European History Napoleonic Europe (1799-1815) Brief Overview People Events & Qs
To view other notes of European History Click Here.
Brief Overview
In 1799, after the French Revolution had quieted into the Thermidorean Reaction, a brilliant general named Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the Directory and came into power as leader of the Consulate, beginning in 1799. Under Napoleon, France became a nationalist power, expanding its territory into Italy and exerting its influence over other powers. Napoleon consolidated his rule by suppressing rebellions in France, normalizing relations with the Church in the Concordat of 1801, and streamlining the French law system in the Napoleonic Code. By 1804, Napoleon was so powerful that he declared himself Emperor.
Defeating the various military coalitions the other powers of Europe threw against him, Napoleon won battle after battle: Marengo (1800), Austerlitz (1805), Jena-Auerstadt, and Friedland (1807). He built a vast empire of dependant states, forced Czar Alexander I to ally with him in the 1807 Treaty of Tilsit, and controlled the majority of Europe. Everywhere he went he spread the reforms and influence of the French Revolution to a remarkable extent. Just about the only blemish on his record during the first decade of the 19th century was a stunning naval loss to Britain at the Battle of Trafalgar
Seeking to undermine Britain's sea power, Napoleon issued the Berlin Decree in 1806, imposing the Continental System on Europe, which was meant to stop European countries from trading with Britain. Instead of hurting Britain, the Continental System hurt Napoleon. Upset by Napoleonic rule, Germanic nationalism got its start, and the Germans began to move towards Romanticism as an intellectual rebellion against French Enlightenment ideas. In Spain, the attempt to impose the Continental System led to the Peninsular War, a protracted guerrilla war that diverted French forces from the rest of Europe.
In 1810, Napoleon replaced his wife, Josephine, who had borne him no heir, with a younger wife, Marie Louise of Austria. They produced an heir, referred to as The King of Rome. Napoleon's happiness did not last, however, because at the end of 1810, Alexander I withdrew Russia from the Continental System. In 1812, Napoleon moved his Grand Army into Russia. Though Napoleons army pushed the Russians into constant retreat, the terrible Russian winter decimated Napoleon's Grand Army. Napoleon rushed home to raise a new army, but was defeated in October 1813 by an international coalition of armies at the Battle of Leipzig.
In 1814, Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba and Louis XVIII took the throne of France, returning a Bourbon to the throne that had been lost by Louis XVI just twenty years earlier. As the powers were just starting to negotiate a settlement, Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to France, raising an army during the period known as the Hundred Days. Napoleon's army was defeated by Wellington (Britain) and Blucher (Prussia) at Waterloo in June 1815. He was then exiled to Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he eventually died.
The chaotic Europe left behind by roughly two decades of war was reorganized by the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815). The major powers sent their top negotiators: Metternich (Austria), Castlereagh (Britain), Alexander I (Russia), Hardenberg (Prussia), and Talleyrand (France). The complex and delicate negotiations in Vienna created a stable Europe wherein no one power could dominate the others, as Napoleon's France had, for quite some time. Not until a century later, when World War I started in 1914, would another Europe-wide military conflict break out.
Timeline
1784: Herder publishes Ideas on the History of the Philosophy of Mankind
November 9, 1799: Napoleon and Sieyes overthrow the Directory, form the Consulate, with Napoleon as First Consulate
1799: Second Coalition formed
June 1800: battle of Marengo (France v. Austrians)—-French win handily.
