End of the Napoleonic Wars. Main dates of the Napoleonic wars

Second coalition existed in 1798 - October 10, 1799 as part of Russia, England, Austria, Turkey, the Kingdom of Naples. June 14, 1800 near the village of Marengo, French troops defeated the Austrians. After Russia left it, the coalition ceased to exist.

With April 11, 1805-1806 existed third coalition as part of England, Russia, Austria, Sweden. AT 1805 the British at the Battle of Trafalgar defeated the combined Franco-Spanish fleet. But on the continent 1805 Napoleon defeated the Austrian army in the Battle of Ulm, then defeated the Russian and Austrian troops under Austerlitz.

AT 1806-1807 acted fourth coalition as part of England, Russia, Prussia, Sweden. AT 1806 Napoleon defeated the Prussian army in the battle of Jena-Auerstedt, June 2, 1807 at Friedland- Russian. Russia was forced to sign with France Peace of Tilsit . Spring-October 1809- lifetime fifth coalition within England and Austria.

After the accession of Russia and Sweden to it, a sixth coalition (1813-1814 ). October 16, 1813-October 19, 1813 in Leipzig battle French troops were defeated. March 18, 1814 Allies entered Paris. Napoleon was forced to abdicate, and was exiled on the island of Elba. But 1 MP 1815 he suddenly landed on the southern coast of France and, having reached Paris, restored his power. Members of the Congress of Vienna formed seventh coalition. June 6, 1815 at d. waterloo the French army was defeated. After the conclusion of the Paris Peace Treaty November 1, 1815 the seventh anti-French coalition broke up.

Napoleonic Wars- this name is mainly known for the wars waged by Napoleon I with different states of Europe when he was First Consul and Emperor (November 1799 - June 1815). In a broader sense, this includes both Napoleon's Italian campaign (1796-1797) and his Egyptian expedition (1798-1799), although these (especially the Italian campaign) are usually ranked among the so-called revolutionary wars.

The coup of 18 Brumaire (November 9, 1799) gave power over France into the hands of a man who, with unlimited ambition, was distinguished by the genius of a commander. This happened just at a time when old Europe was in complete disorganization: the governments were completely incapable of joint action and were ready to change the common cause for the sake of private benefits; the old order reigned everywhere, both in administration, and in finance, and in the army - orders, the inefficiency of which was revealed at the very first serious clash with France.

All this made Napoleon the ruler of mainland Europe. Even before 18 Brumaire, being the commander-in-chief of the Italian army, Napoleon began to redistribute the political map of Europe, and during the era of his expedition to Egypt and Syria, he made grandiose plans for the East. Having become the First Consul, he dreamed of, in alliance with the Russian emperor, to drive the British out of the position they occupied in India.

War with the Second Coalition: final stage (1800-1802)

At the time of the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire (November 9, 1799), which led to the establishment of the Consulate regime, France was at war with the Second Coalition (Russia, Great Britain, Austria, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies). In 1799, she suffered a series of setbacks, and her position was quite difficult, although Russia actually dropped out of her opponents. Napoleon, proclaimed First Consul of the Republic, was faced with the task of achieving a radical change in the war. He decided to deliver the main blow to Austria on the Italian and German fronts.

War with England (1803-1805)

Peace of Amiens (According to its terms, Great Britain returned to France and its allies the colonies captured from them during the war (Haiti, the Lesser Antilles, the Mascarene Islands, French Guiana; for its part, France promised to evacuate Rome, Naples and Fr. Elba) turned out to be only a short respite in the Anglo-French confrontation: Great Britain could not abandon its traditional interests in Europe, and France was not going to stop its foreign policy expansion. Napoleon continued to interfere in the internal affairs of Holland and Switzerland. On January 25, 1802, he achieved his election as president of the Italian On August 26, contrary to the terms of the Treaty of Amiens, France annexed the island of Elba, and on September 21, Piedmont.

In response, Great Britain refused to leave the island of Malta and retained French possessions in India. The influence of France in Germany increased after the secularization of German lands carried out under its control in February-April 1803, as a result of which most of the church principalities and free cities were liquidated; Prussia and French allies Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Württemberg and Bavaria received significant land additions. Napoleon refused to conclude a trade agreement with England and introduced restrictive measures that prevented the access of British goods to French ports. All this led to the rupture of diplomatic relations (May 12, 1803) and the resumption of hostilities.

War with the Third Coalition (1805-1806)

As a result of the war Austria was completely ousted from Germany and Italy, and France established its hegemony on the European continent. March 15, 1806 Napoleon gave the Grand Duchy of Cleve and Berg into the possession of his brother-in-law I. Murat. He expelled from Naples the local Bourbon dynasty, which fled to Sicily under the protection of the English fleet, and on March 30 he placed his brother Joseph on the Neapolitan throne. On May 24, he transformed the Batavian Republic into the Kingdom of Holland, placing his other brother Louis at the head of it. In Germany, on June 12, the Confederation of the Rhine was formed from 17 states under the protectorate of Napoleon; On August 6, the Austrian emperor Franz II renounced the German crown - the Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist.

War with the Fourth Coalition (1806-1807)

Napoleon's promise to return Hanover to Great Britain in the event of peace with her and his attempts to prevent the creation of an alliance of North German principalities led by Prussia led to a sharp deterioration in Franco-Prussian relations and the formation on September 15, 1806 of the Fourth Anti-Napoleonic Coalition consisting of Prussia, Russia, England, Sweden and Saxony . After Napoleon rejected an ultimatum from the Prussian King Frederick William III (1797-1840) to withdraw French troops from Germany and dissolve the Confederation of the Rhine, two Prussian armies marched on Hesse. However, Napoleon quickly concentrated significant forces in Franconia (between Würzburg and Bamberg) and invaded Saxony.

The victory of Marshal J. Lann over the Prussians on October 9-10, 1806 at Saalefeld allowed the French to fortify themselves on the Saale River. On October 14, the Prussian army suffered a crushing defeat at Jena and Auerstedt. October 27 Napoleon entered Berlin; Lübeck capitulated on November 7, Magdeburg on November 8. November 21, 1806 he announced a continental blockade of Great Britain, seeking to completely interrupt its trade relations with European countries. On November 28, the French occupied Warsaw; almost all of Prussia was occupied. In December, Napoleon moved against the Russian troops stationed on the Narew River (a tributary of the Bug). After a series of local successes, the French laid siege to Danzig.

An attempt by the Russian commander L.L. Bennigsen at the end of January 1807 with a sudden blow to destroy the corps of Marshal J.B. Bernadotte ended in failure. On February 7, Napoleon overtook the Russian army retreating to Koenigsberg, but could not defeat it in the bloody battle of Preussisch-Eylau (February 7-8). On April 25, Russia and Prussia concluded a new alliance treaty in Bartenstein, but England and Sweden did not provide them with effective assistance. French diplomacy managed to provoke the Ottoman Empire into declaring war on Russia. On June 14, the French defeated the Russian troops at Friedland (East Prussia). Alexander I was forced to enter into negotiations with Napoleon (Tilsit meeting), which ended on July 7 with the signing of the Treaty of Tilsit and led to the creation of a Franco-Russian military-political alliance.

Russia recognized all the French conquests in Europe and promised to join the continental blockade, and France pledged to support Russia's claims to Finland and the Danubian principalities (Moldavia and Wallachia). Alexander I achieved the preservation of Prussia as a state, but she lost the Polish lands that belonged to her, of which there were the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was formed, headed by the Saxon elector, and all its possessions west of the Elbe, which, together with Braunschweig, Hanover and Hesse-Kassel, made up the kingdom of Westphalia, headed by Napoleon's brother Jerome; the Bialystok district went to Russia; Danzig became a free city.

Continuation of the war with England (1807-1808)

Fearing the emergence of an anti-English league of northern neutral countries led by Russia, Great Britain launched a preemptive strike on Denmark: September 1-5, 1807, an English squadron bombarded Copenhagen and captured the Danish fleet. This caused general indignation in Europe: Denmark entered into an alliance with Napoleon, Austria, under pressure from France, broke off diplomatic relations with Great Britain, and on November 7 Russia declared war on her. At the end of November, the French army of Marshal A. Junot occupied Portugal, allied with England; The Portuguese Prince Regent fled to Brazil. In February 1808 Russia started a war with Sweden. Napoleon and Alexander I entered into negotiations on the division of the Ottoman Empire. In May, France annexed the kingdom of Etruria (Tuscany) and the Papal State, which maintained trade relations with Great Britain.

War with the Fifth Coalition (1809)

Spain became the next object of Napoleonic expansion. During the Portuguese expedition, French troops were stationed with the consent of King Charles IV (1788-1808) in many Spanish cities. In May 1808, Napoleon forced Charles IV and the heir apparent Ferdinand to renounce their rights (Bayonne Treaty). On June 6, he proclaimed his brother Joseph king of Spain. The establishment of French domination caused a general uprising in the country. On July 20-23, the rebels surrounded and forced to surrender two French corps near Bailen (Bailen capitulation). The uprising also spread to Portugal; On August 6, English troops landed there under the command of A. Wellesley (the future Duke of Wellington). On August 21 he defeated the French at Vimeiro; On August 30, A. Junot signed the act of surrender in Sintra; his army was evacuated to France.

The loss of Spain and Portugal led to a sharp deterioration in the foreign policy situation of the Napoleonic Empire. Patriotic anti-French sentiments intensified significantly in Germany. Austria began to actively prepare for revenge and reorganize its armed forces. On September 27 - October 14, a meeting between Napoleon and Alexander I took place in Erfurt: although their military-political alliance was renewed, although Russia recognized Joseph Bonaparte as the king of Spain, and France - the accession of Finland to Russia, and although the Russian tsar undertook to take the side of France in case Austrian attacks on her, nevertheless, the Erfurt meeting marked the cooling of Franco-Russian relations.

In November 1808 - January 1809, Napoleon made a trip to the Iberian Peninsula, where he won a number of victories over the Spanish and English troops. At the same time, Great Britain managed to achieve peace with the Ottoman Empire (January 5, 1809). In April 1809, the Fifth Anti-Napoleonic Coalition was formed, which included Austria, Great Britain and Spain, represented by a provisional government (Supreme Junta).

