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Napoleon's Conquests |
| In 1805, 100,000 fresh Austrian troops under the Holy Roman Emperor and Russian troops under the Tsar of Russia opposed the French. Napoleon had 60,000 men who had marched nearly 1,500 miles during the last three months. On December 1805, the French bivouacked near the Austro-Russian positions around Austerlitz (Slavkov) between Brno and Morava in what is now Czechoslovakia, but deliberately left the Pratzen plateau unoccupied. The Austrians and Russians hastened to seize it, since the plateau commanded the entire area. They saw that the French right was surprisingly weak, and they planned to turn it, though to do so they would have to weaken their center on the plateau in order to strengthen their left- which was just what the French Emperor wanted. At 9:00 a.m., after three Russian divisions had come down to attack the French right- meeting a ferocious resistance from Marshal Davout - the Emperor promptly hurled 25,000 men up the slopes, overwhelming the Russian Imperial Guard which defended the plateau, cutting the Allied army in two halves. The battle continued fiercely all along the front for seven hours. The Allies tried desperately to retake the Pratzen, the last Russian attempt to do so failing at about 1:30 p.m. The French then advanced across the plateau to fire down on the Allies' left wing. |
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Bewildered Austro-Russian troops fled in panic across frozen lakes on the plains below, many of them drowning when the ice was broken by French cannon balls. The Emperor killed 15,000 men, took 10,000 prisoners, and captured 180 guns with 40 colors.
The Austrian Emperor Frances II was given the armistice that he sought and the result was the Treaty of Pressburg three weeks later. Austria had to pay an indemnity with a first installment of 8 million francs. Hanover was given to Prussia, Naples to his brother Joseph, and Holland to Louis Bonaparte. Napoleon also introduced the famous "Confederation of the Rhine," later to become Germany.
Next, Napoleon set about the starvation of Britain with the "Continental Blockade," or "Continental System." All trade or communication with the British Isles was forbidden.
At the end of 1807, President Jefferson steered an Embargo Act through Congress, forbidding trade with both Britain and France; his object was to starve Britain into changing her policy without war. Relations continued to deteriorate, and in 1812 President Monroe declared war on Britain. This war produced no beneficial results for Britain, but did assert the United States as a growing world power with the British defeat at New Orleans (even though the war was officially over.) In 1803, Napoleon had sold the entire territory of Louisiana to the United States further increasing its borders and power. The draw with Britain further asserted the United States' dominance of the Americas.
The Prime minister of Britain Fox was so overcome with gout, overwork and alcoholism that he died at the age of 46 on January 23rd, 1806. The Treaty of Pressburg followed in June 1806. Both countries were extremely relieved.
| | The Treaty of Amiens and The Breakdown of Relations with Britain |
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Lord Cornwallis (The same Cornwallis that surrendered at Yorktown) and Napoleon's brother Joseph signed the treaty of Amiens in March 1802. Egypt was to be given back to the Turkish Sultan, Malta to its knights, and the citizens of Britain and France were enthusiastic. Napoleon annexed Piedmont, Guiana, and Louisiana during the late months of 1802 and early months of 1803. The British grew increasingly alarmed, but they were in no mood to start a war. Spain agreed that France might have Parma when its reigning duke died. Civil war broke out in Switzerland; Napoleon sent in Ney with 40,000 men, taking control as 'Grand Mediator of the Swiss Confederation'- Aloys Reding of Berne and his hopelessly outnumbered little army being defeated and imprisoned. Turkey was pushed into giving the French virtually exclusive trade rights. Then, Colonel Sebastiani wrote an article in the Moniteur in which he stated that 6,000 French could take Egypt easily to the joy of all Egyptians and the Ionian Islands. The British became rallied, and the British press began an unprecedented anti-Napoleon campaign. Hostilities grew to the erection of a massive French fleet and an "Iron Wall" of an Atlantic coast. In the summer of 1805, Austria, Russia, Sweden, Naples, and Britain agreed on a joint attack against France. Napoleon sent an army to hold Archduke Charles at Lombardy, and he would personally check the Danube advance. The Austrian General Mack led 60,000 troops into Bavaria, occupying the Upper Danube in order to stop any French attempt to advance through the Black Forest. Napoleon feinted towards the Black Forest but cut off Mack's supplies by wedging himself between Mack and Vienna. Mack and 60,000 soldiers surrendered Ulm on October 19th. Two days later the battle of Trafalgar destroyed any remote hope of invading Britain.