1801: Concordat (France and Rome)
February 1801: Treaty of Luneville ends Second Coalition
1802: Napoleon elected "Consul for Life"
March 1802: Peace of Amiens with Britain
1803: Louisiana Purchase
May 1804: Napoleon changes title from "Consul" to "Emperor"
August 1804: Francis II makes himself "Emperor of Austria"
1805: Third Coalition (Britain, Austria, Russia)
October 21, 1805: Trafalgar
December 2, 1805: battle of Austerlitz
1806: Berlin Decree (begins Continental System)
1806: Holy Roman Empire replaced by Confederacy of the Rhine
October 1806: Prussia badly wounded at Jena and Auerstadt
1807: Napoleon, aided by Spain, invades Portugal
1807: Baron Stein "abolished" serfdom
June 14, 1807: Russians defeated at Friedland
July 1807: Treaty of Tilsit
1808: J.G. Fichte gives Address to the German Nation in Berlin
1808: Stein exiled from Prussia at Napoleon's command
1808: Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, becomes King of Spain
September 1808: Napoleon's allies meet at Erfurt, Saxony
April 1809: Austria proclaims War of Liberation
July 1809: Napoleon defeats Austria at the battle of Wagram
1810: Hardenberg becomes Prussian chancellor
1810: Napoleon marries Marie Louise, divorces Josephine
December 31, 1810: Russia withdraws from Continental System
1811: Marie Louise gives birth to an heir
1812: War of 1812 (US-Britain)
June 1812: Napoleon enters Russia with the Grand Army
September 14, 1812: Napoleon enters Moscow
December 1812: Napoleon rushes back to Paris
June 1813: Wellington threatens France from Spain
October 1813: Napoleon loses at battle of Leipzig
November 1813: Metternich makes "Frankfurt Proposals" to leave Napoleon in power.
January 1814: Castlereagh goes to Europe to negotiate
March 9, 1814: Treaty of Chaumont
April 4, 1814: Treaty of Fontainebleau. Napoleon abdicates.
May 30, 1814: (1st) Treaty of Paris (France reverts to 1792 borders)
September 1814: Congress of Vienna begins
January 3, 1815: Metternich, Castlereigh, Talleyrand sign secret pact to combat Russia and Prussia over the Polish-Saxon Question
March 1, 1815: Napoleon escapes from Elba, returns to France.
June 18, 1815: Napoleon defeated for final time at Waterloo
Key People
Alexander I
Czar and Emperor of Russia from 1801 to 1825. For a time he allied with Napoleon by the Treaty of Tilsit, but ultimately he was a member of the alliance that defeated Napoleon.
Gebhard Blucher
Prussian field marshal who helped the British army, led by Wellington, defeat Napoleon's forces at Waterloo.
Bourbon
A major European royal family that included the kings of France before the Revolution, as well as the royal family of Spain and other countries (like Naples) in Europe. After Napoleon was deposed, Louis XVIII (A Bourbon) was installed on the throne.
Castlereagh
British delegate to the Congress of Vienna.
Jacques-Louis David
A leading French artist of the Napoleonic Period, David painted in the Neoclassical style. He painted many pictures that glorified the French Revolution, and later, Napoleon.
J.G. Fichte
Early German Romantic philosopher and nationalist.
Fouche
French police chief under Napoleon.
Francis II
The last Holy Roman Emperor, losing this title when Napoleon dissolved the fairly decrepit Holy Roman Empire and formed the Confederation of the Rhine. In 1806, Francis II proclaimed himself Emperor of Austria. A Hapsburg, Francis died in 1835.
Frederick William III
The Prussian king from 1797 to 1840. He was a fairly weak king, manipulated alternately by Alexander I and Metternich's influences. Under him, advisors like Baron Stein and Hardenberg initiated important modernizing advances in the Prussian state.
Francisco de Goya
Great Spanish artist whose works largely reflect the historical environment of his time, portraying the horror caused by Napoleon's invasion of Spain.
Hardenberg
Successor to Baron Stein, Hardenberg was a Prussian administrator who fought for liberalizing, modernizing reforms to Prussian society. He also represented Prussia at the Congress of Vienna. He wanted a constitutional monarchy, but was unable to get Frederick William III to agree to have his power limited in that way.
J.G. Herder
Early influence on German Romanticism. Herder developed a concept of history that allowed the Romantics to challenge the Enlightenment ideals of universalistic rationality.