On April 10, the Austrians began hostilities; they invaded Bavaria, Italy and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw; Tyrol revolted against Bavarian rule. Napoleon moved into South Germany against the main Austrian army of Archduke Karl and at the end of April, during five successful battles (at Tengen, Abensberg, Landsgut, Eckmühl and Regensburg), he cut it into two parts: one had to retreat to the Czech Republic, the other - beyond the river. Inn. The French entered Austria and occupied Vienna on May 13. But after the bloody battles near Aspern and Essling on May 21-22, they were forced to stop the offensive and gain a foothold on the Danube island of Lobau; On May 29, the Tyroleans defeated the Bavarians on Mount Isel near Innsbruck.

Nevertheless, Napoleon, having received reinforcements, crossed the Danube and on July 5-6 at Wagram defeated the Archduke Charles. In Italy and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, the actions of the Austrians were also unsuccessful. Although the Austrian army was not destroyed, Franz II agreed to the conclusion of the Schönbrunn Peace (October 14), according to which Austria lost access to the Adriatic Sea; she ceded to France part of Carinthia and Croatia, Krajna, Istria, Trieste and Fiume (modern Rijeka), which made up the Illyrian provinces; Bavaria received Salzburg and part of Upper Austria; the Grand Duchy of Warsaw - Western Galicia; Russia - Tarnopol district.

Franco-Russian relations (1809-1812)

Russia did not provide effective assistance to Napoleon in the war with Austria, and her relations with France deteriorated sharply. The Petersburg court thwarted the project of Napoleon's marriage with Grand Duchess Anna, sister of Alexander I. On February 8, 1910, Napoleon married Marie-Louise, daughter of Franz II, and began to support Austria in the Balkans. The election on August 21, 1810 of French Marshal J.B. Bernatotte as heir to the Swedish throne increased the fears of the Russian government for the northern flank.

In December 1810, Russia, which was suffering significant losses from the continental blockade of England, raised customs duties on French goods, which aroused Napoleon's open displeasure. Regardless of Russian interests, France continued its aggressive policy in Europe: on July 9, 1810, it annexed Holland, on December 12, the Swiss canton of Wallis, on February 18, 1811, several German free cities and principalities, including the Duchy of Oldenburg, whose ruling house was connected family ties with the Romanov dynasty; the accession of Lübeck provided France with access to the Baltic Sea. Alexander I was also worried about Napoleon's plans to restore a unified Polish state.

In the face of an imminent military clash, France and Russia began to look for allies. On February 24, Prussia entered into a military alliance with Napoleon, and on March 14, Austria. At the same time, the French occupation of Swedish Pomerania on January 12, 1812, prompted Sweden to conclude an agreement with Russia on April 5 on a joint struggle against France. On April 27, Napoleon rejected the ultimatum demand of Alexander I to withdraw French troops from Prussia and Pomerania and allow Russia to trade with neutral countries. On May 3, Great Britain joined the Russian-Swedish. On June 22, France declared war on Russia.

War with the Sixth Coalition (1813-1814)

The death of Napoleon's Great Army in Russia significantly changed the military-political situation in Europe and contributed to the growth of anti-French sentiment. Already on December 30, 1812, General J. von Wartenburg, commander of the Prussian auxiliary corps, which was part of the Great Army, concluded an agreement on neutrality with the Russians in Taurogi. As a result, all of East Prussia rose up against Napoleon. In January 1813, the Austrian commander K.F. Schwarzenberg, in accordance with a secret agreement with Russia, withdrew his troops from the Grand Duchy of Warsaw.

On February 28, Prussia signed the Treaty of Kalisz on an alliance with Russia, which provided for the restoration of the Prussian state within the borders of 1806 and the restoration of Germany's independence; thus the Sixth Anti-Napoleonic Coalition came into being. On March 2, Russian troops crossed the Oder, on March 11 they occupied Berlin, on March 12 - Hamburg, on March 15 - Breslavl; On March 23, the Prussians entered Dresden, the capital of Napoleon's allied Saxony. All of Germany east of the Elbe was cleared of the French. On April 22, Sweden joined the coalition.

War with the Seventh Coalition (1815)

On February 26, 1815, Napoleon left Elba and on March 1, with an escort of 1,100 guards, landed in the Bay of Juan near Cannes. The army went over to his side, and on March 20 he entered Paris. Louis XVIII fled. The empire has been restored.

On March 13, England, Austria, Prussia and Russia outlawed Napoleon, and on March 25 formed the Seventh Coalition against him. In an effort to break the allies in parts, Napoleon invaded Belgium in mid-June, where the English (Wellington) and Prussian (G.-L. Blucher) armies were located. On June 16, the French defeated the British at Quatre Bras and the Prussians at Ligny, but on June 18 they lost the pitched battle of Waterloo. The remnants of the French troops retreated to Laon. On June 22, Napoleon abdicated for the second time. At the end of June, the coalition armies approached Paris and occupied it on June 6-8. Napoleon was exiled to Fr. St. Helena. The Bourbons returned to power.

Under the terms of the Peace of Paris on November 20, 1815, France was reduced to the borders of 1790; an indemnity of 700 million francs was imposed on her; the allies occupied a number of northeastern French fortresses for 3-5 years. The political map of post-Napoleonic Europe was determined at the Congress of Vienna 1814-1815.

As a result of the Napoleonic Wars, France's military power was broken and she lost her dominant position in Europe. The main political force on the continent was the Holy Union of Monarchs, led by Russia; The UK has maintained its status as the world's leading maritime power.

Conquest wars of Napoleonic France posed a threat to the national independence of many European peoples; at the same time, they contributed to the destruction of the feudal-monarchist order on the continent - the French army brought on its bayonets the principles of a new civil society (Civil Code) and the abolition of feudal relations; Napoleon's liquidation of many small feudal states in Germany facilitated the process of its future unification.

The Napoleonic Wars of 1799-1815 were fought by France and its allies during the years of the Consulate (1799-1804) and the Empire of Napoleon I (1804-1814,1815) against coalitions of European states.

The nature of wars

Chronologically, they continued the wars of the French Revolution of 1789-99 and had some common features with them. Being aggressive, they, nevertheless, contributed to the spread of revolutionary ideas in Europe, the undermining of the feudal order and the development of capitalist relations. They were conducted in the interests of the French bourgeoisie, which sought to consolidate its military-political and commercial-industrial dominance on the continent, pushing the British bourgeoisie into the background. The main opponents of France during the Napoleonic Wars were England, Austria and Russia.

2nd anti-French coalition (1798-1801)

The conditional date of the start of the Napoleonic Wars is considered to be the establishment in France during the coup of 18 Brumaire (November 9), 1799, of the military dictatorship of Napoleon Bonaparte, who became the first consul. At this time, the country was already at war with the 2nd anti-French coalition, which was formed in 1798-99 by England, Russia, Austria, Turkey and the Kingdom of Naples (the 1st anti-French coalition consisting of Austria, Prussia, England and a number of other European states fought against revolutionary France in 1792-93).

Having come to power, Bonaparte sent the English king and the Austrian emperor a proposal to start peace negotiations, which was rejected by them. France began to form a large army on the eastern borders under the command of General Moreau. At the same time, on the Swiss border, in secrecy, the formation of the so-called "reserve" army was going on, which dealt the first blow to the Austrian troops in Italy. Having made a difficult transition through the St. Bernard Pass in the Alps, on June 14, 1800, at the Battle of Marengo, Bonaparte defeated the Austrians operating under the command of Field Marshal Melas. In December 1800 Moreau's army of the Rhine defeated the Austrians at Hohenlinden (Bavaria). In February 1801, Austria was forced to conclude peace with France and recognize her seizures in Belgium and on the left bank of the Rhine. After that, the 2nd coalition actually broke up, England agreed in October 1801 to sign the terms of the preliminary (i.e., preliminary) agreement, and on March 27, 1802, the Treaty of Amiens was concluded between England, on the one hand, and France, Spain and the Batavian Republic - - with another.

3rd Anti-French Coalition

However, already in 1803 the war between them resumed, and in 1805 the 3rd anti-French coalition was formed, consisting of England, Russia, Austria and the Kingdom of Naples. Unlike the previous ones, it proclaimed as its goal the struggle not against revolutionary France, but against the aggressive policy of Bonaparte. Becoming Emperor Napoleon I in 1804, he prepared the landing of a French expeditionary army in England. But on October 21, 1805, in the Battle of Trafalgar, the English fleet, led by Admiral Nelson, destroyed the combined Franco-Spanish fleet. This defeat forever deprived France of the opportunity to compete with England at sea. However, on the continent, Napoleon's troops won one victory after another: in October 1805, the Austrian army of General Mack capitulated at Ulm without a fight; in November, Napoleon marched victoriously into Vienna; On December 2, in the battle of Austerlitz, he defeated the combined forces of the Russians and Austrians. Austria was again forced to sign peace with France. Under the Treaty of Pressburg (December 26, 1805), she recognized the Napoleonic seizures, and also pledged to pay a huge indemnity. In 1806, Napoleon forced Franz I to resign as Holy Roman Emperor of the German Nation.

4th and 5th anti-French coalitions

The war against Napoleon was continued by England and Russia, which were soon joined by Prussia and Sweden, concerned about the strengthening of French domination in Europe. In September 1806, the 4th anti-French coalition of European states was formed. A month later, during two battles, on the same day, October 14, 1806, the Prussian army was destroyed: near Jena, Napoleon defeated parts of Prince Hohenlohe, and at Auerstedt, Marshal Davout defeated the main Prussian forces of King Frederick William and the Duke of Brunswick. Napoleon solemnly entered Berlin. Prussia was occupied. The Russian army moving to help the allies met with the French first near Pultusk on December 26, 1806, then at Preussisch-Eylau on February 8, 1807. Despite the bloodshed, these battles did not give an advantage to either side, but in June 1807 Napoleon won the battle of Friedland over the Russian troops commanded by L. L. Benigsen. On July 7, 1807, in the middle of the Neman River, a meeting of the French and Russian emperors took place on a raft and the Peace of Tilsit was concluded, according to which Russia recognized all Napoleon’s conquests in Europe and joined the “Continental blockade” of the British Isles proclaimed by him in 1806. In the spring of 1809, England and Austria again united into the 5th anti-French coalition, but already in May 1809 the French entered Vienna, and on July 5-6, the Austrians were again defeated in the battle of Wagram. Austria agreed to pay an indemnity and joined the continental blockade. A significant part of Europe was under the rule of Napoleon.