| | Napoleon and His Successive Victories |
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The Emperor offered Malta and in secret, Hanover- George III's former electorate- although he had just given it to Prussia. On October 1st, 1806, instead of waiting for the Emperor to invade and for Russian reinforcements, 160,000 Prussians advanced into Saxony on too wide a front, taking up positions on the river Saale, with their main supply depot at Naumburg dangerously exposed on their right. From the very beginning, their campaign was disasterous. On October 10, Prince Louis of Prussia was killed shortly before the French turned his army's flank and seized Naumburg, blowing up the magazines and cutting their opponents off from fresh ammunition. On October 15th, having crossed the river Saale at Jena, Napoleon routed Prince Hohenlohe, inflicting 12,000 casualties and taking 25,000 prisoners and 200 guns. On the same day Marshal Davout, guarding one of the crossings of the Saale with 26,000 men, was attacked at Auerstadt by the Duke of Brunswick with 60,000. Davout repulsed the Prussians and then charged the Prussian infantry, which broke; Brunswick and his two senior officers were mortally wounded, 10,000 Prussians lay dead or dying and 115 guns were captured. Hohenlohe surrendered with another 20,000 men. By November 8th, the Prussian army no longer existed. Among prisoners of the French were Prince August of Prussia and his 26-year-old ADC, Captain Carl von Clausewitz-the same man who would influence Hitler years later.
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| Napoleon's Views on Technology |
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Napoleon differed from Hitler in that he was in complete lack of interest in technical innovation. His cannons were the same kind that had been introduced in 1789, and the muskets were the same as they had always been except for slight adjustments in 1803. Meanwhile, the French were coming up with new weapons and presenting them to Napoleon for introduction into the army. Napoleon accepted the new 24-inch howitzers, but rejected rockets, the percussion cap, observation balloons, submarines, and the telegraph.
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| Here come the Russians |
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Marshal Murat rode into Warsaw on November 28th, 1806, and the Emperor arrived a fortnight later. 120,000 Russians advanced into Poland and East Prussia. Napoleon sited his men's winter quarters on the far side of the Vistula to tempt the Russians into attacking. Their new commander-in-chief, Benningsen, swallowed the bait. The Emperor was waiting, and eventually caught up with him, the Emperor, on February 7th, 1807, the battle being fought the next day. Benningsen's batteries, concealed by a snowstorm, blew Augereau's corps into red ruin, the Cossacks finishing them off, whereupon the Russians surged forward at the French center and nearly took the Emperor prisoner. He was saved by Murat charging at the head of 10,000 sabers, though when the French cavalry pressed on it was mown down in turn by cannon masked by snow. Davout almost broke the Russian left, but was beaten off. Both sides charged again and again, all along the line, neither gaining any advantage. It was Napoleon's longest and bloodiest battle so far. In the end Bennigsen decided to withdraw, 30,000 of his men being casualties or prisoners. But the French were in no condition to pursue him, with 3,000 dead and 7,000 wounded. On June 14th, Napoleon again caught up with Bennigsen at Friedland in East Prussia. Marshal Lannes had intercepted him, barring his retreat with 26,000 men against more than 80,000 from 3:00 a.m. until midday when the Emperor arrived. He feigned attack on all fronts while concentrating his strength on the right, eventually driving the Russians into the river Alle; 25,000 were killed or drowned, and the rest fled, abandoning 80 guns. It was the anniversary of Marengo.
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| A Lull in the Fighting |
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Tsar Alexander asked for an armistice. The two emperors met near Tilsit on July 8th in a pavilion constructed on a raft in the middle of the river Niemen. The Tsar's first words were: 'I hate the English even more than you do.' 'If that 's the case, then peace has been made' was Napoleon's reply. Both fascinated each other. Alexander commented, 'I have never loved anything more than that man,' while Napoleon thought the Tsar'a very handsome, very fine young emperor.' However the Tsar was listening to what Talleyrand said about not joining in schemes which might destroy Europe.
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| The Conquest of Portugal |
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Napoleon's next great enterprise was the destruction of Portugal, Britain's last ally in Europe. It was agreed that Portugal should be divided in three, one-third going to the Spanish minister Godoy and another to the King of Spain's sister (in exchange for her kingdom of Etruria,) while the remaining third would become a French puppet state. In November 1807, General Junot entered Lisbon after a gruelling march across Spain; the Portuguese did not even try to fight, their royal family fleeing to Brazil. The tiny French army had to be reinforced, the Spaniards allowing the French to concentrate vast numbers of troops in norther Spain. In February 1808, Murat was given sealed orders and appointed Lieutenant General in Spain. In March 1808 Godoy was overthrown and Charles forced to abdicate. The new King, the insecure Ferdinand VII, asked France for a dynastic alliance. A pretence was made of considering an Imperial niece but finding her unsuitable.