Josephine
A Creole (born in the New World), Josephine was married to a French officer before. After the officer died, she met Napoleon and they married in 1796. As Empress of France, she amassed an incredible fortune in jewels. In 1810, after the failed to bear an heir, Napoleon had their marriage annulled on the grounds that no parish priest had been present their wedding. Josephine died in 1814.
Louis XVIII
Bourbon king of France who held the throne after the fall of Napoleon in 1814 to 1824, with a brief interruption when he fled the country during the Hundred Days of 1815.
Clemens von Metternich
Austrian statesman and diplomat who represented Austria at the Congress of Vienna. Metternich, Austria's foreign minister from 1809 to 1848, was an arch-conservative and worked hard to create stability in Europe and preserve the power of the old regime,
Marie Louise
Austrian archduchess, who Napoleon married after annulling his marriage with Josephine. Marie Louise was 18 at the time, and in 1811, she gave birth to a son, referred to as the "King of Rome".
Joachim Murat
Cavalry general who was one of Napoleon's best marshals. Murat led the invasion of Spain, and later became the King of Naples from 1808 to 1815.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Brilliant French artillery commander, general, first consul, and finally emperor. Napoleon, born on the isle of Corsica, worked his way up through the ranks of military officers and seized control of the French government. He then built a massive empire that encompassed the majority of Europe. He married Josephine and later divorced her to marry Marie Louise. After a disastrous Russian campaign, Napoleon was defeated at the battle of Leipzig and exiled to Elba in 1814. In 1815, he tried to return to power in the period known as the Hundred Days. After being defeated at Waterloo, Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helena in the South Atlantic. His rule, both in the passions and political and social measures it introduced, and in the ideological and nationalist enmity it inspired, transformed Europe.
Admiral Horatio Nelson
Brilliant British naval commander who won crucial victories against the French. These included the Battle of Aboukir (The Battle of the Nile) in 1798 and Trafalgar in 1805. Although he won the battle, Nelson was killed at Trafalgar. Privately, Nelson (a married man) was involved in an affair with a married woman, creating some of the leading gossip in England during the Napoleonic period.
Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes
During the French Revolution, a Liberal member of the clergy, supporter of the Third Estate, and author of the fiery pamphlet What Is the Third Estate. Sieyes led the coup that overthrew the Directory and established the Consulate, of which, he was one of the three consuls. Sieyes took on Napoleon as one of the First Consul to be his "Saber."
Baron Stein
Prussian minister from 1807 to 1808, when Napoleon forced him to leave Prussia. From then on (1812-1815), he was an advisor in Czar Alexander I's court. Made several modernizing changes in Prussia, primarily increasing the legal freedoms of the lower classes.
Talleyrand
French foreign minister under Napoleon, Talleyrand played politics so well that he managed to stay in office under the two following regimes. Talleyrand represented France at the Congress of Vienna.
Toussaint l'Ouverture
Haitian revolutionary, who led a slave revolt in Haiti during the French Revolution. Toussaint's government was initially sanctioned by the French, but as Toussaint proved too uncontrollable and independently minded, Napoleon ordered an invasion of the island in 1802 and captured Toussaint.
Duke of Wellington
British commander who, along with Blucher, took primary credit for defeating Napoleon at Waterloo. Earlier, Wellington had also led the British forces supporting the Spanish guerillas in the Peninsular War. Wellington later entered British politics and served as Prime Minister.
Key Terms
Cisalpine Republic
Country in Northern Italy, under French control, formed by the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797. In 1801, it was reorganized into the Italian Republic.
Confederation of the Rhine
Lasting from 1806 to 1813, the Confederation of the Rhine replaced the old Holy Roman Empire and was Napoleon-controlled Germany.
Consulate
French government from 1799 to 1804, set up by Napoleon and Sieyes after their overthrow of the Directory. Napoleon was First Consul. Set up as an oligarchy, Napoleon ended up becoming the sole dictator of the regime. In 1804, he replaced the consulate with the Empire.