Reasons for France's military success

France possessed the most perfect military system for its time, born back in the years of the French Revolution. New conditions for recruiting into the army, the constant attention of military leaders, and above all Napoleon himself, to the fighting spirit of soldiers, maintaining their high military training and discipline, a guard formed from veteran soldiers - all this contributed to the victories of France. An important role was played by the military talent of the famous Napoleonic marshals - Bernadotte, Berthier, Davout, Jourdan, Lannes, Macdonald, Massena, Moreau, Murat, Ney, Soult and others. Napoleon Bonaparte himself was the greatest military leader and theoretician of military affairs.

The needs of the Napoleonic army were provided by the conquered countries of Europe and the states that were politically dependent on France - they, for example, formed parts of the auxiliary troops.

The first defeat of France. End of French expansion

The national liberation movement, which was growing in Europe, acquired the greatest scope in Spain and Germany. However, the fate of Napoleon's empire was decided during his campaign in Russia. During the Patriotic War of 1812, the strategy of the Russian army, led by Field Marshal M. I. Kutuzov, the partisan movement contributed to the death of more than 400,000 "Great Army". This caused a new upsurge in the national liberation struggle in Europe, in a number of states people's militia began to be created. In 1813, the 6th anti-French coalition was formed, which included Russia, England, Prussia, Sweden, Austria, and a number of other states. In October 1813, as a result of the "battle of the peoples" near Leipzig, the territory of Germany was liberated from the French. The Napoleonic army withdrew to the borders of France, and then was defeated on its own land. On March 31, Allied troops entered Paris. On April 6, Napoleon I signed the abdication of the throne and was expelled from France to the island of Elba.

End of the Napoleonic Wars

In 1815, during the famous "Hundred Days" (March 20 - June 22), Napoleon made his last attempt to regain his former power. The defeat in the Battle of Waterloo (Belgium) on June 18, 1815, inflicted on him by the troops of the 7th coalition under the command of the Duke of Wellington and Marshal Blucher, completed the history of the Napoleonic wars. The Congress of Vienna (November 1, 1814 - June 9, 1815) decided the fate of France, fixing the redistribution of the territories of European countries in the interests of the victorious states. The wars of liberation that were waged against Napoleon were inevitably associated with the partial restoration of the feudal-absolutist order in Europe (the “Holy Alliance” of European monarchs, concluded with the aim of suppressing the national liberation and revolutionary movement in Europe).

1) What agreements were reached at the signing of the Treaty of Amiens?

2) What was the "Continental Blockade"?

3) Explain the meaning of the concept of "battle of nations"?

Na-po-leo-nov wars are commonly called wars, which were waged by France against European countries in the period of the reign of Na-po-leo-on Bo- on-par-ta, that is, in 1799-1815. European countries created anti-Napoleonic coalitions, but their forces were insufficient to break the power of the Napoleonic army. Napoleon won victory after victory. But the invasion of Russia in 1812 changed the situation. Napoleon was expelled from Russia, and the Russian army launched a foreign campaign against him, which ended with the Russian invasion of Paris and Napoleon's loss of the title of emperor.

Rice. 2. British Admiral Horatio Nelson ()

Rice. 3. Battle of Ulm ()

On December 2, 1805, Napoleon won a brilliant victory at Austerlitz.(Fig. 4). In addition to Napoleon, the emperor of Austria and the Russian emperor Alexander I personally participated in this battle. The defeat of the anti-Napoleonic coalition in central Europe allowed Napoleon to withdraw Austria from the war and focus on other regions of Europe. So, in 1806, he conducted an active campaign to capture the Kingdom of Naples, which was an ally of Russia and England against Napoleon. Napoleon wanted to put his brother on the throne of Naples Jerome(Fig. 5), and in 1806 he made another of his brothers King of the Netherlands, LouisIBonaparte(Fig. 6).

Rice. 4. Battle of Austerlitz ()

Rice. 5. Jerome Bonaparte ()

Rice. 6. Louis I Bonaparte ()

In 1806, Napoleon managed to radically solve the German problem. He liquidated a state that had existed for almost 1000 years - Holy Roman Empire. Of the 16 German states, an association was created, called Confederation of the Rhine. Napoleon himself became the protector (defender) of this Confederation of the Rhine. In fact, these territories were also placed under his control.

feature these wars, which in history have been called Napoleonic Wars, was that the composition of the opponents of France changed all the time. By the end of 1806, the anti-Napoleonic coalition included completely different states: Russia, England, Prussia and Sweden. Austria and the Kingdom of Naples were no longer in this coalition. In October 1806, the coalition was almost completely defeated. In just two battles, under Auerstedt and Jena, Napoleon managed to deal with the Allied troops and force them to sign a peace treaty. Near Auerstedt and Jena, Napoleon defeated the Prussian troops. Now nothing prevented him from moving further north. Napoleonic troops soon occupied Berlin. Thus, another important rival of Napoleon in Europe was taken out of the game.

November 21, 1806 Napoleon signed the most important for the history of France continental blockade decree(a ban on all countries subject to him to trade and in general to conduct any business with England). It was England that Napoleon considered his main enemy. In response, England blockaded French ports. However, France could not actively resist England's trade with other territories.

Russia was the rival. In early 1807, Napoleon managed to defeat the Russian troops in two battles on the territory of East Prussia.

July 8, 1807 Napoleon and AlexanderIsigned the Treaty of Tilsit(Fig. 7). This agreement, concluded on the border of Russia and French-controlled territories, proclaimed good neighborly relations between Russia and France. Russia pledged to join the continental blockade. However, this treaty meant only a temporary softening, but in no way overcoming the contradictions between France and Russia.

Rice. 7. Peace of Tilsit 1807 ()

Napoleon had a difficult relationship with Pope PiusVII(Fig. 8). Napoleon and the Pope had an agreement on the division of powers, but their relationship began to deteriorate. Napoleon considered church property to belong to France. The Pope did not tolerate this and after the coronation of Napoleon in 1805 he returned to Rome. In 1808, Napoleon brought his troops to Rome and deprived the pope of secular power. In 1809, Pius VII issued a special decree in which he cursed the robbers of church property. However, he did not mention Napoleon in this decree. This epic ended with the fact that the Pope was almost forcibly transported to France and forced to live in the Fontainebleau Palace.

Rice. 8. Pope Pius VII ()

As a result of these campaigns of conquest and the diplomatic efforts of Napoleon, by 1812, a huge part of Europe was under his control. Through relatives, military leaders or military conquests, Napoleon subjugated almost all the states of Europe. Only England, Russia, Sweden, Portugal and the Ottoman Empire, as well as Sicily and Sardinia, remained outside his zone of influence.

June 24, 1812 Napoleon's army invaded Russia. The beginning of this campaign for Napoleon was successful. He managed to pass a significant part of the territory of the Russian Empire and even capture Moscow. He could not hold the city. At the end of 1812, the Napoleonic army fled from Russia and again fell into the territory of Poland and the German states. The Russian command decided to continue the pursuit of Napoleon outside the territory of the Russian Empire. It went down in history as Foreign campaign of the Russian army. He was very successful. Even before the beginning of the spring of 1813, Russian troops managed to take Berlin.

From October 16 to October 19, 1813, the largest battle in the history of the Napoleonic Wars took place near Leipzig., known as "Battle of the Nations"(Fig. 9). The name of the battle was due to the fact that almost half a million people took part in it. Napoleon at the same time had 190 thousand soldiers. His rivals, led by the British and Russians, had about 300,000 soldiers. The numerical superiority was very important. In addition, Napoleon's troops did not have the readiness in which they were in 1805 or 1809. A significant part of the old guard was destroyed, and therefore Napoleon had to take into his army people who did not have serious military training. This battle ended unsuccessfully for Napoleon.

Rice. 9. Battle of Leipzig 1813 ()

The allies made Napoleon an advantageous offer: they offered him to keep his imperial throne if he agreed to cut France to the borders of 1792, that is, he had to give up all conquests. Napoleon indignantly refused this offer.

March 1, 1814 members of the anti-Napoleonic coalition - England, Russia, Austria and Prussia - signed Chaumont treatise. It prescribed the actions of the parties to eliminate the Napoleonic regime. The parties to the treaty pledged to field 150,000 soldiers in order to resolve the French question once and for all.

Although the Treaty of Chaumont was only one in a series of European treaties of the 19th century, it was given a special place in the history of mankind. The Chaumont treaty was one of the first treaties aimed not at joint campaigns of conquest (it did not have an aggressive orientation), but at joint defense. The signatories of the Treaty of Chaumont insisted that the wars that shook Europe for 15 years should finally end and the era of the Napoleonic wars should end.

Almost a month after the signing of this agreement, March 31, 1814, Russian troops entered Paris(Fig. 10). This ended the period of the Napoleonic wars. Napoleon abdicated and was exiled to the island of Elba, which was given to him for life. It seemed that his story was over, but Napoleon tried to return to power in France. You will learn about this in the next lesson.

Rice. 10. Russian troops enter Paris ()

Bibliography

1. Jomini. Political and military life of Napoleon. A book covering Napoleon's military campaigns up to 1812

2. Manfred A.Z. Napoleon Bonaparte. - M.: Thought, 1989.

3. Noskov V.V., Andreevskaya T.P. General history. 8th grade. - M., 2013.

4. Tarle E.V. "Napoleon". - 1994.

5. Tolstoy L.N. "War and Peace"

6. Chandler D. Napoleon's military campaigns. - M., 1997.

7. Yudovskaya A.Ya. General history. History of the New Age, 1800-1900, Grade 8. - M., 2012.

Homework

1. Name the main opponents of Napoleon during 1805-1814.

2. Which battles from the series of Napoleonic wars left the greatest mark on history? Why are they interesting?

3. Tell us about Russia's participation in the Napoleonic Wars.

4. What was the significance of the Treaty of Chaumont for European states?

The Napoleonic Wars are the military campaigns against several European coalitions waged by France during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte (1799-1815). Italian campaign of Napoleon 1796-1797 and his Egyptian expedition of 1798-1799 is usually not included in the concept of the "Napoleonic Wars", since they took place even before Bonaparte came to power (the coup of 18 Brumaire, 1799). The Italian campaign is part of the Revolutionary Wars of 1792-1799. The Egyptian expedition in various sources either refers to them, or is recognized as a separate colonial campaign.

