Participants in the Napoleonic war in Europe. Napoleonic Wars. The French as a means of destroying empires

At the time of the coup d'état of the 18th Brumaire (November 9, 1799), which led to the establishment of the Consulate's 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 rather difficult, although Russia actually dropped out of her opponents. Napoleon, who was proclaimed the first consul of the Republic, was faced with the task of achieving a radical turning point in the war. He decided to deliver the main blow to Austria on the Italian and German fronts.

Spring / Summer Campaign 1800.

In Germany, the French army of General J.-V. Moro crossed the Rhine on April 25, 1800 and on May 3 defeated the Swabian army of the Austrians under the command of Baron P. Kraj at Stockkach and Engen and threw it back to Ulm. Having lost the battles at Hochstedt, Neuburg and Oberhausen, P. Krai signed the Parsdorf truce with the French on July 15, in whose hands the whole of Bavaria to the west of the Isar River was in their hands.

In Italy, Genoa, the last fortress held by the French (General A. Masséna), was blocked on April 25 by the Austrian army of Field Marshal M.-F. Melas and the British fleet of Admiral C.J. Keith and surrendered on June 4. At the same time, Napoleon, secretly concentrating his 40,000th Reserve Army near Geneva, crossed the Alps on May 15-23 through the passes of Greater Saint Bernard and Saint Gotthard and invaded Lombardy; On June 2, the French occupied Milan and cut off the Austrians' escape routes to the south and east. On June 14, at the village of Marengo near Alessandria, Napoleon defeated the twice superior forces of M.-F. Melas. On June 15, a five-month truce was signed, as a result of which the Austrians cleared Northern Italy to the river. Mincho; the French restored the vassals of the Cisalpine and Ligurian republics.

Winter Campaign 1800/1801.

In November 1800, the French resumed hostilities in Bavaria. December 3 J.-V. Moreau won a brilliant victory over the army of Archduke Johann at the village of Hohenlinden east of Munich and marched on Vienna. The Austrian emperor Franz II had to conclude the Steyer armistice on December 25 and transfer to the French Tyrol, part of Styria and Upper Austria up to the Ense river. At the same time, in Italy, the French general H.-M. Brun crossed Mincio and Adige, captured Verona and, joining up with E.-J. Macdonald's corps, which had broken through from Switzerland, drove out the Austrian army of Field Marshal G.-J. Belgard across the river. Brent. By the Armistice of Treviso signed on January 16, 1801, the Austrians surrendered the fortresses of Manuyu, Peschiera and Legnano to the French on the Lombard-Venetian border and left the territory of Italy. The Neapolitan army, which went to the aid of the Austrians, was defeated by the French general F. de Miollis near Siena, after which the detachment of I. Murat made a rush to Naples and forced the King of the Two Sicilies Ferdinand IV to agree to an armistice in Foligno. As a result, all of Italy fell under the control of the French.

Luneville world.

On February 9, 1801, the Luneville Peace Treaty was concluded between France and Austria, generally repeating the conditions of the Campoformian Peace of 1797: he secured the left bank of the Rhine for France, and for Austria - Venice, Istria, Dalmatia and Salzburg; the legitimacy of the Cisalpine (Lombardy), Ligurian (Genoa region), Batavian (Holland) and Helvetic (Switzerland) republics was recognized; on the other hand, France abandoned its attempt to restore the Roman and Parthenopean (Neapolitan) republics; Rome was returned to the Pope, but Romagna remained part of the Cisalpine Republic; the French maintained a military presence in Piedmont.

Anglo-French confrontation and the Peace of Amiens.

After Austria's withdrawal from the war, Great Britain turned out to be the main enemy of France. On September 5, 1800, the English fleet took Malta from the French. The refusal of the British government to return the island to the Order of Malta displeased the Russian Emperor Paul I (he was the Grand Master of the Order). Russia officially left the Second Coalition and, together with Prussia, Sweden and Denmark, formed the anti-British League of neutral states. However, the beginning of the Franco-Russian rapprochement was prevented by the assassination of Paul I in March 1801. On April 2, the English fleet bombarded Copenhagen and forced Denmark to withdraw from the League, which then actually disintegrated. In the summer, French troops in Egypt were forced to surrender. At the same time, Great Britain lost its last allies. Under pressure from France and Spain, Portugal broke off the alliance on June 6 (Treaty of Badajoz). On October 10, the new Russian Emperor Alexander I concluded the Paris Peace with France. Napoleon began preparations for the invasion of the British Isles; he formed at Boulogne a significant army and a huge transport flotilla (First Camp of Boulogne). Finding itself in diplomatic isolation and given the deep dissatisfaction with the war inside the country, the British government agreed to peace negotiations, which ended on March 27, 1802 with the signing of the Amiens Peace Treaty. According to its terms, Great Britain returned to France and its allies the colonies captured from them during the war (Haiti, Lesser Antilles, Mascarene Islands, French Guiana), retaining only Dutch Ceylon and Spanish Trinidad, pledged to withdraw troops from Malta, from Egypt and the former French possessions in India and not interfere in the internal affairs of Germany, Italy, Holland and Switzerland; for its part, France promised to evacuate Rome, Naples and Elba.

As a result of the wars with the Second Coalition, France was able to significantly weaken the influence of Austria in Germany and Italy and temporarily force Great Britain to recognize French hegemony on the European continent.

War with England (1803-1805).