Continental System
Napoleon's plan to stop all shipping of British goods into Europe. Announced by the Berlin Decree of 1806, the Continental System resulted in a British blockade of all European shipping, and ended up hurting France more than Britain. By trying to spread the Continental System into Spain, Napoleon and France had to endure the constant harassment of the disastrous Peninsular War.
First Coalition
Grouping of European states against Revolutionary France that lasted from 1792 to 1797. Ended after Napoleon defeated Austria in his Italian campaign, which rocketed him to popularity in France.
Grand Duchy of Warsaw
Name Napoleon gave to the Polish state he created in 1807, and which lasted until 1815. Though technically independent, it was in reality under Napoleon's control. Czar Alexander I of Russia was seriously upset by the recreation of the Polish state, since he wanted the territory badly.
Holy Alliance
1815 agreement promoted by Czar Alexander I, by which most European powers promised to uphold Christian virtues like peace and charity. Only Britain, Turkey, and the Pope refused to join the Holy Alliance. However, few took the agreement very seriously.
Jacobins
Extreme revolutionaries, who held a very liberal equalitarian vision. The Jacobins also had a reputation for violence, since they had controlled and initiated the Terror during the French Revolution. The term Jacobin evoked both contempt and fear in post- Revolutionary France.
Napoleonic Code
Napoleon's system of laws, particularly the civil code, which he first announced in 1804. The code remains a basis of European continental law to this day. It differs from Anglo-American "Common Law" tradition practiced in most of the US in several ways; for instance, it is less concerned with protecting alleged criminals' legal rights.
Nationalism
A modern phenomena in which people feel that a person's main loyalty should be to their state (tied up in patriotism). It is actually a fairly new idea, which first appeared at the end of the 18th century in the American and French Revolutions. During the Napoleonic era, domination by France gave rise to a nationalist movement in Germany.
Neoclassical
A late 18th and early 19th century style in painting and artwork that emphasized an idealized version of classical (Greek and Roman) art. An example is the work of the French painter David.
Romanticism
A general 19th-century intellectual rebellion against the Rationalism espoused by the French Enlightenment. This movement was particularly vibrant in Germany, which chafed under French rule and desired to rebel against French systems and influence.
Second Coalition
1798 to 1802 anti-French coalition. Austria, Russia, and Britain were in the Coalition, but Prussia did not join. After the Treaty of Luneville and the Peace of Amiens, the Second Coalition ended, and a one-year period of Europe-wide peace prevailed.
Third Coalition
1805 Coalition of the anti-Napoleonic powers. When Alexander I signed the Treaty of Tilsit and sided with Napoleon, this coalition came to a halt.
Volksgeist
German term essentially meaning the "spirit of a nation." Romantic thinkers like Herder and Fichte believed that all nations had their own unique volksgeist, which meant that the same laws and governments were did not apply to everyone in the same way. This was a reaction against the universalistic notions of the French Enlightenment.
Key Events
War of 1812
During the Napoleonic Wars, the British made a policy of stopping US ships from landing in European ports. Also, the British abused their dominance of the sea to board American ships and "impress" sailors (force them into British navy service). Ultimately, these conflicts led to the War of 1812, which began in 1812 and ended in 1814, and which neither side decisively won.
Peace of Amiens
1802 pact by which the British and French agreed not to fight. 1802 was the only year during all of the Napoleonic era when no European power was officially at war with another European power.
Austerlitz
December 2, 1805 battle, in which Napoleon's army defeated the Russian and Austrian armies. The Russian army limped back to Poland while the Austrians surrendered their Italian territory of Venetia to the French.
Berlin Decree
In 1806, Napoleon announced the Continental System with this decree.
Treaty of Chaumont
On March 9, 1814, the four powers that defeated Napoleon (Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia) all agreed to ally for 20 years, promising to fight together to stop France if it ever got too powerful again.