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| Napoleon vs. The Spaniards |
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Murat was told to tell the Spainiards that he knew nothing and was waiting for the Emperor's orders. Charles IV and the Queen were invited to Bayonne to meet with the Emperor. Here the Emperor was at first most amiable, persuading Ferdinand to return his father's crown, but then bullied Charles into abdicating; the three were sent into semi-captivity in France. (Napoleon had already offered Spain to his brother.) The Spanish expressed their disapproval, regardless of the 50,000 French troops outside Madrid. On May 2nd, the Madrilenos killed 700 Frenchmen. Murat crushed them with grapeshot and the bayonet, slaughtering 1,200 and shooting 200 more who had been taken prisoner.
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| Back to Paris |
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All Spain now rose, and the French soldiers were being murdered everywhere. Marshal Bessieres routed the main Spanish army at Riosecco on July 14th, killing 20,000, but General Dupont was cut off and forced to surrender at Baylen with 20,000 men. The news of these rebellions and that the British had come to the Spaniards aid infuriated the Emperor. He rushed to Paris, then to Spain with 150,000 men. He broke the Spaniards at Burgos, Espinosa, and Tudela, battering his way to Madrid with a superb charge through the Somosierra Pass by his Polish lancers, entering the capital on December 4th. Napoleon handed over command to Marshal Soult and rushed back to Paris. He had good reason to jurry back from Spain. He suspected Talleyrand of plotting against him, though he could discover nothing.
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| Routing the Austrians |
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Shortly thereafter on April 6th, 1809, Austria declared war. The Archduke Karl, a formidable commander, marched on Bavaria with 175,000 men. Davout had 50,000 troops at Ratisbon, Massena 60,000 at Augsburg; the Austrian plan was to get between them and destroy them separately. The Emperor hurled himself into the gap with 40,000 troops, his two marshals linking up with him. On April 22nd, he inflicted a crushing defeat on his opponents at Eckmuhl. On May 10th, he entered Vienna once more. But on May 21 at Aspern the Archduke cut Napoleon off from Davout and his reserves by destroying the bridges over the Danube with fire-boats, bottling him up on the island of Lobau. It was his first serious reverse. He escaped the fortifications with which they had encircled him. On July 6th at Wagram, after Massena had blocked an attempt to turn the French left, Karl extended his front too far, enabling the Emperor to overwhelm his center. The Archduke retreated having suffered 24,000 casualties, a further 12,000 of his men being taken prisoner. The French had 18,000 killed or wounded. At the Treaty of Vienna in October 1809, Austria surrendered nearly 4 million subjects, ceding territory to France, Russia, Saxony-Warsaw and Bavaria.
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| The Beneficial Marriage That Did More Harm Than Good |
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At the end of 1809, he divorced Josepine in order to marry Francis II's daughter, the Archduchess Marie Louise- Marie Antoinette's niece - in March 1810 at a proxy wedding in Vienna. Far from making him more secure, the marriage ensured that France and Russia would soon be at war. Bad news came from the peninsula. Sir Arthur Wellesley, head of the British expedition in Spain, had beaten the French at Talavera in 1809, while Massena had failed to drive him out of the lines of Torres Vedras. In 1810, too Marshal Bernadotte, whom Napoleon sometimes suspected of being a secret enemy, became the King of Sweden's adopted hear. The Continental Blockade was becoming harder and harder to enforce, imposing strain on the Russian alliance. In 1814 General von Neipperg seduced Napoleon's new wife away from the Emperor. He allowed her to sponge him in his bath and ate his meals with her, interminable courses in rich cream sauces which increased his obesity. The Hapsburg marriage turned out to be a disasterous mistake.
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| Good Idea/ Bad Idea |
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Meanwhile, Napoleon's eyes shifted to Russia. Fouche warned him about starting a war against Russia without finishing the battles in Spain, but Napoleon would not listen. "I need 800,000 men, and I've got them. I can drag all Europe along with me, and nowadays Europe is only a rotten old whore who has to do just what I want when I have 800,000 men."
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