Napoleon at the Council of Five Hundred 18 Brumaire 1799

Napoleon's war with the Second Coalition

During the coup of 18 Brumaire (November 9), 1799, and the transfer of power in France to the first consul, citizen Napoleon Bonaparte, the republic was at war with the new (Second) European coalition, in which the Russian emperor Paul I took part, who sent an army to the West under the leadership of Suvorov. The affairs of France went badly, especially in Italy, where Suvorov, together with the Austrians, conquered the Cisalpine Republic, after which a monarchical restoration took place in Naples, abandoned by the French, accompanied by bloody terror against the friends of France, and then the fall of the republic in Rome took place. Dissatisfied, however, with his allies, mainly Austria, and partly with England, Paul I left the coalition and the war, and when the first consul Bonaparte let the Russian prisoners go home without ransom and re-equipped, the Russian emperor even began to draw closer to France, very pleased that in this country "anarchy was replaced by a consulate." Napoleon Bonaparte himself willingly went towards rapprochement with Russia: in fact, the expedition he undertook in 1798 to Egypt was directed against England in her Indian possessions, and in the imagination of the ambitious conqueror, a Franco-Russian campaign against India was now drawn, the same as later, when the memorable war of 1812 began. This combination, however, did not take place, since in the spring of 1801 Paul I fell victim to a conspiracy, and power in Russia passed to his son Alexander I.

Napoleon Bonaparte - First Consul. Painting by J. O. D. Ingres, 1803-1804

After Russia's withdrawal from the coalition, Napoleon's war against other European powers continued. The first consul turned to the sovereigns of England and Austria with an invitation to put an end to the struggle, but he was given in response unacceptable conditions for him - the restoration Bourbon and the return of France to its former borders. In the spring of 1800, Bonaparte personally led an army into Italy and in the summer, after battles of marengo, took possession of all Lombardy, while another French army occupied southern Germany and began to threaten Vienna itself. Peace of Luneville 1801 ended Napoleon's war with Emperor Francis II and confirmed the terms of the previous Austro-French treaty ( Campoformian 1797 G.). Lombardy turned into the Italian Republic, which made its president the first consul Bonaparte. Both in Italy and in Germany, a number of changes were made after this war: for example, the Duke of Tuscany (from the Habsburg family) received the principality of the Salzburg Archbishop in Germany for renouncing his duchy, and Tuscany, under the name of the Kingdom of Etruria, was transferred to the Duke of Parma (from the Spanish line). Bourbons). Most of all territorial changes were made after this war of Napoleon in Germany, many sovereigns of which, for the cession of the left bank of the Rhine to France, had to receive rewards from smaller princes, sovereign bishops and abbots, as well as free imperial cities. In Paris, a real bargaining for territorial increments was opened, and the Bonaparte government, with great success, took advantage of the rivalry of the German sovereigns in order to conclude separate treaties with them. This was the beginning of the destruction of the medieval Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, which, however, even earlier, as the wits said, was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire, but some kind of chaos from the same approximately number of states as there are days in a year. Now, at least, they have been greatly reduced, thanks to the secularization of spiritual principalities and the so-called mediatization - the transformation of direct (immediate) members of the empire into mediocre (mediated) - various state trifles, like small counties and imperial cities.

The war between France and England ended only in 1802, when a contract was concluded between the two states. Peace in Amiens. The first consul, Napoleon Bonaparte, then also acquired the glory of a peacemaker after a ten-year war, which France had to wage: a lifetime consulate was, in fact, a reward for making peace. But the war with England soon resumed, and one of the reasons for this was that Napoleon, not content with the presidency of the Italian Republic, also established his protectorate over the Batavian Republic, that is, Holland, quite close to England. The resumption of the war took place in 1803, and the English King George III, who at the same time was the Elector of Hanover, lost his ancestral possession in Germany. After that, Bonaparte's war with England did not stop until 1814.

Napoleon's war with the Third Coalition

The war was a favorite deed of the emperor-commander, whose equal history knows little, and his unauthorized actions, which must be attributed to assassination of the Duke of Enghien, which caused general indignation in Europe, soon forced other powers to unite against the impudent "upstart Corsican". His acceptance of the imperial title, the transformation of the Italian Republic into a kingdom, of which Napoleon himself became sovereign, who was crowned in 1805 in Milan with the old iron crown of the Lombard kings, the preparation of the Batavian Republic for the transformation into a kingdom of one of his brothers, as well as various other actions of Napoleon in relation to other countries were the reasons for the formation of the Third Anti-French Coalition against him from England, Russia, Austria, Sweden and the Kingdom of Naples, and Napoleon, for his part, secured alliances with Spain and the South German princes (sovereigns of Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria, Gessen, etc.), who, thanks to him, significantly increased their possessions through the secularization and mediatization of smaller possessions.

War of the Third Coalition. Map

In 1805, Napoleon was preparing to land in Boulogne in England, but in fact he moved his troops to Austria. However, the landing in England and the war on its very territory soon became impossible, due to the destruction of the French fleet by the English under the command of Admiral Nelson. at Trafalgar. But the land war of Bonaparte with the Third Coalition was a series of brilliant victories. In October 1805, on the eve of Trafalgar, surrendered to the surrender of the Austrian army in Ulm, Vienna was taken in November, on December 2, 1805, on the first anniversary of the coronation of Napoleon, the famous “battle of the three emperors” took place at Austerlitz (see the article The Battle of Austerlitz), which ended in the complete victory of Napoleon Bonaparte over the Austro-Russian army, in which there were Franz II, and young Alexander I. Finished the war with the Third Coalition Peace of Pressburg deprived the Habsburg monarchy of all Upper Austria, Tyrol and Venice with its region and gave Napoleon the right to widely dispose of in Italy and Germany.

Triumph of Napoleon. Austerlitz. Artist Sergei Prisekin

Bonaparte's war with the Fourth Coalition

The following year, the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm III joined the enemies of France - thereby forming the Fourth Coalition. But the Prussians also suffered, in October of this year, a terrible defeat at Jena, after which the German princes, who were in alliance with Prussia, were also defeated, and Napoleon occupied during this war first Berlin, then Warsaw, which belonged to Prussia after the third partition of Poland. The help provided to Friedrich Wilhelm III by Alexander I was not successful, and in the war of 1807 the Russians were defeated under Friedland, after which Napoleon occupied Koenigsberg. Then the famous Tilsit peace took place, which ended the war of the Fourth Coalition and was accompanied by a date between Napoleon Bonaparte and Alexander I in a pavilion arranged in the middle of the Neman.

War of the Fourth Coalition. Map

In Tilsit, it was decided by both sovereigns to help each other, dividing the West and the East between them. Only the intercession of the Russian tsar before the formidable victor saved Prussia from disappearing after this war from the political map of Europe, but this state nevertheless lost half of its possessions, had to pay a large contribution and accepted the French garrisons to stay.

The reorganization of Europe after the wars with the Third and Fourth Coalitions

After the wars with the Third and Fourth Coalitions, the Peace of Pressburg and Tilsit, Napoleon Bonaparte was the complete master of the West. The Venetian region enlarged the Kingdom of Italy, where Napoleon's stepson Eugene Beauharnais was made Viceroy, and Tuscany was directly annexed to the French Empire itself. The very next day after the Treaty of Pressburg, Napoleon announced that "the Bourbon dynasty had ceased to reign in Naples," and sent his elder brother Joseph (Joseph) to reign there. The Batavian Republic was turned into the Kingdom of Holland with Napoleon's brother Louis (Louis) on the throne. From the areas taken from Prussia west of the Elbe with neighboring parts of Hanover and other principalities, the Kingdom of Westphalia was created, which was received by another brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, Jerome (Jerome), from the former Polish lands of Prussia - Duchy of Warsaw given to the Sovereign of Saxony. Back in 1804, Franz II declared the imperial crown of Germany, the former electoral, hereditary property of his house, and in 1806 he withdrew Austria from Germany and began to be titled not the Roman, but the Austrian emperor. In Germany itself, after these wars of Napoleon, a complete reshuffling was carried out: again some principalities disappeared, others received an increase in their possessions, especially Bavaria, Württemberg and Saxony, even elevated to the rank of kingdoms. The Holy Roman Empire no longer existed, and the Confederation of the Rhine was now organized in the western part of Germany - under the protectorate of the emperor of the French.

By the Peace of Tilsit, Alexander I was granted, in agreement with Bonaparte, to increase his possessions at the expense of Sweden and Turkey, from which he took away, from the first in 1809, Finland, turned into an autonomous principality, from the second - after the Russian-Turkish war of 1806-1812 - Bessarabia included directly in Russia. In addition, Alexander I undertook to annex his empire to Napoleon's "continental system", as the cessation of all trade relations with England was called. The new allies also had to force Sweden, Denmark and Portugal, who continued to side with England, to do the same. At that time, a coup d'etat took place in Sweden: Gustav IV was replaced by his uncle Charles XIII, and the French marshal Bernadotte was declared his heir, after which Sweden went over to the side of France, as Denmark also went over after England attacked her for wanting to remain neutral. Since Portugal resisted, Napoleon, having entered into an alliance with Spain, announced that “the House of Braganza had ceased to reign”, and began the conquest of this country, which forced its king and his whole family to sail to Brazil.

Beginning of Napoleon Bonaparte's war in Spain

Soon it was the turn of Spain to turn into the kingdom of one of the Bonaparte brothers, the ruler of the European West. There were strife in the Spanish royal family. In fact, the government was governed by Minister Godoy, beloved of Queen Maria Louise, wife of the narrow-minded and weak-willed Charles IV, an ignorant, short-sighted and unscrupulous man, who since 1796 completely subordinated Spain to French politics. The royal couple had a son, Ferdinand, whom his mother and her favorite did not love, and now both sides began to complain one against the other to Napoleon. Bonaparte tied Spain even more closely with France when he promised Godoy to divide her possessions with Spain for help in the war with Portugal. In 1808, members of the royal family were invited to negotiate in Bayonne, and here the matter ended with the deprivation of Ferdinand of his hereditary rights and the abdication of Charles IV himself from the throne in favor of Napoleon, as "the only sovereign capable of giving prosperity to the state." The result of the "Bayonne catastrophe" was the transfer of the Neapolitan king Joseph Bonaparte to the Spanish throne, with the transfer of the Neapolitan crown to Napoleon's son-in-law, Joachim Murat, one of the heroes of the coup of 18 Brumaire. Somewhat earlier, in the same 1808, French soldiers occupied the Papal States, and the following year it was included in the French Empire with the deprivation of the pope of secular power. The fact is that Pope Pius VII, considering himself an independent sovereign, did not follow the instructions of Napoleon in everything. “Your Holiness,” Bonaparte once wrote to the pope, “enjoys supreme power in Rome, but I am the emperor of Rome.” Pius VII responded to the deprivation of power by excommunicating Napoleon from the church, for which he was forcibly transported to live in Savona, and the cardinals were resettled in Paris. Rome was then declared the second city of the empire.