Concordat
The French Revolutionarygovernments had treated the Catholic Church in France very badly, and the government had confiscated a great chunk of Church property. The Concordat, signed on July 15, 1801, represented a reconciliation between France and the Catholic Church. This prevented the Catholic Church from being a source of opposition to Napoleon's regime.
Congress of Vienna
1814 to 1815 conference of the European powers in which they decided how to repartition Europe after defeating Napoleon. The Congress was one of the most massive and significant treaties ever, and it created a Europe wherein the balance of power prevented a Europe-wide war for a hundred years.
Treaty of Fontainebleau
Treaty in 1814 by which Napoleon was exiled to Elba and promised a stipend of 2 million francs a year (which he never received). Napoleon was also allowed to keep the title of Emperor.
Friedland
June 14, 1807 battle in which Napoleon defeated the Russian army in Poland. Not wanting to retreat into Russia, Alexander I was forced to sign the Treaty of Tilsit.
Hundred Days
March 20, 1815 to July 8, 1815. During this period, Napoleon returned from exile in Elba and tried to return to power. He was finally defeated at Waterloo and sent to Saint Helena, where he died.
Leipzig
October 1813 battle (the Battle of Nations) in which Napoleon's army of raw recruits was defeated by a four-nation alliance. Leipzig was the largest battle in terms of numbers of soldiers up to that time.
Treaty of Luneville
February 1800 treaty by which the Austrians and French renewed the condition of the Treaty of Campo Formio.
Marengo
June 1800 battle in which Napoleon defeated Austria, forcing them to sign the Treaty of Luneville and bringing the Second Coalition to an end.
Treaty of Paris
There have been innumerable treaties of Paris, but the one signed by Louis XVIII on May 30, 1814 restored France to its 1792 boundaries.
Peninsular War
1808-1814 war in the Iberian Peninsula, in which the Portuguese, Spanish, and British (under Wellington) fought the French, who were trying to impose the Continental System.
Treaty of Tilsit
An 1807 treaty requiring both Russia and Prussia to join the Continental System. Russian, Prussia, and Austria actually declared war on Britain following the treaty.
Trafalgar
October 21, 1805 naval battle off the coast of Spain, in which Napoleon's navy of 33 French and Spanish ships was decimated by the British fleet of 27 ships. Admiral Horatio Nelson commanded the British fleet, and lost his life in the battle. The battle firmly established Britain's naval supremacy for the rest of the 19th century.
Waterloo
June 18, 1815 battle in which Napoleon was finally defeated by the British (under Wellington) and the Prussians (under Blucher). Napoleon had a chance to attack the British forces before the Prussians were there to join in the battle, but he made the crucial mistake of waiting for the muddy ground to dry before attacking.
Study Questions
Why was the French army so dominant in the Napoleonic ere?
(1) Napoleon was a brilliant leader. (2) France was the most populous nation in Europe at the time. Levying a relatively large army required a smaller proportion of the overall French population than levying a similar army in other countries.
Why did Napoleon sell the Louisiana Territory to the US in 1803.
Napoleon had big dreams for empire in America. However, after putting down Toussaint l'Ouverture insubordination in Haiti, Napoleon realized that conflict in the Americas could be a huge resource drain. Plus, he knew his lines of supply, trade, and communication with a New World colony would be threatened by Britain's dominant Navy.
How did Napoleon influence European institutions?
On one hand, many Enlightenment and French Revolution ideas, such as legal equality for all classes, were spread to his empire via the Napoleonic Code. Napoleon also caused reform in enemy nations: Prussia, for instance, realized that it needed to reform if it wanted to compete with France. In Prussia, reforms happened from the "top down" under Baron Stein and Hardenberg, rather than bottom up as in a revolution by the masses.
How did Napoleon influence the development of 19th century Germany?