The Amiens world 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 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 Republic, created on the site of Cesalpine. On August 26, contrary to the terms of the Treaty of Amiens, France annexed Elba, and on September 21 - Piedmont. In response, Great Britain refused to leave Malta and retained the 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 ecclesiastical principalities and free cities were liquidated; Prussia and the allies of France Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Württemberg and Bavaria received significant land increments. Napoleon refused to conclude a trade agreement in England and imposed restrictive measures that prevented British goods from entering French ports. All this led to the severance of diplomatic relations (May 12, 1803) and the resumption of hostilities.

The British began to seize French and Dutch commercial ships. In response, Napoleon ordered the arrest of all British subjects in France, banned trade with the island, occupied Hanover, which was in personal union with Great Britain, and began to prepare for an invasion (Second Camp of Boulogne). However, the defeat of the Franco-Spanish fleet by Admiral H. Nelson at Cape Trafalgar on October 21, 1805 provided England with complete dominance at sea and made an invasion impossible.

War with the Third Coalition (1805-1806).

On May 18, 1804, Napoleon was proclaimed emperor. Europe took the establishment of the Empire as evidence of the new aggressive intentions of France, and she was not mistaken. March 17, 1805 The Italian Republic became the Kingdom of Italy; On May 26, Napoleon assumed the Italian crown; On June 4, he annexed the Ligurian Republic to France, and then transferred Lucca, which became a grand duchy, to his sister Elise. On July 27, the import of British goods into Italy was banned. In this situation, Austria. Russia, Sweden and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, together with Great Britain, formed the Third Anti-Napoleonic Coalition on August 5, 1805 under the slogan of defending the rights of Holland, Italy and Switzerland. Prussia, although it proclaimed neutrality, was preparing to support it. Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt remained on the side of France.

Military operations were opened by the Austrians: on September 9 they invaded and occupied Bavaria; the Russian army under the command of MI Kutuzov moved to join them. Napoleon concentrated his main forces in Germany. He managed to block the Austrian army of General K. Mack in Ulm and on October 20 to force it to surrender. Then he entered Austria, occupied Vienna on November 13, and on December 2, near Austerlitz, inflicted a crushing defeat on the united Austro-Russian army ("battle of the three emperors"). In Italy, the French drove the Austrians out of the Venetian region and threw them back to Laibach (modern Ljubljana) and the Raab River (modern Rab). Failures of the coalition prevented Prussia from entering the war, which concluded a treaty with France on December 16, having received from her Hanover taken from the British in exchange for some of their possessions on the Rhine and in southern Germany. On December 26, Austria was forced to sign the humiliating Peace of Presburg: she recognized Napoleon as the king of Italy and annexation of Piedmont and Liguria to France, ceded the Venetian region, Istria (without Trieste) and Dalmatia to the Italian Kingdom, Bavaria - Tyrol, Vorarlberg and several bishoprics, Württemberg and Badentemberg Vstrian Swabia; in return, she received Salzburg, the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand was allocated Würzburg, and Archduke Anton became the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order.

As a result of the war, Austria was completely ousted from Germany and Italy, and France asserted its hegemony on the European continent. On March 15, 1806, Napoleon transferred the Grand Duchy of Cleves and Berg into the possession of his brother-in-law, I. Murat. He expelled from Naples the local Bourbon dynasty, which had fled to Sicily under the protection of the English fleet, and on March 30, placed his brother Joseph on the Neapolitan throne. On May 24, he transformed the Batavian Republic into the Dutch Kingdom, putting his other brother, Louis, at the head of it. In Germany on June 12, the Union of Rhine was formed of 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 a union 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 the ultimatum of the Prussian king Frederick William III (1797-1840) to withdraw French troops from Germany and dissolve the Rhine Union, two Prussian armies moved to Hesse. However, Napoleon quickly concentrated significant forces in Franconia (between Würzburg and Bamberg) and invaded Saxony. The victory of Marshal J. Lannes over the Prussians on October 9-10, 1806 at Saalefeld allowed the French to gain a foothold on the river Saale. On October 14, the Prussian army suffered a crushing defeat at Jena and Auerstedt. On October 27, Napoleon entered Berlin; Lubeck surrendered on November 7, Magdeburg on November 8. On November 21, 1806, he declared a continental blockade of Great Britain, seeking to completely cut off her trade relations with European countries. The French occupied Warsaw on November 28; almost all of Prussia was occupied. In December, Napoleon moved against the Russian troops stationed on the Narev River (a tributary of the Bug). After a series of local successes, the French laid siege to Danzig. The attempt of 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 Konigsberg, but could not defeat it in the bloody battle at Preussisch-Eylau (February 7-8). On April 25, Russia and Prussia signed a new union treaty in Bartenstein, but England and Sweden did not provide them with effective assistance. French diplomacy managed to provoke the Ottoman Empire to declare 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 Tilsit Peace Treaty and led to the creation of a Franco-Russian military-political alliance. Russia recognized all French conquests in Europe and promised to join the continental blockade, and France pledged to support Russia's claims to Finland and Danube principalities(Moldavia and Wallachia). Alexander I achieved the preservation of Prussia as a state, but she lost the Polish lands belonging to her, from which the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was formed, headed by the Saxon Elector, and all his possessions west of the Elbe, which, together with Braunschweig, Hanover and Hesse-Kassel, made up the Kingdom of Westphalia led by Napoleon's brother Jerome; the Bialystok District was ceded to Russia; Danzig became a free city.

Continuation of the war with England (1807-1808).

