Napoleon, First Consul and then Consul for Life, had himself proclaimed Emperor by the Senate on May 18, 1804 , with the acceptance of almost all the French people, thus beginning the imperial stage. "Since then, imposing his scepter on the whole of Europe and achieving universal monarchy was the golden dream of the Corsican colossus." Napoleon Bonaparte was destined to characterize, not only with his military campaigns, but with all his multiple works, an age of European history and, also, an age of World History. Napoleon was also the "greatest captain in the world, equally notable for the vastness of his genius and his abilities."
Napoleonic heyday
Napoleon, as emperor, inaugurated a personal, autocratic and arbitrary government, with unlimited power . The imperial monarchy was, henceforth, nothing more than an absolute monarchy, in which the direction of the government was solely and exclusively in the hands of the sovereign. Neither the constitution nor the laws nor the majesty of the other powers of the State were respected; also suppressing individual freedom and freedom of thought.
The emperor surrounded himself with a large and elegant court made up of his relatives and generals, to whom he granted noble titles. However, Napoleon was concerned with giving great impetus to culture, the promotion of industry and commerce; he enabled numerous ports and embellished Paris and other cities, at the same time he enacted wise laws that have given him fame; and, finally, he dreamed of making France:The first nation in the world .
This cultural and economic apogee reached its peak, its fullness, thanks to the brilliant victories it achieved against its enemies (Austria and Prussia), in glorious battles that immortalized its name and made France the first nation in Europe and the world with a force that seemed truly invincible. All that remained was to eliminate England, her implacable rival, her deadly enemy; then, he embarked on the hard task of fighting it tenaciously and by all means, but without favorable results. The history of Napoleon's reign was, therefore, that of a permanent war against England, a permanent war that would bring as an epilogue the definitive collapse of Napoleonic power.
Main military actions waged during the Imperial Stage
were:
a. Battle of Trafalgar
In order to invade England, his deadly enemy, Napoleon prepared an expedition consisting of 150,000 soldiers and 2,000 barges. Said fleet, which was commanded by Admiral Villeneuve, set sail towards the British coast, but fatally could not achieve its objectives due to the jealous enemy surveillance, being, finally, destroyed by the English squadron commanded by Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, (October 29, 1805). In this action the Spanish squadron fought as an ally of France, and the famous Admiral Horacio Nelson achieved glory, who before succumbing heroically harangued his troops with these memorable words:» Soldiers, England hopes that each one fulfills his duty!” .
b. Battle of ULM (1805)
Whose victory made it easier for Napoleon to occupy Vienna.
c. Battle of Austerlitz (1805)
At the Battle of Austerlitz where Napoleon completely defeated the considerably superior Austro-Russian armies. It was his "model battle", due to the formidable tactics used that allowed him to obtain the most brilliant victory of his extraordinary military career.
d. Battle of Jena (1806)
Whose triumph allowed the French emperor to make his triumphal entry into Berlin, the capital of Prussia, from where he decreed the continental blockade against England.
e. Battle of Friedland (1807)
Favorable to the French and obtained against Russian armies. Shortly after, the Peace of Tilssit was signed, from which the Franco-Russian alliance emerged.
The Block Against England
Napoleon, not being able to subdue England by arms by attacking its territory, decreed the so-called continental blockade, by which he prohibited the French and their allies from any commercial exchange with England, that is, he closed the European ports and markets . With this measure the French emperor thought to ruin his rival, submitting him by starvation, because "to isolate them was to kill them". "A piece of iron and coal", an industrial and commercial country, said Napoleon, England cannot live if it is not on the condition that she has to find outlets on the continent for her merchandise and for the products of her factories; therefore, the blockade would mean a catastrophe for England.
Because not all of Europe joined the blockade, which then forced the emperor to annex other territories such as the Church States, Holland and the German North Sea coast with Bremen and Hamburg, as well as to intervene against the sovereignty of Portugal, Spain and Russia, conduct that would ultimately lead to the collapse of its power and hegemony in Europe.
Indeed, as Pope Pius VII did not support the blockade, Napoleon occupied the states of the church in retaliation, later imprisoning the Supreme Pontiff in Fontainebleau. Shortly after, in understanding with certain bad Spanish authorities, French troops invaded Portugal, thus peacefully subjugating this country, since its sovereign, John VI, who had refused to adhere to the blockade and managed to flee to his colony of Brazil. So Napoleon turned his sights on Spain.
