Bab 11: Chapter 11: The Napoleonic Wars.
Long live the Emperor!
The Napoleonic Wars are undoubtedly something that marked the entire history of our world. The Concert of Europe, the rise of nationalism, the Independence of Latin America, and the War of 1814 in North America are just some of its consequences. Its effects are still felt worldwide. We are sure that a complete and thorough explanation is impossible, as it would require too many pages of detailed writing. Thus, we intend to give a brief interpretation of the development of the war and its main consequences, providing a very general explanation of the causes, the countries involved, and the man who played the leading role in them, being one of the most important men of the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte.
After the French Revolution, a series of wars broke out across the continent as the kingdoms and empires of Europe sought to end the Revolution and reinstall the French monarchy. Revolutionary France surprised the world with revolutionary concepts and ideas, managing to defeat Prussia, Great Britain, and Austria in the War of the First Coalition. Peace did not last long, and shortly thereafter, the War of the Second Coalition began, but then something changed. Napoleon decided to intervene.
Napoleon was born in Corsica, just a year after France annexed the island. He achieved great fame during the Revolutionary Wars and eventually took part in the Coup of 18 Brumaire, becoming First Consul of France. A brilliant military commander, considered one of the best that ever existed, he led France to victory once again. However, another coalition was formed.
In the War of the Third Coalition, Austria and Prussia were absent, but France's old enemy, the United Kingdom, returned to action, along with Russia and the Holy Roman Empire. Napoleon triumphed again and decided to dissolve the Holy Roman Empire, creating in its place the Confederation of the Rhine, a puppet state in modern Germany. Another French puppet was the kingdom of Italy and the Batavian Republic. The consequences of their existence were the rise of nationalism that eventually led to the formation of new nation-states. We must also mention that the Battle of Trafalgar, one of the best examples of the power of the Royal Navy, occurred during the Third Coalition, and that Napoleon declared himself Emperor of France in 1804.
Shortly thereafter, the War of the Fourth Coalition began. Prussia participated in the new coalition, but it turned out to be a disaster as they were defeated once again by the French. The war seemed to end with the French Empire at its height, with Prussia losing half its territory and Russia accepting an alliance. The Polish legions made their debut during this war and were soon rewarded with the creation of the Duchy of Warsaw. The Continental System, France's response to the British blockade, was also initiated.
The year 1807 was a shocking episode for the world. Not because of Napoleon's invasion of Portugal, which was swift and led the Portuguese royal family to flee to Brazil, but because of the start of the Peninsular War after France turned against its former ally, Spain, and attacked it. This was a direct consequence of the abdication of King Charles IV after the Mutiny of Aranjuez. At that time, Napoleon thought Spain was a useless ally, which had already been at war with France and seemed willing to stab it in the back at any moment. He thought a puppet Spain would be more useful to his interests, so he did not support either Charles or his son, Ferdinand VII. He took control of Spain, naming his brother, Joseph (known as Joseph I of Spain, or with the more derogatory nickname Pepe Botella), king of Spain, with Marshal Murat as Prime Minister. The failure of the rest of the Spanish government, headed by Manuel de Godoy, to deal with Napoleon provoked the fury of the Spanish people.
In Spain, the war is known as the War of Independence, a rather ironic name considering that there were countries fighting their own wars to become independent from it on the other side of the ocean. The war had caused turmoil and confusion in the Spanish colonies, which, ruled directly by the crown, did not know what to do now that there was no king on the throne. The process intensified and eventually led to the Latin American Revolutions in 1810.
The Peninsular War was fought mainly by British and Portuguese forces, aided by Spanish guerrillas, organized under Governing Juntas, some ruling provinces, others large territories, and even armies. The system, Juntismo, was copied by the Latin American revolutionaries.
The War of the Fifth Coalition began after the Peninsular War, but it was very short and ended with another French victory. Then, the decisive moment of the war occurred when the Grande Armée prepared to invade Russia.
Russia was nominally an ally of Napoleon, but the Tsar refused to support him in his wars or in the Continental System. The Grande Armée prepared to launch its attack, and the Russians, instead of attacking, decided to retreat, gathering a huge number of men and adopting defensive positions and the famous Russian tactic: scorched earth. The Grande Armée found itself in a terrible stalemate with the Russians, who established a strong defensive line while evacuating all the people and destroying all the resources in the areas occupied by the French. Without enough supplies and unprepared for an unprecedented situation, the French forces fought through the winter, suffering huge losses due to the harsh winter. Eventually, the Russians counterattacked but were defeated and forced to retreat, with the French on their heels. But the winter was harsh, and the Russians continued with their scorched-earth tactic. The Grande Armée, exhausted, undersupplied, and greatly diminished, suffered its first major defeat, without even having reached halfway to Moscow.
Napoleon withdrew to Poland and sought peace with the Tsar. The Grande Armée had just been decimated, and of the initial 680,000 soldiers, barely 360,000 remained, just over half. Modern historians argue that if Napoleon had won and had reached Moscow, the Grande Armée would have suffered even more catastrophic losses in its retreat. Some say that even more than 400,000 soldiers would have died, but that is considered a great exaggeration.
The Tsar, believing that his victory was a stroke of luck and knowing that the Grande Armée, although greatly reduced, remained a very powerful threat, agreed, but annexed parts of Poland and made Napoleon acknowledge that Russia did not have to do so. The Continental System continued. In return, Napoleon made him acknowledge the existence of Poland.
Then things began to unravel when the United Kingdom formed another coalition against Napoleon. Surprised by this, he had to retreat hastily to France and was finally decisively defeated at Leipzig. The war ended there, but what ended was not the French defeat. It was the death of Napoleon.
It is still not known exactly how he died, but he died, causing chaos among the French leaders, who convened a peace conference. At that time, the Napoleonic Wars were not so much a war against France as a war against Napoleon, so the coalition accepted the offer and decided that destroying the Grande Armée, which once again numbered over half a million people, would be too great a sacrifice. After all, France retained control over the Netherlands, the Rhine, Italy, and the Iberian Peninsula, were even years of devastating guerrilla warfare weren't enough to defeat the French forces there. The Congress of Vienna was called to decide the future of Europe in early January, 1814.
Nota
[1]In case anyone's wondering, this was his nickname because Pepe is a Spanish diminutive for Jose (because San Jose was called "Pater Putativus", abreviated to PP, which is pronounced "Pepe") and because he was supposedly an alcoholic.
[2]Thus, the Grande Armee has been saved of complete destruction.
[3]Thanks to the Grande Armee not being completly destroyed, Napoleon is able to divert more troops to the Peninsula, saving the war there.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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