Fearing the emergence of an anti-British league of northern neutral countries led by Russia, Great Britain struck a preemptive strike against Denmark: on 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, severed diplomatic relations with Great Britain, and Russia declared war on it on November 7. At the end of November, the French army of Marshal A. Junot occupied Portugal, allied to England; the Portuguese prince regent fled to Brazil. In February 1808, Russia began 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 another 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 to the throne, Ferdinand, to renounce their rights (Treaty of Bayonne). On June 6, he proclaimed his brother Joseph King of Spain. The establishment of French rule triggered a general uprising in the country. On 20-23 July, the rebels surrounded and forced to surrender two French corps near Baylen (Baylen surrender). The uprising also engulfed Portugal; On August 6, British 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 an 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 of the Napoleonic Empire. In Germany, patriotic anti-French sentiments increased significantly. Austria began to actively prepare for revenge and reorganize its armed forces. 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 king of Spain, and France recognized Finland's annexation to Russia, and although the Russian tsar pledged to side with France in the event attacks on it by Austria, nevertheless the Erfurt meeting marked the cooling of Franco-Russian relations.

In November 1808 - January 1809 Napoleon made a campaign against the Iberian Peninsula, where he won a number of victories over Spanish and British 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 rebelled against Bavarian rule. Napoleon moved into southern Germany against the main Austrian army of Archduke Charles and at the end of April, during five successful battles (at Tengen, Abensberg, Landsgut, Ekmühl and Regensburg), 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 13 May. But after the bloody battles at 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 Tyrols 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 went to the conclusion of the Schönbrunn Peace Treaty (October 14), according to which Austria lost access to the Adriatic Sea; she ceded to France a part of Carinthia and Croatia, Extreme, 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 - Tarnopolsky 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 to 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 the 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, suffering significant losses from the continental blockade of England, increased customs duties on French goods, which caused Napoleon's open displeasure. Disregarding Russian interests, France continued its aggressive policy in Europe: on July 9, 1810, she 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 annexation of Lubeck provided France with access to the Baltic Sea. Alexander I was also worried about Napoleon's plans to restore a unified Polish state.

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 sentiments. 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 the Taurogs. As a result, all of East Prussia rebelled against Napoleon. In January 1813, the Austrian commander K.F. Schwarzenberg, under a secret treaty with Russia, withdrew his troops from the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. On February 28, Prussia signed the Kalisz Treaty of Alliance with Russia, which provided for the restoration of the Prussian state within the borders of 1806 and the restoration of German independence; thus, the Sixth Anti-Napoleonic Coalition arose. Russian troops crossed the Oder on March 2, occupied Berlin on March 11, Hamburg on March 12, Breslavl on March 15; On March 23, the Prussians entered Dresden, the capital of Saxony, allied to Napoleon. All of Germany east of the Elbe was cleared of the French. Sweden joined the coalition on April 22.

Spring and Summer Campaign 1813.

Napoleon, having managed to collect a new army, in April 1813 moved it against the allies. On May 2, he defeated the combined forces of the Russians and the Prussians at Lutzen near Leipzig and captured Saxony. The allies retreated across the Spree to Bautzen, where a bloody battle took place on 20 May with an unclear result. The coalition army continued its retreat, leaving Breslau and part of Silesia to Napoleon. In the north, the French reclaimed Hamburg. On June 4, with the mediation of Austria, the opposing sides signed the Plesvitsky truce, which gave the allies a respite and the opportunity to gather strength. Great Britain joined the coalition on June 14. After the failure of the peace talks between the Allies and Napoleon in Prague, Austria joined them on August 12.

Autumn Campaign 1813.

At the end of August, hostilities resumed. The allied forces were reorganized into three armies - the Northern (J. B. Bernadotte), the Silesian (G.-L. Blucher) and the Bohemian (K. F. Schwarzenberg). J.B. Bernadotte on 23 August threw back the N.Sh. Udino army advancing on Berlin, and on September 6 defeated M. Ney's corps at Dennewitz. In Silesia H.-L. Blucher on August 26 defeated E.J. Macdonald's corps at Katzbach. KF Schwarzenberg, who invaded Saxony, was defeated on August 27 by Napoleon near Dresden and retreated to Bohemia, but on August 29-30, near Kulm, the allies surrounded and forced to surrender the corps of General D. Vandamm. On September 9, Austria, Russia and Prussia signed the Teplitz Treaty of Reconstruction German states within the borders of 1805. On October 8, Bavaria joined the coalition. The allies decided to lock up the French army in Saxony and destroy it. Napoleon retreated first to Dresden, and then to Leipzig, where on October 16-19 he suffered a crushing defeat in the "Battle of the Nations." The allies tried to eliminate the remnants of the French army, but Napoleon managed to defeat the Austro-Bavarian corps of K. Wrede on October 30 at Hanau and go beyond the Rhine. All of Germany revolted: on October 28, the Kingdom of Westphalia ceased to exist; On November 2, Württemberg and Hesse-Darmstadt went over to the side of the coalition, on November 20 - Baden, on November 23 - Nassau, on November 24 - Saxe-Coburg; The Confederation of the Rhine fell apart. By early December, the French had left German territory, retaining only a number of important fortresses (Hamburg, Dresden, Magdeburg, Küstrin, Danzig). They were also driven out of Holland. In Italy, Viceroy Eugene de Beauharnais could hardly restrain the onslaught of the Austrians, the British and the King of Naples I. Murat, who had betrayed Napoleon; in September 1813 it retreated from the Alps to the Isonzo River, and in November - to the Adige River. In Spain, the British drove the French back to the Pyrenees in October.