In response to French rule, many Germans began to dream of a powerful nation of Germany, even though Germany had always been a fragmented cluster of tiny kingdoms in the past. This movement was called nationalism. German thinkers also rebelled against French ideas, creating the intellectual movement known as Romanticism. Certain Romantics, especially Herder and Fichte, tied their anti-Enlightenment ideas into German nationalism, proclaiming a unique German volksgeist that was at the core of the German people and nation-to- be.
How unified were the European powers against France?
Not very. The various anti-Napoleonic coalitions were constantly breaking up. During the Third Coalition, Prussia stayed neutral. Austria and Prussia were often more afraid of Russia than of Napoleon. Under Metternich, Austria moved towards better relations with France. Czar Alexander I, after opposing Napoleon, signed the Treaty of Tilsit and allied with him, only to turn against Napoleon again in 1810. In reality, only Britain was constant in its opposition to Napoleon.
How did Czar Alexander I manage to destroy Napoleon's Grand Army?
In 1812, instead of fighting, Alexander's army simply retreated and retreated further back into Russia. When they left an area, they destroyed it in a scorched-earth policy. When the Grand Army pursued Alexander's forces, it had nothing to eat (it lived off the land, being to large and far from home for supply trains). Eventually, occupying a ruined Moscow, the ragged and hungry Grand Army had to return west through a horrible winter. The majority of the 600,000-700,000 men in the Grand Army died on this march.
What was the effect of the Continental System?
Napoleon hoped to strangle Britain's economy by stopping British shipping to European ports. In actuality, however, Britain managed to increase its industrial growth even without European trade, while imposing a retaliatory blockade on Napoleon's Europe. Napoleon thus could not ship goods from port to port (important in the pre-railway days) and the European economy was dramatically harmed. People became discontent with Napoleon's rule. Also, in trying to bring the Continental System to Spain, Napoleon touched off the costly Peninsular War.
What motivated Czar Alexander I?
Czar Alexander I had several (often conflicting) motivations. (1) He was jealous of Napoleon's position. Alexander envisioned himself as an "enlightened despot" as well, and considered the "upstart" Napoleon to be stealing the show. (2) Alexander had a dream of European "collective security". In this (at the time) fairly original idea, Alexander hoped that the nations could all agree to make sure that none of them ever got too powerful. If that happened, war could be prevented. (3) Alexander had his opposition to Napoleon sweetened by 1.25 million British pounds for every 100,000 troops he raised. (4) Alexander wanted Poland, which Napoleon controlled under the name of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw.
How was the Polish-Saxon Question answered?
During the Congress of Vienna, Russia and Prussia made a deal. Prussia would support Russia's bid for Poland if Russia would support Prussia's bid for Saxony. Metternich (Austria) and Castlereagh (Britain) didn't know what to do, but they feared Russia would become too powerful and wreck the balance of power in Europe. Talleyrand, from defeated France, allied with Metternich and Castlereagh in secret. When word of the British-Austrian-French alliance to oppose Russian acquisition of Poland, Alexander backed down, accepting a small share of Poland. With Alexander satisfied, Prussia lost its ally in negotiations, and only was able to obtain a small area of Saxony. Both Russia and Prussia shifted their influence westward into central Europe as a result; however, the shift was not as dangerous as it might have been without the three- way alliance. Talleyrand's participation in resolving this crisis shows the power France had in the Congress of Vienna despite being the defeated power.
Who won the Napoleonic Wars?
It's hard to say. France didn't lose very much; it just returned to the way it had been in 1792. The rest of the countries of Europe had been wracked by war, but they also emerged with new influences like the Napoleonic Code and the seeds of nationalism and modernity. However, if there was one winner, it was Britain. Britain emerged from the Napoleonic period as the unquestionable lord of the seas. It had an even greater industrial base than it had before the wars. And its colonial network was vast and vibrant under the shield of British naval dominance and thriving commerce.
