted English colonial interests.

I. Answer the following Questions:

1. Describe Britain's participation in the wars against France.

2. What role did the Russian army play in relieving England from the French invasion?

3. Describe in short the reasons and the outcome of the war between England and the USA (1812-1814).

4. Describe the gathering and the work of the Congress of Vienna.

5. What colonial gains did England make as a result of the Congress of Vienna?

6. Summarize the atmosphere in England as a result of the Napoleonic wars.

II. Translate the Following Words into Your Own Language:

Invasion, unconquerable, navy, coalition, armour, ablest, blockade, abdicate, dissension, proceed, banish, far-off, to occur, to assemble, to scatter, to inflict, to withdraw, to cease.