Erfurt date 1808

In the interval between the wars, in the autumn of 1808, in Erfurt, which Napoleon Bonaparte left directly behind him as a possession of France in the very heart of Germany, a famous meeting took place between the Tilsit allies, accompanied by a congress of many kings, sovereign princes, crown princes, ministers, diplomats and commanders . It was a very impressive demonstration of both the power that Napoleon had in the West, and his friendship with the sovereign, to whom the East was placed at the disposal. England was asked to start negotiations on ending the war on the basis of retaining for the contracting parties what everyone would own at the time of the conclusion of peace, but England rejected this proposal. The sovereigns of the Confederation of the Rhine kept themselves on Erfurt Congress in front of Napoleon, just like servile courtiers in front of their master, and for the greater humiliation of Prussia, Bonaparte arranged a hunt for hares on the battlefield of Jena, inviting a Prussian prince who came to fuss about softening the difficult conditions of 1807. Meanwhile, an uprising broke out in Spain against the French, and in the winter from 1808 to 1809, Napoleon was forced to personally go to Madrid.

Napoleon's war with the Fifth Coalition and his conflict with Pope Pius VII

Counting on the difficulties that Napoleon met in Spain, the Austrian emperor in 1809 decided on a new war with Bonaparte ( War of the Fifth Coalition), but the war was again unsuccessful. Napoleon occupied Vienna and inflicted an irreparable defeat on the Austrians at Wagram. By ending this war Schönbrunn Peace Austria again lost several territories divided between Bavaria, the Kingdom of Italy and the Duchy of Warsaw (by the way, it acquired Krakow), and one area, the coast of the Adriatic Sea, under the name of Illyria, became the property of Napoleon Bonaparte himself. At the same time, Francis II had to give Napoleon his daughter Maria Louise in marriage. Even earlier, Bonaparte had become related through members of his family with some sovereigns of the Confederation of the Rhine, and now he himself decided to marry a real princess, especially since his first wife, Josephine Beauharnais, was barren, he also wanted to have an heir of his blood. (At first he wooed the Russian Grand Duchess, the sister of Alexander I, but their mother was strongly against this marriage). In order to marry the Austrian princess, Napoleon had to divorce Josephine, but then there was an obstacle from the pope, who did not agree to a divorce. Bonaparte neglected this and forced the French clergy subject to him to divorce him from his first wife. This further aggravated relations between him and Pius VII, who took revenge on him for depriving him of secular power and therefore, among other things, refused to consecrate to bishops the persons whom the emperor appointed to vacant chairs. The quarrel between the emperor and the pope, among other things, led to the fact that in 1811 Napoleon organized a council of French and Italian bishops in Paris, which, under his pressure, issued a decree allowing archbishops to ordain bishops if the pope did not consecrate government candidates for six months. The members of the cathedral who protested against the captivity of the pope were imprisoned in the Château de Vincennes (just as earlier cardinals who did not attend the marriage of Napoleon Bonaparte to Marie Louise were stripped of their red cassocks, for which they were mockingly nicknamed black cardinals). When Napoleon had a son from a new marriage, he received the title of Roman king.

The period of the greatest power of Napoleon Bonaparte

This was the time of the greatest power of Napoleon Bonaparte, and after the war of the Fifth Coalition, he continued, as before, completely arbitrary to dispose of in Europe. In 1810 he stripped his brother Louis of the Dutch crown for failing to respect the continental system and annexed his kingdom directly to his empire; for the same thing, the entire coast of the German Sea was also taken away from its legitimate owners (by the way, from the Duke of Oldenburg, a relative of the Russian sovereign) and annexed to France. France now included the coast of the German Sea, all of western Germany as far as the Rhine, parts of Switzerland, all of northwest Italy, and the Adriatic coast; the north-east of Italy was a special kingdom of Napoleon, and his son-in-law and two brothers reigned in Naples, Spain and Westphalia. Switzerland, the Confederation of the Rhine, covered on three sides by the possessions of Bonaparte, and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw were under his protectorate. Austria and Prussia, severely curtailed after the Napoleonic Wars, were thus squeezed between the possessions of either Napoleon himself or his vassals, Russia, from sharing with Napoleon, except for Finland, had only the Bialystok and Tarnopol districts, separated by Napoleon from Prussia and Austria in 1807 and 1809

Europe in 1807-1810. Map

Napoleon's despotism in Europe was unlimited. When, for example, the Nuremberg bookseller Palm refused to name the author of the brochure “Germany in its greatest humiliation”, which he published, Bonaparte ordered him to be arrested on foreign territory and brought to a military court, which sentenced him to death (which was, as it were, a repetition of the episode with the Duke of Enghien).

On the Western European mainland after the Napoleonic Wars, everything was, so to speak, turned upside down: the borders were confused; some old states were destroyed and new ones created; even many geographical names have been changed, etc. The temporal power of the pope and the medieval Roman Empire no longer existed, as well as the spiritual principalities of Germany and its numerous imperial cities, these purely medieval city republics. In the territories inherited by France itself, in the states of Bonaparte's relatives and clientele, a whole series of reforms were carried out according to the French model - administrative, judicial, financial, military, school, church reforms, often with the abolition of the class privileges of the nobility, limiting the power of the clergy, destroying many monasteries , the introduction of religious tolerance, etc., etc. One of the remarkable features of the era of the Napoleonic Wars was the abolition of the serfdom of peasants in many places, sometimes immediately after the wars by Bonaparte himself, as was the case in the Duchy of Warsaw at its very foundation. Finally, outside the French empire, the French civil code was put into effect, " Napoleonic code”, which continued to operate here and there after the collapse of the Napoleonic empire, as it was in the western parts of Germany, where it was in use until 1900, or as it still takes place in the Kingdom of Poland, formed from the Grand Duchy of Warsaw in 1815. It must also be added that during the period of the Napoleonic Wars in different countries, in general, French administrative centralization was very willingly adopted, distinguished by simplicity and harmony, strength and speed of action and therefore an excellent tool for government influence on subjects. If the daughter republics at the end of the XVIII century. were arranged in the image and likeness of the then France, their common mother, even now the states that Bonaparte gave to the administration of his brothers, son-in-law and stepson, received representative institutions for the most part according to the French model, that is, with a purely illusory, decorative character. Such a device was introduced precisely in the kingdoms of Italy, Holland, Neapolitan, Westphalia, Spain, etc. In essence, the very sovereignty of all these political creations of Napoleon was illusory: one will reigned everywhere, and all these sovereigns, relatives of the emperor of the French and his vassals were obliged to deliver to their supreme overlord a lot of money and many soldiers for new wars - no matter how much he demanded.

Guerrilla warfare against Napoleon in Spain

It became painful for the conquered peoples to serve the goals of a foreign conqueror. As long as Napoleon dealt in wars only with sovereigns who relied on armies alone and were always ready to receive increments of their possessions from his hands, it was easy for him to cope with them; in particular, for example, the Austrian government preferred to lose province after province, as long as the subjects sat quietly, which the Prussian government was also very busy with before the Jena defeat. Real difficulties began to be created for Napoleon only when the peoples began to revolt and wage a petty guerrilla war against the French. The first example of this was given by the Spaniards in 1808, then by the Tyroleans during the Austrian War of 1809; on an even larger scale, the same took place in Russia in 1812. The events of 1808-1812. in general, they showed the governments in what only their strength could lie.

The Spaniards, who were the first to set an example of a people's war (and whose resistance was helped by England, who did not spare money at all to fight France), gave Napoleon a lot of worries and troubles: in Spain he had to suppress the uprising, wage a real war, conquer the country and maintain the throne of Joseph by military force Bonaparte. The Spaniards even created a common organization for waging their little wars, these famous "guerillas" (guerillas), which, due to our unfamiliarity with the Spanish language, later turned into some kind of "guerillas", in the sense of partisan detachments or participants in the war. The Guerillas were one; the other was represented by the Cortes, the popular representation of the Spanish nation, convened by a provisional government, or regency in Cadiz, under the protection of the English fleet. They were collected in 1810, and in 1812 they made up the famous Spanish constitution, very liberal and democratic for that time, using the model of the French constitution of 1791 and some features of the medieval Aragonese constitution.

Movement against Bonaparte in Germany. Prussian reformers Hardenberg, Stein and Scharnhorst

Significant fermentation also took place among the Germans, who were eager to get out of their humiliation by means of a new war. Napoleon knew about this, but he fully relied on the devotion to himself of the sovereigns of the Confederation of the Rhine and on the weakness of Prussia and Austria after 1807 and 1809, and the intimidation that cost the life of the ill-fated Palm should have served as a warning that will befall every German who dares to become enemy of France. During these years, the hopes of all German patriots hostile to Bonaparte were pinned on Prussia. This state, so exalted in the second half of the XVIII century. the victories of Frederick the Great, reduced by a whole half after the war of the Fourth Coalition, was in the greatest humiliation, the way out of which was only in internal reforms. Among the king's ministers Friedrich Wilhelm III there were people who just stood for the need for serious changes, and among them the most prominent were Hardenberg and Stein. The first of them was a big fan of new French ideas and practices. In 1804-1807. he served as minister of foreign affairs and in 1807 proposed to his sovereign a whole plan of reforms: the introduction in Prussia of popular representation with strictly, however, centralized administration according to the Napoleonic model, the abolition of noble privileges, the liberation of the peasants from serfdom, the destruction of the constraints that lay on industry and trade. Considering Hardenberg his enemy - which was in fact - Napoleon demanded from Friedrich Wilhelm III, after the end of the war with him in 1807, that this minister be resigned, and advised him to take Stein in his place, as a very efficient person, not knowing that he was also an enemy of France. Baron Stein had previously been a minister in Prussia, but he did not get along with the court spheres, and even with the king himself, and was resigned. In contrast to Hardenberg, he was an opponent of administrative centralization and stood for the development of self-government, as in England, with the preservation, within certain limits, of estates, workshops, etc., but he was a man of a greater mind than Hardenberg, and showed a greater ability to development in a progressive direction, as life itself pointed out to him the need to destroy antiquity, remaining, however, still an opponent of the Napoleonic system, since he wanted the initiative of society. Appointed minister on October 5, 1807, Stein already on the 9th of the same month published a royal edict abolishing serfdom in Prussia and allowing non-nobles to acquire noble lands. Further, in 1808, he began to put into effect his plan to replace the bureaucratic system of government with local self-government, but managed to give the latter only to cities, while the villages and regions remained under the old order. He also thought about state representation, but of a purely deliberative nature. Stein did not remain in power for long: in September 1808, the French official newspaper published his letter intercepted by the police, from which Napoleon Bonaparte learned that the Prussian minister strongly recommended that the Germans follow the example of the Spaniards. After this and another article hostile to him in the French government body, the reformer minister was forced to resign, and after a while Napoleon even directly declared him an enemy of France and the Confederation of the Rhine, his estates were confiscated and he himself was subject to arrest, so that Stein had to flee and hide in different cities of Austria, until in 1812 he was not called to Russia.