The Invasion of Spain (1808 – 1814)
The Emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, in his desire to dominate Europe and the world, had to wage a long and painful struggle against England.
In order to defeat the English, the Emperor had secured the accession of various states of Europe, including Spain was his ally; not so Portugal, which had rather shown a preference for England. This determined that Napoleon occupied it militarily passing through Spanish territory.
At the beginning of 1808 an army of 100,000 French soldiers under the command of Marshal Murat, occupied the main squares of Spain , apparently without purpose of aggression, although the real objective was, then, to seize the Hispanic Nation.
The scandals of the court and the presence of foreign troops in the country, sharpened the discontent and the reaction of the Spanish people, thus giving rise to the mutiny of Aranjuez (March 17, 1808), a mutiny that forced Carlos IV to abdicate. in favor of his son Fernando, being expelled, likewise, the minister Godoy. But shortly afterwards Napoleon, who was plotting in secret, managed, at the meeting in Bayonne, to get both opponents, father and son, to renounce the crown of Spain in his favor, after which he handed over said crown to his brother José, who was proclaimed King of Spain and the Indies with the name of José I.
The Spanish, knowing such events, rose as one man against the usurpers in defense of their freedom and independence. The exalted Hispanic patriotism together with their traditional value, as well as their unique way of fighting (guerrilla wars), plus the help that England gave them, whose troops were commanded by the Duke of Wellington, turned this war of independence into a fight without quarter, in the extraordinary and titanic effort of a people against the invaders. All of Spain was thus transformed into a battlefield, a battle that was for Napoleon one of the biggest setbacks in his military career.
The War of Independence lasted from 1808 to 1814, and in it, as we have already said, the Spanish fought with singular courage and heroism, achieving brilliant victories such as those of Bailén and Cintra (1808). The definitive triumph was achieved in the Battle of Vitoria (1813), with the help of the English armies in Wellington, after which Napoleon returned the crown of Spain to Fernando VII.
The Russian Campaign (1812)
As Russia did not join the continental blockade either, despite its apparent understanding and friendship with France, Napoleon conceived the occupation of this country, governed, by Tsar Alexander I.
Indeed, commanding an army of 400,000 soldiers of various nationalities (called the "army of twenty nations"), and also having more than a thousand cannons, Napoleon invaded Russia . The campaign was extremely difficult and full of a thousand hardships and sacrifices due to the vastness of the territory, the tenacious resistance of the Cossacks who fought with savage tenacity and courage, and also because of the rigors of an extremely harsh and cruel winter.
In this conflict, the Russians had resolved not to present a formal battle to the enemy, but instead chose to withdraw and devastate the country using the "scorched earth" tactic, that is, they devastated their own territory, thus depriving them of food and of other resources to the invader. «No battle, they said. Flee, always go back, sweeping the towns; pulling a vacuum on the French, dragging them as far inland as possible; entrust to space, to winter and to the lack of subsistence, the care of the defense». And, in truth, despite the fact that Napoleon managed to occupy Moscow, a city that was set on fire by the natives, he did not manage to subdue the brave and indomitable Russian people. Then, the emperor of the French had to undertake a painful implacable attack of the brave Cossacks, who were commanded by the brave general Koutousof, began to decimate Napoleon's armies, until said retreat became a real disaster, of a magnitude never seen before due to the enormous losses experienced by the invaders. On December 16, 1812, they finally managed to enter Poland, after having lost some 330,000 men.
The main military actions that Napoleon waged in the Russian campaign were:
a. Battle of Moscowa (September 7, 1812)
South of Borodino, 150 kilometers from Moscow, where victory favored the French who lost 30,000 soldiers while Russia lost 40,000. This victory made it easier for Napoleon to occupy Moscow, the sacred capital of the Russians.
b. Battle of Beresina (December 1812)
Where the very small invading armies, who were in retreat, had to withstand the furious onslaught of more than 140,000 men, but who, however, made their way after fighting bravely and heroically.
Battle of Leipzig (1813)
Returning from his unsuccessful campaign in Russia, Napoleon had to face a mighty army of 500,000 men consisting of the English, Russians, Prussians, Swedes and Austrians. Then, the Battle of Leipzig (Germany) or Battle of the Nations was fought, where victory favored the coalition forces, who invaded France and subsequently occupied Paris. On April 6, 1814, Napoleon, defeated and abandoned by his generals, had to abdicate the crown of France (First abdication). That same day the French Senate proclaimed King of France Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI. Meanwhile, Napoleon had to accept the humiliating designation of sovereign (king) of the small island of Elba (Mediterranean).
