Napoleonic Wars (1 gen 1803 anni – 1 gen 1815 anni)

Descrizione:

In the bloody and chaotic fighting of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought during and in the aftermath of the revolution, many minor nobles and commoners would achieve success and influence beyond what was achievable in the Ancien Regime. Foremost of these was Napoleon Bonaparte, a Corsican minor noble of Italian heritage who had in his youth loathed French rule over his country. His rapid and extraordinary military successes propelled him to fame and fortune and his role in saving the French Directory from counter-revolutionaries brought about his political power.

After further garnering further prestige through a campaign in Egypt, in which his brief rule destroyed centuries-old power structures and invented modern Egypt and Egyptology as we know it today, he engineered a coup in France in which he became "First Consul" effectively dictator. Then in 1804, he declared the First French Empire with himself as Emperor of France.

In all this he was opposed by the reactionary and conservative powers of Europe, who sought to check his power and ambitions and prevent further French expansion and hegemony.

5 Europe-Wide coalitions were assembled to defeat Napoleon and all despite being outnumbered and often surrounded by adversaries, Napoleon defeated the first 3 decisively. He did face numerous setbacks however as his attempt to end British Naval Dominance was beaten when an outnumbered British fleet under Nelson defeated a combined French-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar. His invasion of Spain led to a bloody guerrilla war that ground down French military power while his invasion of Russia ended in catastrophe as most of his army melted away and was destroyed by Russian forces during his occupation and retreat from Russia.

The war of the 6th coalition fought after Napoleon's retreat from Russia, destroyed what remained of the French Empire and Napoleon was forced into exile as "Emperor of Elba". This did not last as he returned after a year, retook control of France, restored his position as Emperor and reigned during the 100 days period before his final defeat at Waterloo in 1815. He was then exiled to St Helena where he died in 1821.

In the aftermath of his wars French nationalism would soar and the foundations of German, Italian and British nationalism were set. Nationalism among many other peoples would also grow, ultimately paving the way for the creation of modern states such as Germany and Italy.

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