After one insignificant minister who replaced such a big man, Frederick William III again called Hardenberg to power, who, being a supporter of the Napoleonic system of centralization, began to transform the Prussian administration in this direction. In 1810, at his insistence, the king promised to give his subjects even national representation, and with the aim of both developing this issue and introducing other reforms in 1810-1812. meetings of notables were convened in Berlin, that is, representatives of estates at the choice of the government. More detailed legislation on the redemption of peasant duties in Prussia dates back to the same time. The military reform carried out by General Scharnhorst; according to one of the conditions of the Tilsit peace, Prussia could not have more than 42 thousand troops, and so the following system was invented: universal military service was introduced, but the terms of stay of soldiers in the army were greatly reduced in order to train them in military affairs, to take new ones in their place , and trained to enroll in the reserve, so that Prussia, if necessary, could have a very large army. Finally, in the same years, according to the plan of the enlightened and liberal Wilhelm von Humboldt, the university in Berlin was founded, and to the sounds of the drums of the French garrison, the famous philosopher Fichte read his patriotic Speeches to the German Nation. All these phenomena characterizing the internal life of Prussia after 1807 made this state the hope of the majority of German patriots hostile to Napoleon Bonaparte. Among the interesting manifestations of the then liberating mood in Prussia is the formation in 1808 of Prussia. Tugendbunda, or the League of Valor, a secret society, which included scientists, military officers, officials and whose goal was the revival of Germany, although in fact the union did not play a big role. The Napoleonic police followed the German patriots, and, for example, Stein's friend Arndt, the author of the Zeitgeist imbued with national patriotism, had to flee Napoleon's wrath to Sweden so as not to suffer the sad fate of Palm.

The national excitement of the Germans against the French began to intensify from 1809. Starting the war with Napoleon that year, the Austrian government directly set its goal as the liberation of Germany from the foreign yoke. In 1809, uprisings broke out against the French in Tyrol under the leadership of Andrei Hofer, in Stralsund, which was captured by the insanely brave Major Schill, in Westphalia, where the "black legion of revenge" of the Duke of Brunswick operated, etc., but Gofer was executed, Schill killed in a military battle, the Duke of Brunswick had to flee to England. At the same time, in Schönbrunn, an attempt was made on the life of Napoleon by a young German, Shtaps, who was later executed for this. “The fermentation has reached its highest degree,” his brother, the King of Westphalia, once wrote to Napoleon Bonaparte, “the most reckless hopes are accepted and supported; they set Spain as their model, and, believe me, when the war begins, the countries between the Rhine and the Oder will be the theater of a great uprising, for the extreme despair of peoples who have nothing to lose must be feared. This prediction was fulfilled after the failure of the campaign in Russia, undertaken by Napoleon in 1812 and the former, according to the apt expression of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Talleyrand, "the beginning of the end."

Relations between Napoleon Bonaparte and Tsar Alexander I

In Russia, after the death of Paul I, who was thinking about rapprochement with France, “the days of Alexandrov began a wonderful beginning.” The young monarch, a pupil of the republican La Harpe, who himself almost considered himself a republican, at least the only one in the whole empire, and in other respects recognized himself as a “happy exception” on the throne, from the very beginning of his reign made plans for internal reforms - right up to, in the end after all, before the introduction of a constitution in Russia. In 1805-07. he was at war with Napoleon, but in Tilsit they made an alliance with each other, and two years later in Erfurt they sealed their friendship in the face of the whole world, although Bonaparte immediately discerned in his friend-rival the “Byzantine Greek” (and he himself, however, being, according to the recall of Pope Pius VII, a comedian). And Russia in those years had its own reformer, who, like Hardenberg, bowed before Napoleonic France, but much more original. This reformer was the famous Speransky, the author of a whole plan for the state transformation of Russia on the basis of representation and separation of powers. Alexander I brought him closer to himself at the beginning of his reign, but Speransky began to use especially strong influence on his sovereign during the years of rapprochement between Russia and France after the Tilsit peace. By the way, when Alexander I, after the war of the Fourth Coalition, went to Erfurt to meet with Napoleon, he took Speransky with him among other close associates. But then this outstanding statesman suffered the royal disfavor, just at the very time that relations between Alexander I and Bonaparte deteriorated. It is known that in 1812 Speransky was not only removed from business, but also had to go into exile.

Relations between Napoleon and Alexander I deteriorated for many reasons, among which the main role was played by Russia's non-compliance with the continental system in all its severity, the encouragement of the Poles by Bonaparte regarding the restoration of their former fatherland, the seizure of possessions by France from the Duke of Oldenburg, who was related to the Russian royal family etc. In 1812, things came to a complete break and the war, which was the "beginning of the end."

Murmuring against Napoleon in France

Prudent people have long predicted that sooner or later there will be a catastrophe. Even at the time of the proclamation of the empire, Cambacérès, who was one of the consuls with Napoleon, said to another, Lebrun: “I have a premonition that what is being built now will not be durable. We have waged war on Europe in order to impose republics on her as daughters of the French Republic, and now we will wage war to give her monarchs, sons or brothers of ours, and the end will be that France, exhausted by wars, will fall under the weight of these crazy enterprises. ". - “You are satisfied,” the Minister of Marine Decres once said to Marshal Marmont, because now you have been made a marshal, and everything seems to you in a pink light. But don't you want me to tell you the truth and draw back the veil that hides the future? The emperor has gone crazy, completely crazy: he will make all of us, how many of us there are, fly head over heels, and all this will end in a terrible catastrophe. Before the Russian campaign of 1812, and in France itself, some opposition began to appear against the constant wars and despotism of Napoleon Bonaparte. It has already been mentioned above that Napoleon met with a protest against his treatment of the pope from some members of the church council convened by him in Paris in 1811, and in the same year a deputation from the Paris Chamber of Commerce came to him with an idea of ​​ruin continental system for French industry and commerce. The population began to be weary of the endless wars of Bonaparte, the increase in military spending, the growth of the army, and already in 1811 the number of those who evaded military service reached almost 80 thousand people. In the spring of 1812, a muffled murmur in the Parisian population forced Napoleon to move especially early to Saint-Cloud, and only in such a mood of the people could a bold idea arise in the head of one general, named Male, to take advantage of Napoleon's war in Russia in order to carry out a coup d'état in Paris for the restoration of the republic. Suspected of unreliability, Male was arrested, but escaped from his imprisonment, appeared in some barracks and there announced to the soldiers about the death of the "tyrant" Bonaparte, who allegedly died in a distant military campaign. Part of the garrison went after Male, and he, having then made a false senatus-consultant, was already preparing to organize a provisional government, when he was captured and, together with his accomplices, was brought before a military court, which sentenced them all to death. Upon learning of this conspiracy, Napoleon was extremely annoyed by the fact that some even representatives of the authorities believed the attackers, and that the public reacted rather indifferently to all this.

Napoleon's campaign in Russia 1812

The Male conspiracy dates back to the end of October 1812, when the failure of Napoleon's campaign against Russia was already sufficiently clear. Of course, the military events of this year are too well known to require a detailed presentation, and therefore it remains only to recall the main moments of the war with Bonaparte in 1812, which we called "Patriotic", that is, national and the invasion of "Gauls" and with them "twelve languages".

In the spring of 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte concentrated large military forces in Prussia, which was forced, like Austria, to enter into an alliance with him, and in the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and in mid-June, his troops, without declaring war, entered the then borders of Russia. Napoleon's "Great Army" of 600,000 men consisted only half of the French: the rest were various other "peoples": Austrians, Prussians, Bavarians, etc., that is, in general, subjects of the allies and vassals of Napoleon Bonaparte. The Russian army, which was three times smaller and, moreover, scattered, had to retreat at the beginning of the war. Napoleon quickly began to occupy one city after another, mainly on the road to Moscow. Only near Smolensk did the two Russian armies manage to unite, which, however, turned out to be unable to stop the enemy's advance. Kutuzov's attempt to detain Bonaparte at Borodino (see the articles The Battle of Borodino 1812 and the Battle of Borodino 1812 - briefly), made at the end of August, was also unsuccessful, and in early September Napoleon was already in Moscow, from where he thought to dictate peace terms to Alexander I. But just at that time the war with the French became popular. Already after the battle near Smolensk, the inhabitants of the areas through which the army of Napoleon Bonaparte was moving began to burn everything in its path, and with its arrival in Moscow, fires began in this ancient capital of Russia, from where most of the population had left. Little by little, almost the entire city burned down, the reserves that were in it were depleted, and the supply of new ones was hampered by Russian partisan detachments, who launched a war on all roads that led to Moscow. When Napoleon became convinced of the futility of his hope that he would be asked for peace, he himself wished to enter into negotiations, but on the Russian side he did not meet the slightest desire to make peace. On the contrary, Alexander I decided to wage war until the final expulsion of the French from Russia. While Bonaparte was inactive in Moscow, the Russians began to prepare to completely cut off Napoleon's exit from Russia. This plan did not materialize, but Napoleon realized the danger and hurried to leave the devastated and burned Moscow. First, the French made an attempt to break through to the south, but the Russians cut off the road in front of them at Maloyaroslavets, and the remnants of the great army of Bonaparte had to retreat along the former, devastated Smolensk road, during a very severe winter that began early this year. The Russians followed this disastrous retreat almost on the heels, inflicting one defeat after another on the lagging detachments. Napoleon himself, who happily escaped capture when his army crossed the Berezina, abandoned everything in the second half of November and left for Paris, only now deciding to officially notify France and Europe of the failure that had befallen him during the Russian war. The retreat of the remnants of the great army of Bonaparte was now a real flight amid the horrors of cold and hunger. On December 2, less than six full months after the start of the Russian war, Napoleon's last detachments crossed back into the Russian border. After that, the French had no choice but to abandon the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, whose capital the Russian army occupied in January 1813.