End of the Napoleonic Empire
Despite his isolation on the island of Elba, Napoleon kept abreast of the political situation in France and Europe. Still thirsty for glory and domination, he did not resign himself to his defeat, since he dreamed of being the master of Europe again. He should have started by taking back the throne from him.
The unpopularity of Louis XVIII facilitated Napoleon's return to France. On March 1, 1815, after circumventing the surveillance of the allied powers, the great roe deer managed to land on French territory. Shortly after he entered the city of Paris amid popular jubilation. Louis XVIII fled to Belgium. Napoleon remained in power for only one hundred days.
The European powers declared him "outlawed, as an enemy and a disturber of the peace of the world", and they also promised to fight him until they achieved his definitive defeat.
Battle of Waterloo
Immediately afterwards, the allies mobilized large military forces, but the main action was fought at Waterloo (Belgium), on June 18, 1815, between an Anglo-Prussian army of 220,000 men under the command of Wellington and Blücher, respectively, who formed the vanguard. of the coalition in Belgium, their combined forces numbered 220,000. Napoleon resolved to go after them, throw himself upon them, and destroy one after the other.
He mustered 124,000 men, crossed the Sambre and, on June 16, beat Blücher's Prussian army at Ligny, but failed to destroy it completely.
Wellington had strongly entrenched himself south of the town of Waterloo, on the plateau of Monte de San Juan, intercepting the road to Brussels (Belgium).
On June 18, 1815 the battle was fought. The day before a violent storm had broken out, so that the ground, on which the artillery could not manoeuvre, had time to firm up a little under the sun's rays, it was necessary to delay the beginning of the action until the afternoon. This delay lost Napoleon, because it allowed the Prussians time to reach the battlefield before the army was broken.
Indeed, the Prussians had managed to escape from a pursuing French army, and from two in the afternoon 30,000 Prussians were attacking the Napoleonic right. Exhausted the forces of men and horses, it was necessary to leave the plateau. Napoleon had had to use almost his entire infantry reserve against the Prussians.
The Prussians repulsed, the Emperor attempted the all-out attack with the guard battalions. The French army, exhausted and constantly charged by the Prussian cavalry, suddenly panicked, declared defeat, and were pursued and slashed by the Prussians.
Defeated Napoleon, he then abdicated the crown of France for the second time (Second Abdication), then tried to embark for the United States, but failing to do so, he surrendered to the English, who took him to the island of Saint Helena (Atlantic Ocean) , as a prisoner of war (he died there in 1821). The empire and Napoleon had come to an end.
Causes of Napoleon's fall
The three main causes of Napoleon's downfall were:
1. His mortal enmity to England that brought him the tenacious hostility of a nation invulnerable to the direct attacks of the imperial armies and that, due to its hegemony in the sea, could at any time confront and help the countries that fought against it .
2. his aggression against Spain and Portugal, which provoked the war of Spanish independence, fatal to Napoleon's prestige and which caused great wear and tear on the French armies.
3. The invasion of Russia in 1812, which consumed all his war potential, leaving him exhausted, at the mercy of all of Europe united against him.
Another of the main causes, with a decisive influence on the destiny of the great Corzo, was, without a doubt, the occupation of the States of the Church and the consequent imprisonment of the Supreme Pontiff, acts that created for Napoleon an atmosphere of great animosity among Catholics.
The Congress of Vienna
It was the meeting in the city of Vienna, from 1814 to 1815, of the representatives of the main enemy powers of Napoleon and Revolutionary France (England, Russia, Prussia, Austria, etc.). Its purpose was to draw a new demarcation of the countries of Europe, whose borders had been modified by the Napoleonic wars.
The Austrian Foreign Minister Metternich and Talleyrand, the French Minister, stood out as leading figures in this Congress. Among the resolutions adopted by the Congress of Vienna we have:
- England continued as the «queen of the seas», with numerous colonies in Asia, Africa, Oceania and America. Become the first power in the world.
- Russia seized Finland, Bessarabia and the Duchy of Warsaw.
- Belgium was incorporated into the Netherlands; Norway, to Sweden.
- France, returned to the limits it had before the revolution.
- Austria, acquired the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom. The Congress of Vienna only satisfied the ambitions of the great powers (especially England) who had tirelessly fought Napoleon.