French+Revolution+Notes+Nicholas+Lim+09.12.10

Napoleon's Europe
 * Peace in 18032 did not last, Britain Russia and Austria formed new Coalitiion in 1805.
 * War started again in France, Napoleon's armies won the war and conquered half of Europe.
 * Made great changes to the new lands, several had long-lasting results.

Napoleon Conquers Europe
 * Conquers central Europe through several battles.
 * Austrian armies at Ulm and Austerlitz defeated-1805
 * Prussians joined Coalition and defeated by France in battles of Jena and Auerstadt-1806
 * Defeated Russians in battles of Eylau and Friedland-1807
 * Nothing to stop him after victory, made Italian states of Tuscany and Parma into provinces in 1807, he also took the Illyrian Provinces and Papal States 2 years later. Invaded Holland and north-east Germany to empire in 1810.
 * Changed countries in French empire and countries around the border, forced small German states to join together, reducing the number of states.
 * In 1806, he had leading German rulers form a union called Confederation of the Rhine, he was the head, this union helped to form barrier between France and enemies. Also provided more money and soldiers.

The Rule of the Bonapartes
 * Could not government all the land he conquered, and shared power with family.
 * Brothers became King of Holland, Westphalia and Spain. Step-son was Viceroy of Italy, brother-in-law was king of Naples. Sisters ruled smaller Italian states
 * Changed a lot in where they ruled, reformed old laws, got rid of feudal rights, modernized government and French ideas spread all over Europe.

The Costs of French Rule
 * Not only positive improvements to Napoleon's empire, caused a lot of losses too
 * Biggest by Napoleon's wars, every state had to provide troops for Napoleon, over 0.5 million Germans, Italians and Poles were in the army.
 * Families also had severe losses, taxes grew high for the states, French armies also rarely carried food with them, taking what they need from villages and farms.
 * Peasants often had to put up with soldiers digging up their crops, killing their animals and sleeping in their home.

Resistance and Rebellion
 * Many Europeans hated French rule, and in 1808, the Spanish (Ruled by Joseph Bonaparte) rebelled against France.
 * Went to great lengths to crush rebels.
 * Burnt down every village and attacking the people any way they could.

The Opposition to Napoleon Napoleon and Britain
 * Five countries stayed independent from Napoleon, most powerful is Britain.
 * Became the highest priorities for Napoleon.
 * Between 1803-1805, gathered massive "Army of England" to invade Britain.
 * 2443 boats, 193,000 men and 9149 horses to get across the Channel.
 * Take 6 tides to get them out, needed to control the Channel for 4 days, without it, British navy can attack them
 * Napoleon's admirals tried to lure them away, Admiral nelson and his ships chased them to the West Indies.
 * Success but Napoleon postponed the invasion on August 1805 to stop the Austrian army from attacking France. Army of England left the Channel.
 * Won the battle, but lost all chance of invading Britain and Napoleon's admirals were crushed in the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. Only 9/33 made it out unharmed

The Continental System
 * Tried to weaken Britain in another way, in 1806, Napoleon issued an order called the Berlin Decree, forbidding any part of his empire to trade with Britain.
 * Blockade was known as Continental System, led to immediate fall in amount of goods imported and exported to Britain.
 * One country refused to agree to the Continental System, Portugal.
 * Napoleon forced them to join by invading Portugal and occupying capital in 1807.
 * Caused problems, Spanish and Portuguese hated French armies and rebelled, Britain also joined.
 * Fought the French in the "Peninsular War". Known as the "Spanish ulcer" used up huge amounts of money and had to keep 1/4 million soldiers in Spain.
 * Continental System also had problems on the other side, in 1810, the Tsar of Russia left the system as it was damaging Russia's trade.
 * Tried to force Russia back by invading them

The Russian Campaign
 * Napoleon built up a "Grand Army" to invade Russia in 1812, Russian armies retreated before this.
 * After victory at Battle of Borodino, Napoleon entered capital in September 1812.
 * Looked like a victory, but in two months, the army was on retreat and by the time they crossed back into Europe, only 50,000 still alive. Grand Army was destroyed
 * Russians tried to stop French from finding food
 * Lack of horses and had to get rid of a lot of food and medicine
 * Got even worse in Moscow, Tsar and government retreated, set Moscow on fire.
 * Could not have enough army to chase them, could not stay because of winter, could only retreat. However, winter came early.
 * In 6 months of the Russian campaign, 370,000 French soldiers killed in battle, from illness or cold. 200,000 taken as prisoner, half killed in captivity and 200,000 horses also wiped out.

THe Fall of Napoleon
 * The defeat led to a creation of a new coalition, Russia, Sweden, Prussia and Britain joined together in 1813 to drive France out of central Europe. As France gradually weakened, the Austrians and German states joined, in 1814, the French were driven right back to France
 * Napoleon forced to surrender, with almost every country against him. Coalition set King Louis XVI's brother King Louis XVIII as the head of new government.

Elba
 * Allowed Napoleon to keep title as Emperor but exiled him on to the island of Elba in the coast of Italy.
 * Created small army, navy, opened mines, helped farmers, but soon became unhappy and when he heard King Louis XVIII was becoming unpopular a year later, he secretly sailed back on March 1815.
 * Crowds cheered as Napoleon returned and King Louis XVIII fled.

The "Hundred Days"
 * Napoleon's second empire lasted just 95 days, coalition put together six armies of almost a million men. Napoleon met them with 122,000 men in Belgium.
 * Beat Prussian armies on 16 June and attacked the British army at Waterloo on 18 June.
 * Were reinforced by Prussians and defeated Napoleon, forcing him to return to Paris.
 * The Assembly wanted peace and Napoleon gave up his throne on 22 June. 2 Weeks later, he gave himself up to captain of a British warship with enough time to escape the Prussians who want to execute him.
 * Hoped that the British government will give him protection and let him stay there.
 * Not the case, not even allowed to get off the ship when it anchored at Plymouth where he transferred to another ship to live on the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic, 8,000 km away from France.
 * Napoleon never received a trial and spent the rest of his life in captivity until 1821.