Napoleon's army crossing the Berezina. Painting by P. von Hess, 1844

Foreign campaign of the Russian army and the War of the Sixth Coalition

When Russia was completely cleared of enemy hordes, Kutuzov advised Alexander I to limit himself to this and stop further war. But in the soul of the Russian sovereign, a mood prevailed that forced him to transfer military operations against Napoleon beyond the borders of Russia. In this latter intention, the German patriot Stein strongly supported the emperor, who had found shelter against Napoleon's persecution in Russia and to a certain extent subordinated Alexander to his influence. The failure of the war of the great army in Russia made a great impression on the Germans, among whom national enthusiasm spread more and more, a monument of which remained the patriotic lyrics of Kerner and other poets of the era. At first, the German governments did not dare, however, to follow their subjects, who rose up against Napoleon Bonaparte. When, at the very end of 1812, the Prussian General York, at his own peril, concluded a convention with the Russian General Dibich in Taurogen and stopped fighting for the cause of France, Friedrich Wilhelm III was extremely dissatisfied with this, as he was also dissatisfied with the decision of the Zemstvo members of East and West Prussia to organize, according to Stein's thoughts, the provincial militia for the war with the enemy of the German nation. Only when the Russians entered Prussian territory did the king, forced to choose between an alliance with either Napoleon or Alexander I, bow to the side of the latter, and even then not without some hesitation. In February 1813, in Kalisz, Prussia concluded a military treaty with Russia, accompanied by an appeal by both sovereigns to the population of Prussia. Then Frederick William III declared war on Bonaparte, and a special royal appeal to the loyal subjects was published. In this and other proclamations, with which the new allies also addressed the population of other parts of Germany and in the drafting of which Stein played an active role, much was said about the independence of peoples, about their right to control their own destiny, about the strength of public opinion, before which sovereigns themselves must bow. , etc.

From Prussia, where, next to the regular army, detachments of volunteers were formed from people of all ranks and conditions, often not Prussian subjects, the national movement began to be transferred to other German states, whose governments, on the contrary, remained loyal to Napoleon Bonaparte and restrained manifestations in their possessions. German patriotism. Meanwhile, Sweden, England and Austria joined the Russian-Prussian military alliance, after which the members of the Confederation of the Rhine began to fall away from loyalty to Napoleon - under the condition of the inviolability of their territories or, at least, equivalent rewards in cases where any or changes in the boundaries of their possessions. This is how Sixth Coalition against Bonaparte. Three days (October 16-18) battle with Napoleon near Leipzig, which was unfavorable for the French and forced them to begin a retreat to the Rhine, resulted in the destruction of the Confederation of the Rhine, the return to their possessions of the dynasties expelled during the Napoleonic wars and the final transition to the side of the anti-French coalition of South German sovereigns.

By the end of 1813, the lands east of the Rhine were free from the French, and on the night of January 1, 1814, part of the Prussian army under the command of Blucher crossed this river, which then served as the eastern border of Bonaparte's empire. Even before the Battle of Leipzig, the allied sovereigns offered Napoleon to enter into peace negotiations, but he did not agree to any conditions. Before the transfer of the war to the territory of the empire itself, Napoleon was once again offered peace on the terms of maintaining the Rhine and Alpine borders for France, but only renouncing domination in Germany, Holland, Italy and Spain, but Bonaparte continued to persist, although in France itself public opinion considered these conditions quite acceptable. A new peace proposal in mid-February 1814, when the Allies were already on French territory, likewise came to nothing. The war went on with varying happiness, but one defeat of the French army (at Arcy-sur-Aube on March 20-21) opened the way for the Allies to Paris. On March 30 they took by storm the Montmartre heights that dominate this city, and on the 31st they solemnly entered the city itself.

The deposition of Napoleon in 1814 and the restoration of the Bourbons

The next day after this, the Senate proclaimed the deposition of Napoleon Bonaparte from the throne with the formation of a provisional government, and two days later, that is, on April 4, he himself, in the castle of Fontainebleau, abdicated in favor of his son after he learned about the transition of Marshal Marmont to the side of the Allies. The latter were not satisfied with this, however, and a week later Napoleon was forced to sign an act of unconditional abdication. The title of emperor was reserved for him, but he had to live on the island of Elbe, given to him. During these events, the fallen Bonaparte was already the subject of extreme hatred of the population of France, as the culprit of devastating wars and enemy invasion.

The provisional government, formed after the end of the war and the deposition of Napoleon, drafted a new constitution, which was adopted by the Senate. Meanwhile, in agreement with the victors of France, the restoration of the Bourbons was already being prepared in the person of the brother of Louis XVI, who was executed during the Revolutionary Wars, who, after the death of his little nephew, who was recognized by the royalists as Louis XVII, became known as Louis XVIII. The Senate proclaimed him king, freely called to the throne by the nation, but Louis XVIII wanted to reign solely by his hereditary right. He did not accept the Senate constitution, and instead granted (octroyed) a constitutional charter with his power, and even then under strong pressure from Alexander I, who agreed to the restoration only under the condition of granting France a constitution. One of the main figures involved in the end of the Bourbon War was Talleyrand, who said that only the restoration of the dynasty would be the result of principle, everything else was mere intrigue. With Louis XVIII returned his younger brother and heir, the Comte d'Artois, with his family, other princes and numerous emigrants from the most irreconcilable representatives of pre-revolutionary France. The nation immediately felt that both the Bourbons and the emigrants in exile, in the words of Napoleon, "forgot nothing and learned nothing." Alarm began throughout the country, numerous reasons for which were given by the statements and behavior of the princes, the returned nobles and the clergy, who clearly sought to restore antiquity. The people even started talking about the restoration of feudal rights, etc. Bonaparte watched on his Elbe how irritation against the Bourbons grew in France, and at the congress that met in Vienna in the autumn of 1814 to arrange European affairs, bickering began that could wreck the allies. In the eyes of the fallen emperor, these were favorable circumstances for the restoration of power in France.

"Hundred Days" of Napoleon and the War of the Seventh Coalition

On March 1, 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte secretly left Elba with a small detachment and unexpectedly landed near Cannes, from where he moved to Paris. The former ruler of France brought with him proclamations to the army, to the nation, and to the population of the coastal departments. “I,” it was said in the second of them, “was enthroned by your election, and everything that was done without you is illegal ... Let the sovereign, who was placed on my throne by the power of the armies that devastated our country, refer to the principles feudal law, but it can only secure the interests of a small handful of enemies of the people!.. The French! in my exile, I heard your complaints and desires: you demanded the return of the government chosen by you and therefore the only legal one, ”etc. On the way of Napoleon Bonaparte to Paris, his small detachment grew from soldiers who joined him everywhere, and his new military campaign received kind of triumphal procession. In addition to the soldiers who adored their "little corporal", the people also went over to the side of Napoleon, who now saw him as a savior from the hated emigrants. Marshal Ney, sent against Napoleon, boasted before leaving that he would bring him in a cage, but then, with his entire detachment, went over to his side. On March 19, Louis XVIII hastily fled from Paris, forgetting Talleyrand's reports from the Congress of Vienna and the secret treaty against Russia in the Tuileries Palace, and the next day, the crowd of people literally carried Napoleon into the palace, only the day before abandoned by the king.

The return of Napoleon Bonaparte to power was the result not only of a military revolt against the Bourbons, but also of a popular movement that could easily turn into a real revolution. In order to reconcile the educated classes and the bourgeoisie with him, Napoleon now agreed to a liberal reform of the constitution, calling to this cause one of the most prominent political writers of the era, Benjamin Constant who had previously spoken out sharply against his despotism. A new constitution was even drawn up, which, however, received the name of an "additional act" to the "constitutions of the empire" (that is, to laws of the VIII, X and XII years), and this act was submitted for approval by the people, who adopted it with one and a half million votes. . On June 3, 1815, new representative chambers were opened, before which a few days later Napoleon gave a speech announcing the introduction of a constitutional monarchy in France. The response addresses of representatives and peers, however, did not please the emperor, as they contained warnings and instructions, and he expressed his displeasure to them. However, he did not have a further continuation of the conflict, since Napoleon had to rush to the war.

The news of Napoleon's return to France forced the sovereigns and ministers, who gathered at the congress in Vienna, to stop the strife that had begun between them and unite again in a common alliance for a new war with Bonaparte ( Wars of the Seventh Coalition). On June 12, Napoleon left Paris to go to his army, and on the 18th at Waterloo, he was defeated by the Anglo-Prussian army under the command of Wellington and Blucher. In Paris, defeated in this new short war, Bonaparte faced a new defeat: the House of Representatives demanded that he abdicate in favor of his son, who was proclaimed emperor under the name of Napoleon II. The allies, who soon appeared under the walls of Paris, decided the matter differently, namely, they restored Louis XVIII. Napoleon himself, when the enemy approached Paris, thought to flee to America and for this purpose arrived in Rochefort, but was intercepted by the British, who installed him on the island of St. Helena. This second reign of Napoleon, accompanied by the War of the Seventh Coalition, lasted only about three months and was called in history " one hundred days". In his new conclusion, the second deposed Emperor Bonaparte lived for about six years, dying in May 1821.

Introduction

Napoleonic anti-French coalition war

The Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815) were fought by France during the years of the Consulate and Empire of Napoleon I against coalitions of European states.

Of course, one cannot explore the Napoleonic Wars without the personality of Napoleon himself. He wanted to do the same thing that the Romans wanted to do with the world - to civilize it, to erase the borders, turning Europe into one country, with a single money, weights, civil laws, local self-government, the flourishing of sciences and crafts ... He took the Great French Revolution with ardor approval. His activities in Corsica and the mastery of the city of Toulon was the beginning of the rapid ascent of Bonaparte in military service.

Bonaparte proved to be a remarkable master of strategy and maneuvering tactics. Fighting against a numerically superior enemy. Victorious wars with coalitions of powers, brilliant victories, a huge expansion of the territory of the empire contributed to the transformation of N. I into the actual ruler of all Western (except Great Britain) and Central Europe.