Allied invasion of France and defeat of Napoleon.

At the very end of 1813, the Allies crossed the Rhine in three columns. By January 26, 1814, they had concentrated their forces between the Marne and the headwaters of the Seine. On January 31, Napoleon successfully attacked the Prussians at Brienne, but on February 1, he was defeated by the combined Prussian-Austrian forces at La Rottier and retreated to Troyes. The Silesian army of H.-L. Blucher moved to Paris along the Marne Valley, and the Bohemian army of K.F. Schwarzenberg to Troyes. The slowness of KF Schwarzenberg made it possible for Napoleon to direct the main forces against HL Blucher. After victories at Champaubert on February 10, Montmirail on February 12 and Woshan on February 14, he pushed the Silesian army back to the right bank of the Marne. The threat to Paris from the side of the Bohemian army forced Napoleon to stop pursuing H.-L. Blucher and move against K.F. Schwarzenberg. At the end of February, the Bohemian army left Troyes and retreated beyond the river. On to Chalon and Langres. In early March, Napoleon succeeded in thwarting a new offensive by H.-L. Blucher on Paris, but on March 9 he was defeated by him at Laon and withdrew to Soissons. Then he went to the Rhine, intending to strike at the rear of the Bohemian army. On March 20-21, KF Schwarzenberg attacked him at Arsy-sur-Aube, but could not achieve victory. Then on March 25, the allies moved to Paris, broke the resistance of the few detachments of O.-F. Marmon and E.-A. Mortier, and on March 30 occupied the capital of France. Napoleon led the army to Fontainebleau. On the night of April 4-5, O.-F. Marmon's corps went over to the side of the coalition. On April 6, under pressure from the marshals, Napoleon abdicated the throne. On April 11, he was given life-long possession by Fr. Elbe. The empire fell. In France, the power of the Bourbons was restored in the person of Louis XVIII.

In Italy, Eugene Beauharnais in February 1814, under pressure from the allies, withdrew to the Mincho River. After Napoleon's abdication, he concluded a truce with the Austrian command on April 16. The uprising of the Milanese against French rule on April 18–20 allowed the Austrians to occupy Mantua on April 23 and Milan on April 26. The Italian kingdom fell.

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 was rebuilt.

On March 13, England, Austria, Prussia and Russia outlawed Napoleon, and on March 25 they formed the Seventh Coalition against him. In an effort to defeat the Allies in parts, Napoleon invaded Belgium in mid-June, where the British (Wellington) and Prussian (H.-L. Blucher) armies were stationed. On June 16, the French defeated the British at Quatre-Bras and the Prussians at Ligny, but on June 18 they lost the general battle at Waterloo. The remnants of the French troops retreated to Laon. On June 22, Napoleon abdicated the throne 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 Paris Peace 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 defined at the Congress of Vienna 1814-1815 ().

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

The aggressive wars of Napoleonic France threatened the national independence of many European nations; at the same time, they contributed to the destruction of the feudal-monarchical 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; the liquidation by Napoleon of many small feudal states in Germany facilitated the process of its future unification.

Ivan Krivushin

Literature:

Manfred A.Z. Napoleon Bonaparte. M., 1986
Isdale C.J. Napoleonic Wars. Rostov-on-Don, 1997
Egorov A.A. Marshals of Napoleon. Rostov-on-Don, 1998
Shikanov V.N. Under the Emperor's Banners: Little-Known Pages from the Napoleonic Wars. M., 1999
Chandler D. Napoleon's military campaigns. Triumph and tragedy of the conqueror. M., 2000
Delderfield R.F. The collapse of the empire of Napoleon. 1813-1814: Military history chronicles. M., 2001

Almost the entire Napoleonic era passed for France in wars with the European powers, of which the most stubborn enemy was England, which formed several coalitions against France (Table 1). These wars were very successful for the French in the first ten years, thanks to them France became a powerful power. Most of Western Europe recognized French rule over itself. Moreover, some lands and states became part of France, others became the personal possessions of Napoleon and his relatives, others recognized his supremacy over themselves and pledged to obey his demands.

In 1800 Napoleon set out on the second Italian campaign. The French won a brilliant victory at the Battle of Marengo, forcing Austria to withdraw from the war. In 1801, the Peace of Luneville was concluded, according to which Austria was completely ousted from Italy and recognized the borders of France along the Rhine. In 1802, peace was signed with England in Amiens. France regained its possessions in the West Indies, but withdrew from Egypt. Thus ended a series of wars with the second French coalition.

Anti-French coalitions during the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars

Table 1

		Austria, Prussia, England, Spain, Kingdom of Sardinia and both Sicilies
		England, Russia, Austria, Turkey, Kingdom of Naples
		England, Russia, Austria, Kingdom of Naples
Fourth		England, Prussia, Russia, Sweden
		England, Austria
		England, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, Austria, Spain, Portugal
		England, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Holland

The situation with England was much more complicated. In 1805, the third anti-French coalition was formed, which included England, Austria, Russia and the Kingdom of Naples. England was the core of the coalition, and Napoleon set out to inflict the main blow on it. Preparations for the invasion army began. However, in the naval battle at Cape Trafalgar off the coast of Andalusia, the British squadron under the command of Admiral Nelson inflicted a serious defeat on the combined Franco-Spanish fleet. France lost the war at sea.

Napoleon, seeking to strengthen his position in the center of Europe, defeated the Austrian and Russian armies at Austerlitz. Austria was forced to withdraw from the coalition, and made peace with France in Presburg (1805), ceding part of its possessions in West Germany, Tyrol and the Venetian region with the Adriatic coast.

