Chapter 10: Napoleonic Europe

Section 10.47: The Formation of the French Imperial System

Introduction• History of the Napoleonic period is a

history of multiple expansionist interests– Expansionist interests prompted

governments to ally and resist Napoleon as it suited their interests

– GB building commercial interests, Russia wants Poland and Turkey, Prussia wants leadership in central Europe, Austria wants Germany, Balkans…

• Some think of the period as one of world war but actually a series of short, sharp wars with the four great power never in field together until 1813

The Dissolution of the First and Second Coalitions, 1792-1802

• 1795 First Coalition disintegrates– British withdrew: maintain naval

engagement– Prussians made a separate peace:

recognized as Protectors of Germany(ego)– Spain (Bourbon) at peace with France

(Bourbon Killers)– Against English control of Gibraltar– Austria signs Treaty of Campo Formio

• 1799 Second Coalition disintegrates– Britain shifts focus to Mediterranean and

defeated French in Egypt– Russia shifts focus to the Mediterranean

and withdraws from western Europe– Austria signs the Treaty of Luneville 1801– 1802 Britain signs peace of Amiens

Peace Interim, 1802 – 1803• Napoleon shifts focus to West Indies• army sent to reclaim Haiti is failure• Louisiana Purchase and America• Organizes (Cisalpine Republic)

northern Italy under his direct control (himself as president)

• Oversaw the “shame of the princes in Germany”– after German princes were forced

out of Left Bank of Rhine they were given new territories on Right Back

• rather than oppose Bonaparte they scramble for land east of the Rhine (Church land) led to consolidation of German states and end of the HRE

Formation of the Third Coalition in 1805• 1803 GB goes back to war with

France• communication problems and disease

decimate French in Haiti• Napoleon cuts loses and sells

Louisiana to US• 1804 Napoleon pronounced himself

“Emperor” • Napoleon seizes the Duke of Enghien

and has him executed violating the sovereignty of Baden

• Alexander I joins in league against Napoleon to address the issue of “law and force”

Alexander I• Grandson of Catherine, educated as

enlightened despot• Became Tsar in 1801 at 24 and had

liberal men of various nationalities as advisers

• Regarded recent partitions of Poland as a crime and wished to restore it with himself as king

• Moralistic, self-righteous, internationalist

• puzzled and disturbed statesmen of Europe who saw him as enthroned Jacobin or typical Russia aggrandizer

• Was greatly offended by Duke of Enghien’s execution

• Had a concept of international collective security and indivisibility of peace

• British send him 1,250,000 pounds for each 100 thousand soldiers

The Third Coalition 1805-1807: The Peace of Tilsit• 1805 Austria signed an alliance with Britain• Napoleon is ready to invade England

– Gathering forces on Channel coast• England Responds

– Set up lookouts and signal beacons, drill at home

• Austro-Russian Armies advance to the west in summer of 1805

• British navy under Nelson (October 21, 1805)– destroyed French and Spanish fleet off the coast

of Spain (Trafalgar)• Napoleon moves divisions from coast to

respond to Austro-Russian advances • Napoleon wins the ground war• England wins the naval war• Trafalgar establishes the supremacy of

England’s Navy• Napoleon is held in check on the continent• But now he could rebuild his navy with if he

gained resources of the continent• Or starve England economically

Napoleon Dominates the Continent• Napoleon moves against the continent• Defeats the Austro-Russian army at Austerlitz

12/5/1805• Takes Venetia from Austria• Begins rebuilding his navy• Defeats Prussia at battle of Jena and Auerstadt in Oct

1806• Prussian king took refuge at Konigsberg• Defeats Russian army at battle of Friedland (June 1807)• Alexander makes Peace at Tilsit (July 1807)• On the bank of the Niemen River while Frederick

William III paced nervously on the bank• Napoleon put his charm on Alex, denounces England as

real enemy• Alexander is Eastern Emperor• Napoleon is Western Emperor• Napoleon turns the continent against England

The Continental System and the War in Spain• No possibility of invading England

after Trafalgar in foreseeable future

• Turns to Economic warfare

• Napoleon forces Europe to trade only with the Continent and not with England

• hoped it would ruin British commercial firms and cause business depression

• British gov would thus be unable to carry national debt or borrow from subjects

• Berlin Decree 1806 forbids the importation of British goods into Europe

Peninsular War in Spain• Spain proves to be the beginning

of the end for Napoleon• Birth of guerilla (little) war• July of 1808 French general

surrendered an army corps without fighting at Baylen (1st time since Revolution)

• Brutal atrocities on both sides• Struggle with Spanish resistance

leaves gleam of hope for the rest of Europe and a rally mounts

Satirical cartoon depicting French emperor Napoleon with his brother Joseph Bonaparte, king of Spain, pondering the events of 1808.Napoleon and JosephGoya’s The Third of May, 1808

The Austrian War of Liberation 1809• Napoleon gathered a congress

together at Erfurt in Saxony in 9/18/08 to keep Alexander on his side

• Alex was concerned that Napoleon was going to create a Polish state and not helping him with expansion in the Balkans

• Talleyrand told Tsar that Napoleon was overreaching himself (traitor)

• May have been concerned with restoring a balance of power

• Austria declares war in 1809• Europe sits on the sidelines• Napoleon wins at battle of Wagram in

July and takes Austrian territory• Duchy of Warsaw gains territory• Illyrian Provinces

Talleyrand

Napoleon at His Peak 1809-1811• Austria shifts its foreign policy under Clemens von

Metternich– Believed that Russia was the permanent problem

and began to renew good relations with France– Toward France and away from Russia

• Napoleon divorces Josephine– At 40 he is still childless and begins searches the

aristocracy for a bride• Legitimizes his rule if he marries into a royal family

– Russia turns Napoleon down• Poland

• Austria• Duke of Enghien• Marries into Austrian royal family• Marie Louise in 18

– Daughter of Austrian emperor and niece of Marie Antoinette

• Son is born and named King of Rome– He is now by marriage the nephew of Louis XVI

Napoleon and Maria Louisa

Napoleon is taking on

trappings of majesty

• Cozy with French Aristocracy

• Propped up newly made nobility around himself

• The “son of the revolution” calls the emperor of Austria “my father”