All the Napoleonic wars were fought in the interests of the French bourgeoisie, which sought to establish its military-political and commercial-industrial hegemony in Europe, annex new territories to France and win the fight against Great Britain for world trade and colonial superiority. The Napoleonic wars, which did not stop until the fall of the empire of Napoleon I, were on the whole wars of conquest. They were conducted in the interests of the French bourgeoisie, which sought to consolidate its military-political and commercial-industrial dominance on the continent, pushing the British bourgeoisie into the background. But they also contained progressive elements, tk. objectively contributed to the undermining of the foundations of the feudal system and cleared the way for the development of capitalist relations in a number of European states: (the abolition of dozens of small feudal states in Germany, the introduction of the Napoleonic civil code in some conquered countries, the confiscation and sale of part of the monastic lands, the elimination of a number of privileges of the nobility, etc.). The main opponents of France during the Napoleonic Wars were England, Austria and Russia.

1. Causes and nature of the Napoleonic wars

The Napoleonic era had not only a military-political aspect, in many respects the war acquired a universal character, turned into a war of economies and peoples, something that later became an axiom in the 20th century during the years of two world wars. If earlier the war had the character of military clashes of relatively small professional armies, then in the Napoleonic era, all spheres of public and state life of the participating countries were already permeated by war. The nature of the armed forces also changed; they began to turn into mass armies. This inevitably led to changes in the relationship between state and public institutions.

There are several opinions about the nature of the Napoleonic wars and the reasons that caused them. To name just a few of them: the continuation of the revolutionary wars of the French Republic, the fruit of the exorbitant ambition of one person (Napoleon), the desire of the feudal "old regime" states to destroy this person (Napoleon), the continuation of the centuries-old confrontation between France and England for dominance in the world, the struggle between the ideologies of the new and the old regimes (that is, the clash of young capitalism with feudalism).

2. First anti-French coalition 1793-1797

The revolution that took place in France in 1789 had a strong effect on the states adjacent to it and prompted their governments to resort to decisive measures against the menacing danger. Emperor Leopold II and King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, at a personal meeting in Pilnitz, agreed to stop the spread of revolutionary principles. They were also encouraged to do so by the insistence of the French emigrants, who formed a corps of troops in Koblenz under the command of the Prince of Condé. Military preparations were begun, but the monarchs for a long time did not dare to open hostilities. The initiative was taken by France, which on April 20, 1792 declared war on Austria for its hostile actions against France. Austria and Prussia entered into a defensive and offensive alliance, which was gradually joined by almost all other German states, as well as Spain, Piedmont and the Kingdom of Naples.

Hostilities began with the invasion of French troops into the possessions of the German states on the Rhine, followed by the invasion of coalition troops into France. Soon the enemies were repulsed and France itself began active hostilities against the coalition - it invaded Spain, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Western German states. Soon, in 1793, the battle of Toulon took place, where the young and talented commander Napoleon Bonaparte first showed himself. After a series of victories, the enemies were forced to recognize the French Republic and all its conquests (with the exception of the British), but then, after the deterioration of the situation in France, the war resumed.

3. Second anti-French coalition (1798-1801)

The conditional date of the start of the Napoleonic Wars is considered to be the establishment in France during the coup of 18 Brumaire (November 9), 1799, of the military dictatorship of Napoleon Bonaparte, who became the first consul. At this time, the country was already at war with the 2nd anti-French coalition, which was formed in 1798-99 by England, Russia, Austria, Turkey and the Kingdom of Naples.

Having come to power, Bonaparte sent the English king and the Austrian emperor a proposal to start peace negotiations, which was rejected by them. France began to form a large army on the eastern borders under the command of General Moreau. At the same time, on the Swiss border, in secrecy, the formation of the so-called "reserve" army was going on, which dealt the first blow to the Austrian troops in Italy. Having made a difficult transition through the St. Bernard Pass in the Alps, on June 14, 1800, at the Battle of Marengo, Bonaparte defeated the Austrians operating under the command of Field Marshal Melas. In December 1800 Moreau's army of the Rhine defeated the Austrians at Hohenlinden (Bavaria). In February 1801, Austria was forced to conclude peace with France and recognize her seizures in Belgium and on the left bank of the Rhine. After that, the 2nd coalition actually broke up, England agreed in October 1801 to sign the terms of the preliminary (i.e. preliminary) agreement, and on March 27, 1802, the Treaty of Amiens was concluded between England, on the one hand, and France, Spain and the Batavian Republic - with another.

4. Third anti-French coalition (1805)

However, already in 1803 the war between them resumed, and in 1805 the 3rd anti-French coalition was formed, consisting of England, Russia, Austria and the Kingdom of Naples. Unlike the previous ones, it proclaimed as its goal the struggle not against revolutionary France, but against the aggressive policy of Bonaparte. Becoming Emperor Napoleon I in 1804, he prepared the landing of a French expeditionary army in England. But on October 21, 1805, in the Battle of Trafalgar, the English fleet, led by Admiral Nelson, destroyed the combined Franco-Spanish fleet. However, on the continent, Napoleon's troops won one victory after another: in October 1805, the Austrian army of General Mack capitulated at Ulm without a fight; in November, Napoleon marched victoriously into Vienna; On December 2, 1805, Emperor Napoleon defeated the armies of the emperors of Austria, Franz I and Russia, Alexander I at the Battle of Austerlitz. Europe, and France became a powerful land power. Now the biggest opponent of France in the struggle for hegemony in Europe was Great Britain, which, after the Battle of Cape Trafalgar, held unconditional dominance over the seas.

As a result of the war, Austria was completely ousted from Germany and Italy, and France established its hegemony on the European continent. March 15, 1806 Napoleon gave the Grand Duchy of Cleve and Berg into the possession of his brother-in-law I. Murat. He expelled from Naples the local Bourbon dynasty, which fled to Sicily under the protection of the English fleet, and on March 30 he placed his brother Joseph on the Neapolitan throne. On May 24, he transformed the Batavian Republic into the Kingdom of Holland, placing his other brother Louis at the head of it. In Germany, on June 12, the Confederation of the Rhine was formed from 17 states under the protectorate of Napoleon; On August 6, the Austrian emperor Franz II renounced the German crown - the Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist.

5. Fourth (1806-1807) and fifth (1808-1809) anti-French coalitions

The war against Napoleon was continued by England and Russia, which were soon joined by Prussia and Sweden, concerned about the strengthening of French domination in Europe. In September 1806, the 4th anti-French coalition of European states was formed. A month later, during two battles, on the same day, October 14, 1806, the Prussian army was destroyed: near Jena, Napoleon defeated parts of Prince Hohenlohe, and at Auerstedt, Marshal Davout defeated the main Prussian forces of King Frederick William and the Duke of Brunswick. Napoleon solemnly entered Berlin. Prussia was occupied. The Russian army moving to help the allies met with the French first near Pultusk on December 26, 1806, then at Preussisch-Eylau on February 8, 1807. Despite the bloodshed, these battles did not give an advantage to either side, but in June 1807 Napoleon won the battle of Friedland over the Russian troops commanded by L.L. Benigsen. On July 7, 1807, in the middle of the Neman River, a meeting of the French and Russian emperors took place on a raft, and the Peace of Tilsit was concluded. According to this peace, Russia recognized all the conquests of Napoleon in Europe, and joined the "Continental blockade" of the British Isles proclaimed by him in 1806. In the spring of 1809, England and Austria again united into the 5th anti-French coalition, but already in May 1809 the French entered Vienna, and on July 5-6, the Austrians were again defeated in the battle of Wagram. Austria agreed to pay an indemnity and joined the continental blockade. A significant part of Europe was under the rule of Napoleon.

6. End of the Napoleonic Wars

The national liberation movement, which was growing in Europe, acquired the greatest scope in Spain and Germany. However, the fate of Napoleon's empire was decided during his campaign in Russia. During the Patriotic War of 1812, the strategy of the Russian army, led by Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov, the partisan movement contributed to the death of more than 400,000 "Great Army". This caused a new upsurge in the national liberation struggle in Europe, in a number of states people's militia began to be created. In 1813, the 6th anti-French coalition was formed, which included Russia, England, Prussia, Sweden, Austria, and a number of other states. In October 1813, as a result of the "battle of the peoples" near Leipzig, the territory of Germany was liberated from the French. The Napoleonic army withdrew to the borders of France, and then was defeated on its own land. On March 31, Allied troops entered Paris. On April 6, Napoleon I signed the abdication of the throne and was expelled from France to the island of Elba.

In 1815, during the famous "Hundred Days" (March 20 - June 22), Napoleon made his last attempt to regain his former power. The defeat in the Battle of Waterloo (Belgium) on June 18, 1815, inflicted on him by the troops of the 7th coalition under the command of the Duke of Wellington and Marshal Blucher, completed the history of the Napoleonic wars. The Congress of Vienna (November 1, 1814 - June 9, 1815) decided the fate of France, fixing the redistribution of the territories of European countries in the interests of the victorious states. The wars of liberation that were waged against Napoleon were inevitably associated with the partial restoration of the feudal-absolutist order in Europe (the “Holy Alliance” of European monarchs, concluded with the aim of suppressing the national liberation and revolutionary movement in Europe).

Results

As a result of the Napoleonic Wars, France's military power was broken and she lost her dominant position in Europe. The main political force on the continent was the Holy Union of Monarchs, led by Russia; The UK has maintained its status as the world's leading maritime power.

The aggressive wars of Napoleonic France threatened the national independence of many European peoples; at the same time, they contributed to the destruction of the feudal-monarchist order on the continent - the French army brought on its bayonets the principles of a new civil society (Civil Code) and the abolition of feudal relations; Napoleon's liquidation of many small feudal states in Germany facilitated the process of its future unification.

Bibliography

1. Bezotosny V.M. Napoleonic Wars. - M.: Veche, 2010.

2. Zalessky K.A. Biographical encyclopedic dictionary. Napoleonic Wars, 1799-1815, M., 2003

3. Easdale C.J. Napoleonic Wars. Rostov-on-Don, 1997

4. Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron Napoleonic Wars. - St. Petersburg: Publishing Society "F.A. Brockhaus - I.A. Efron", 1907-1909

5. Chandler D. Napoleon's military campaigns. Triumph and tragedy of the conqueror. M., 2000

6. http://www.krugosvet.ru/

7. http://www.bezmani.ru/spravka/bse/base/3/014204.htm

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