After that, Napoleon carried out transformations that affirmed French and his personal dominance in Europe. He annexed Tuscany and Piedmont directly to France, the Venetian region to his Italian kingdom. He declared his elder brother Joseph the king of Naples. The Batavian Republic was turned into a Dutch kingdom, the throne of which was given to another brother of Napoleon - Louis Bonaparte.

Major changes were made in Germany. On the site of numerous German states, the Union of Rhine was formed (1806), the protector of which was Napoleon himself. This meant, in fact, the establishment of French power over a significant part of Germany.

In the occupied territories, reforms were carried out, serfdom was abolished, and the Napoleonic Civil Code was introduced.

By establishing the Confederation of the Rhine, Napoleon hurt the interests of Prussia, which in 1806 joined the coalition against France.

In the same year, the Prussian and Russian troops, which had already formed the fourth coalition against Napoleon, were defeated. Prussian troops were defeated in one day in two great battles: at Jena by Napoleon himself and at Auerstedt by his marshal Davout. Within ten days, the entire western half of Prussia with the capital Berlin was occupied by the French. Since Prussia was unable to continue the war, the Russians were left without an ally. With them, Napoleon fought several battles, which ended in the complete defeat of the Russian army at Friedland. This war ended with the signing in 1807 of the Peace of Tilsit, which was concluded at a personal meeting of the emperors Alexander I and Napoleon in a floating pavilion on the river. Neman. Under the terms of this peace, Napoleon "out of respect for the emperor of all Russia" and out of "mercy" spared the independence of Prussia, taking from her only the lands between the Elbe and the Rhine and the Polish regions acquired by Prussia through two partitions of Poland. From the lands taken from Prussia, the Kingdom of Westfalskos was formed, which he gave to his younger brother Jerome, as well as the Duchy of Warsaw.

Russia was obliged to enter into a continental blockade against England, which began in 1806. According to Napoleon's decree, trade with England was prohibited throughout the empire and in countries dependent on it.

The continental blockade, the aim of which was to inflict maximum damage on English trade, put France itself in a quandary. It is for this reason that Napoleon carried out the seizure of Portugal in 1807. For Portugal, as a predominantly coastal country, the termination of trade with England was very unprofitable. When Napoleon, in an ultimatum, demanded that the country join the blockade, he was refused. Portuguese ports remained open to British ships. In response, Napoleon sent his troops to Portugal. The Portuguese House of Braganza was deprived of the throne, and its representatives left the country. A long-term war began, during which British troops arrived to the aid of the Portuguese.

In 1808 France invaded Spain. The Spanish king from the Bourbon dynasty was overthrown, in his place Napoleon put his brother Joseph (Joseph) on the throne. However, the Spanish people launched a guerrilla war against Napoleonic troops. Napoleon himself went to Spain, but he also failed to finally suppress popular resistance. The war in Spain was continued with varying success by its marshals and generals, until in 1812 the French were expelled from Spain by the combined forces of the British, Spaniards and Portuguese.

Back in 1808, under the pretext of non-compliance by the Papal region with the continental blockade, the emperor sent troops into the Papal region and issued a decree according to which the Pope was deprived of secular power and was transported to live in France. The ecclesiastical area was annexed to France, and Rome was declared the second city of the empire. Therefore, Napoleon endowed his son, born in 1811, with the title of King of Rome.

Austria decided to take advantage of Napoleon's predicament in the Iberian Peninsula. In 1809, together with Great Britain, she formed the fifth anti-French coalition and declared war on Napoleon. During the hostilities, French troops occupied Vienna. In the battle of Wagram, the Austrians were defeated and were forced to sign a peace treaty that was difficult for them. Austria lost a number of territories: Galicia, annexed to the Duchy of Warsaw, the Adriatic coast (Illyria, Dalmatia, Rauza), which, under the name of the Illyrian province, became part of Napoleon's own possessions, Salzburg with neighboring lands, which became part of Bavaria. This world was sealed by Napoleon's marriage to the daughter of the Austrian Emperor Franz II, Marie-Louise.

The completion of all the conquests of Bonaparte was the annexation to France of Holland, taken from King Louis for non-compliance with the continental blockade, and the entire German coast between the Rhine and the Elbe.

By 1810 Napoleon had achieved extraordinary power and glory. France now consisted of 130 departments instead of 83. It included Belgium, Holland, Northern Germany to the Elbe, West Germany to the Rhine, part of Switzerland, Piedmont with Genoa, Tuscany and the Papal States. Napoleon personally owned the Kingdom of Italy with the Venetian region and the Illyrian province. His two brothers and a son-in-law owned three kingdoms (Spanish, Westphalian and Neapolitan) and were subordinate to him. The entire Confederation of the Rhine, which included most of central Germany and the Duchy of Warsaw, was under his protectorate.

However, for all its apparent power, the country was going through an internal crisis. Severe crop failures followed for two years in a row. The continental blockade caused a decline in trade and industry.

In France, there was growing dissatisfaction with the continuous wars and conscriptions. Society is tired of constant turmoil. The finances were in disarray, the economy was working to the limit. It was obvious that France needed to stop its expansion.

Relations with the conquered countries were also difficult. On the one hand, the French authorities were carrying out bourgeois reforms. On the other hand, Napoleonic levies and indemnities were a heavy burden for the peoples of the conquered countries. The "blood tax" was especially painful (tens of thousands of soldiers were supplied to the army of the emperor). The rise of French influence and the desire of Napoleon to unify Europe according to his own model provoked resistance.

