THE NAPOLEONIC WARS
When Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed himself Emperor of France in 1804, his ascension would plunge Europe into continuous war for the next eleven years.
In 1805 Napoleon’s grand army utterly destroyed the Austrian armies at the battles of Ulm and Austerlitz. These victories allowed Napoleon to dissolve the Holy Roman empire and absorb all the German states into what he called, the confederation of the Rhine.
This new confederation would put France in direct conflict with Prussia. Napoleon’s response was to march his army north were in 1806, he smashed the Prussian armies at the battles of Jena and Auerstadt.
Prussia’s defeat prompted Russia to send a large army into Europe to check French ambitions but Napoleon crushed them as well in 1807 at the battle of Friedland.
Napoleon had now defeated three European powers in as many years. The French emperor now instituted the continental system which prohibited all Europe from contact or trade with Great Britain.
In 1808 a French army broke Spain’s sovereignty by crossing its border and marching across the Iberian Peninsula to force Portugal to adopt the continental system. This sparked a national Spanish uprising against the French and Portugal allowed a British army to land on its shores.
As a series of hard fought battles between the British and Spanish armies against the French raged on. Napoleon was forced to give battle against a resurgent Austria in 1809. At the battle of Wagram, Napoleon once again defeated the Austrian’s reasserting his position as master of Europe.
With French forces still heavily involved in Spain, Napoleon instead chose to destroy the last European nation opposed to his continental system.
On June 21st 1812, Napoleon and the largest army ever assembled, six hundred thousand men invaded Russia. Despite French victories at Smolensk, Borodino and the occupation of Moscow on September 14th, the Russian Czar Alexander I, refused to surrender.
One month later with few rations, no winter uniforms and his cavalry horses dying by the thousands, Napoleon ordered his Grand Army to abandon Moscow and march back on their supply depots at Smolensk.
In the weeks that followed the French army began to succumb from starvation, the bitter Russian winter and the ever constant attacks from roaming bands of Cossacks along their entire line of retreat slowly withered away the ranks of the once proud grand army.
Napoleon abandoned his army after crossing the Berizena River on December 8th returning to Paris in disguise to protect his identity. Later that month when the last French soldiers finally re crossed the Russian border a mere thirty thousand frozen, disease ridden half starved men remained.
The disastrous campaign in Russia allowed Europe to unite themselves and create the fourth coalition. Although Napoleon scored battlefield victories at Lutzen, Bautzen and Dresden in early 1813. The combined strength of the allied forces caught up with him and utterly destroyed his army at the battle of Leipzig.
Napoleon was forced to abdicated his throne and on June 22nd 1814, was exiled to the small Mediterranean island of Elba. While the victorious allies were redrawing the map of Europe, Napoleon escaped exile and landed back in France on March 13th 1815.
Former soldiers loyal to Napoleon denounced the new King, changed sides and allowed Napoleon to retake Paris on March 20th were he once again proclaimed himself Emperor of the French.
Napoleon quickly reformed the army and challenged the combined British and Prussian armies at Waterloo on June 15th 1815. Although the ensuing battle was closely contested, it ended in a catastrophic final defeat for Napoleon.
Napoleon was exiled a second time to the far off and remote island of St Helena in the South Atlantic were he died in May of 1821, aged fifty one.
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