In many countries, secret societies were formed: in Spain and Germany - the society of Freemasons ("free masons"), in Italy - the Carbonari ("coal miners"). All of them set the goal of overthrowing French rule.

However, Napoleon persistently sought to establish complete control over the continent. He saw Russia as the main obstacle on this path. Complications in relations with Russia began immediately after the Peace of Tilsit. According to France, Russia did not fulfill the conditions of the continental blockade conscientiously enough. Napoleon's matchmaking to the Russian princess, the sister of Emperor Alexander I, turned out to be unsuccessful. The contradictions between the two powers reached such a level that it became obvious that war could not be avoided.

Introduction

napoleonic anti french coalition war

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

Of course, one cannot study the Napoleonic Wars without the personality of Napoleon himself. He wanted to do what the Romans wanted to do with the world - to civilize it, erase the borders, turning Europe into one country, with a single money, weights, civil laws, local government, the flourishing of sciences and crafts ... approval. His activities in Corsica and the capture of the city of Toulon marked the beginning of Bonaparte's rapid ascent in military service.

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

All 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 primacy. The Napoleonic wars, which did not stop until the fall of the empire of Napoleon I, were generally wars of conquest. They were carried out in the interests of the French bourgeoisie, which sought to consolidate its military-political and commercial-industrial domination on the continent, pushing the British bourgeoisie into the background. But they also contained progressive elements, since 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 of the 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 general character, turned into a war of economies and peoples, what later became an axiom in the twentieth 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 the war had already permeated all spheres of public and state life of the participating countries. The nature of the armed forces also changed, they began to turn into massive 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. Let's 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 collision of young capitalism with feudalism).

2. First anti-French coalition 1793-1797

The revolution that took place in France in 1789 strongly affected the neighboring states and prompted their governments to resort to decisive measures against the threatened danger. Emperor Leopold II and the Prussian king Frederick William II on a personal meeting in Pilnitz agreed to stop the spread of revolutionary principles. They were also prompted to do this 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 launched, but the monarchs did not dare to open hostile actions for a long time. The initiative came from 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.

The hostilities began with the invasion of the possessions of the German states on the Rhine by French troops, followed by the invasion of coalition troops into France. Soon the enemies were repulsed and France itself began active military operations against the coalition - it invaded Spain, the Sardinian kingdom 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 of its conquests (with the exception of the British), but then, after the deterioration of the position of France, the war resumed.

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

The conditional date of the beginning of the Napoleonic wars is 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 directed English king and the Austrian emperor a proposal to start peace negotiations, which they rejected. France began to form a large army on the eastern borders under the command of General Moreau. At the same time, in an atmosphere of secrecy, a so-called "reserve" army was being formed on the Swiss border, which struck the first blow at the Austrian troops in Italy. Having made a difficult crossing over the Saint Bernard Pass in the Alps, on June 14, 1800, at the battle of Marengo, Bonaparte defeated the Austrians, who were operating under the command of Field Marshal Melas. In December 1800, Moro's Rhine army defeated the Austrians at Hohenlinden (Bavaria). In February 1801 Austria was forced to conclude peace with France and recognize her conquests in Belgium and on the left bank of the Rhine. After that, the 2nd coalition actually disintegrated, England agreed in October 1801 to sign the terms of the preliminary (i.e. preliminary) agreement, and on March 27, 1802, the Amiens Peace Treaty 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 as part 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. Having become emperor Napoleon I in 1804, he was preparing 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, Napoleonic troops won one victory after another: in October 1805, the Austrian army of General Mack surrendered without a fight at Ulm; in November Napoleon marched into Vienna with a victorious march; On December 2, 1805, Emperor Napoleon defeated the armies of the emperors of Austria Franz I and Russia, Alexander I in the battle of Austerlitz. After this battle, the third anti-French coalition collapsed, and Austria had to accept the harsh conditions of the Bratislava Peace, which practically meant the loss of Austria's political influence in southern Germany and South Europe, and France became a powerful land power. Now the biggest enemy 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 asserted its hegemony on the European continent. On March 15, 1806, Napoleon transferred the Grand Duchy of Cleves and Berg into the possession of his brother-in-law I. Murat. He expelled from Naples the local Bourbon dynasty, which had fled to Sicily under the protection of the English fleet, and on March 30, placed his brother Joseph on the Neapolitan throne. On May 24, he transformed the Batavian Republic into the Dutch Kingdom, putting his other brother, Louis, at the head of it. In Germany on June 12, the Union of Rhine was formed of 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 the fifth (1808-1809) anti-French coalition

The war against Napoleon was continued by England and Russia, which were soon joined by Prussia and Sweden, worried about the strengthening of French rule in Europe. In September 1806, the 4th anti-French coalition of European states was formed. A month later, in the course of 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 King Friedrich Wilhelm and Duke of Braunschweig. Napoleon entered Berlin solemnly. 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 bloody battles, these battles did not give an advantage to either side, but in June 1807 Napoleon won the battle at Friedland over the Russian troops commanded by L.L. Bennigsen. On July 7, 1807, in the middle of the Neman River, a meeting between 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 united again in the 5th anti-French coalition, but in May 1809 the French entered Vienna, and on July 5-6 the Austrians were defeated again in the battle at Wagram. Austria agreed to pay the indemnity and joined the continental blockade. A large part of Europe fell under the rule of Napoleon.

6. End of the Napoleonic Wars

The growing national liberation movement in Europe acquired the greatest scope in Spain and Germany. However, the fate of Napoleon's empire was decided during his campaign to Russia. During Patriotic War 1812 strategy of the Russian army, led by Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov, the partisan movement contributed to the death of more than 400,000 strong "Great Army". This caused a new upsurge in the national liberation struggle in Europe, in a number of states began to create a militia. 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 Nations" 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 soil. On March 31, Allied troops entered Paris. On April 6, Napoleon I signed the abdication of the throne and was exiled from France to the island of Elba.

In 1815, during the famous "Hundred Days" (March 20 - June 22), Napoleon made a last attempt to regain his former power. The defeat at 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, securing the redistribution of 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).

Outcomes

The wars of conquest 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-monarchical 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; the liquidation by Napoleon of many small feudal states in Germany facilitated the process of its future unification.

Bibliography

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

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

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

4. encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Efron Napoleonic Wars. - 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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It is customary to call the Na-leon-war wars, which France waged against the European countries in the period of the right-league of Na-po-leo-na Bo- na-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 began an overseas campaign against him, which ended with the Russian invasion of Paris and the loss of the title of emperor by Napoleon.

Rice. 2. British Admiral Horatio Nelson ()

Rice. 3. Battle of Ulm ()

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 led an active campaign to seize the Kingdom of Naples, which was an ally of Russia and England against Napoleon. Napoleon wanted to put his brother on the Neapolitan throne 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, which received the name Union of Rhine... Napoleon himself became the protector (defender) of this Rhine Union. In fact, these territories were also placed under his control.

Feature these wars, which in history have received the name Napoleonic Wars was that the composition of France's opponents changed all the time... By the end of 1806, completely different states were already part of the anti-Napoleonic coalition: 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. At 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 removed from the game.

November 21, 1806 Napoleon signed the most important for the history of France continental blockade decree(the prohibition of all countries under his control to trade and generally conduct any business with England). It was England that Napoleon considered his main enemy. In response, England blocked French ports. However, France could not actively oppose England's trade with other territories.

Russia remained the rival... At the beginning of 1807, Napoleon managed to defeat the Russian troops in two battles on the territory of East Prussia.

July 8, 1807 Napoleon and AlexanderIsigned the Peace of Tilsit(fig. 7). This treaty, concluded on the border between Russia and the 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 in 1807 ()

Napoleon had a difficult relationship with Pope PiusVii(fig. 8). Napoleon and the Pope had an agreement on the separation of powers, but their relationship began to deteriorate. Napoleon considered the 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 palace of Fontainebleau.

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 subdued 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 Napoleonic army invaded Russia... The beginning of this campaign was a good one for Napoleon. He managed to pass a significant part of the territory Russian Empire and even capture Moscow. He could not hold the city. At the end of 1812, the Napoleonic army fled from the borders of Russia and again fell into the territory of Poland and the German states. The Russian command decided to continue pursuing 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 early spring of 1813, Russian troops managed to take Berlin.

From 16 to 19 October 1813, the largest battle in the history of the Napoleonic wars took place near Leipzig. known as "Battle of the nations"(fig. 9). The battle received this name due to the fact that almost half a million people took part in it. At the same time, Napoleon had 190 thousand soldiers. His rivals, led by the British and the Russians, had about 300,000 soldiers at their disposal. 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 in 1813 ()

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

March 1, 1814 members of the anti-Napoleonic coalition - England, Russia, Austria and Prussia - signed Chaumont treatise... It spelled out the actions of the parties to eliminate Napoleon's regime. The parties to the treaty pledged to deploy 150 thousand soldiers in order to resolve the French question once and for all.

Despite the fact that the Chaumont Treaty was only one in a series of European treaties of the 19th century, it was assigned special place in the history of mankind. The Chaumont Treaty was one of the first treaties aimed not at joint campaigns of conquest (it was not aggressive), but at joint defense. The signers of the Chaumont Treaty insisted that the wars that had rocked Europe for 15 years finally end and the era of the Napoleonic wars end.

Almost a month after signing this agreement, March 31, 1814, Russian troops entered Paris(fig. 10). This ended the period of the Napoleonic wars. Napoleon abdicated the throne and was exiled to the island of Elba, which was handed over 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 dedicated to the military campaigns of Napoleon until 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 Modern Times, 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 Chaumont Treaty for European states?

Our story of war losses continues the story of losses in the wars of the Napoleonic period.
These wars stand apart, because in terms of the number of victims they surpassed all the conflicts that existed before in Europe. France at this time was at war with almost all European countries. The longest was the war with England (1803-1814), after a short break it resumed in 1815. With Austria - 1805, 1809, 1813-1815. With Prussia - 1806-1807, 1813-1815. With Russia - 1805-1807, 1812-1815. With Sweden - 1805-1807, 1812-1814. In addition, Napoleon fought with Spain, Portugal, Saxony, Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, Sardinia, Holland, the Kingdom of Naples. Of all European countries, France did not fight only with Denmark, which was its ally.
There is no exact data on losses for any country. However, the approximate losses can be determined (see table).

The number of killed (including those who died from wounds) and wounded soldiers and officers of the French and allied armies during the Napoleonic wars

France suffered the greatest losses in the wars with Russia.
And now we give a table of losses (total) in the largest battles of the Napoleonic wars.

Of all the countries that fought with Napoleon, Russia suffered the greatest losses. In the battle of Borodino alone, 9,252 people were killed, 19,226 were wounded, 10,028 were missing; total - 38,506 people.

Battle of Borodino

And here is a table of the total losses of the Russian army in the wars with Napoleon.

The second after the Russian losses are the German states; followed by: Spain; Austria; England; Italian states; Portugal; Poland + Lithuania; Sweden + Denmark + Holland; Switzerland.
If we bring together all the data on the killed, we get the following table:

Thus, we can see that France accounts for 40% of all killed.
During the Napoleonic Wars, Russia fought other wars as well.

Russian-Swedish (1898-1809)

The most bloody battles: at Orovais (Finland) - the Russians lost 400 people killed, 700 wounded; at Sevara (Bulgaria): Russians: killed and wounded - 1.5 thousand, Swedes: killed and wounded - 2 thousand. In total, Russia lost in this war 7 thousand people killed and wounded. Sweden was defeated. Finland was annexed to Russia.
Russian-Turkish (1806-1812)
Russian losses (killed and wounded) - 24.7 thousand people; Turks (killed and wounded) - 29.6 thousand people. The war ended with the defeat of Turkey. Bessarabia was annexed to Russia.

Results of the Russian-Turkish war

In addition, Russia waged wars with Persia, England, and undertook the Caucasian campaigns.
England was at war with the United States.
Also, the Spanish-Portuguese, Anglo-Danish, Austro-Neapolitan wars were fought.
In total, in the wars of 1800-1815. (not counting Napoleonic ones) 93 thousand people were killed.
During this period, there were national liberation wars: the war of the Serbs against the Turks (1804-1816); uprising in Calabria (Italy) 1805-1807. The total number of those killed in the national liberation wars was approximately 25 thousand people.
The total number of those killed in all wars of this period was. Approximately 680 thousand people.

Dead from wounds

Military medicine at that time was still at a low level. There are few medical personnel, their low qualifications, poorly organized delivery to hospitals. The mortality rate was 10-11%. If we compare different sources and deduce the average number of wounded, it will be approximately 2 million 100 thousand people. With the indicated mortality rate, the number of deaths from wounds will be approximately 220 thousand people. Thus, the total size of the irrecoverable losses of the wars of the Napoleonic period, taking into account the number of those killed - 680 thousand, - amounted to 900 thousand people.

Non-combat losses

As in the previous century, epidemics accounted for a large percentage of non-combat casualties. In particular, the epidemic of typhus.
During the Napoleonic campaign against Moscow, French troops were mowed down by epidemics of dysentery, and then typhus. In addition, French soldiers died of the cold (the winter was harsh that year), and food shortages and starvation even led to cannibalism.
Here is what French sources say about the losses of Napoleon in Russia: killed in battles and died of wounds - 100 thousand, died of hunger, exhaustion, cold and disease - 200 thousand, was taken prisoner - 100 thousand, was in hospitals - 50 thousand, deserted - 50 thousand; total - 500 thousand people.
When retreating from Russia, the French army pursued by Russian troops also suffered heavy losses.
A high percentage of mortality was registered in hospitals located in Germany (see table).

Of course, besides Germany, French soldiers also died in hospitals in other countries. In addition, it is worth considering the colonial campaigns of Napoleon. After analyzing the materials on French sanitary losses in all wars, the following conclusions can be drawn:

At the same time, there was a war between Sweden against Russia and Denmark (1808-1809). Losses from disease in this war amounted to 20 thousand people.
The Russian army suffered especially badly from disease in the war with Turkey, which was largely due to the unusual southern climate. The soldiers suffered from swamp fever (malaria), dysentery, typhus.
For reference
Malaria- group infectious diseases, transmitted to humans by the bites of female Anopheles mosquitoes ("malaria mosquitoes") and accompanied by fever, chills, an increase in the size of the spleen, an increase in the size of the liver, anemia.

Losses of the Russian army during the Russian-Turkish war in 1810

Turkish losses were even greater. The number of deaths from diseases was 90 thousand, which is three times the number of those killed.
In conclusion, some more statistics.

Comparison of the number of wounded with the number of those killed in the Napoleonic army (by officers)

Thus, the number of injured exceeds the number of those killed and died from wounds by 220%.

Comparison of the number of wounded with the number of those killed in the Napoleonic army by individual officer ranks

Losses among the officers of the Napoleonic army for certain types of troops

The table shows that two-thirds of all losses were infantry.

Losses of generals in the battles of the Napoleonic wars in comparison with the losses of privates

In terms of the number of battles during this period, the following wars are in the lead:
- War of France with Austria - 34 battles (11 battles per month);
- War of the 3rd coalition - 27 battles (7 battles per month);
- War of the 6th coalition - 86 battles (6 battles per month);
- Napoleon's campaign against Moscow - 31 battles (5.2 battles per month);
- War of France against Russia and Prussia - 46 battles (5 battles per month);
- War of the "Hundred Days" period - 12 battles (3.6 battles per month);
- War of France in Spain - 95 battles (1.26 battles per month);
- Russian-Turkish war - 20 battles (0.33 battles per month).

The total number of soldiers and officers killed and died in the wars of the Napoleonic period

The total losses during the period of the Napoleonic wars were as follows: wars between states - 3 million 295 thousand, national liberation and civil wars- 60 thousand, colonial wars - 102 thousand; total - 3 million 457 thousand people.

This is a brief excursion into the history of the military losses of the wars of the Napoleonic period. The next article will focus on the losses in the wars of the XIX (after Napoleonic) - early XX (before the First World) centuries.

To be continued