Napoleonic Wars
The wars between Napoleonic France and the coalitions arrayed against it, 1803-1815.
Category: Society
- March 25, 1802Britain and France sign the Treaty of Amiens
The treaty, signed by Joseph Bonaparte and Lord Cornwallis, ended a decade of war between Britain and France. It was an uneasy truce, with each side later accusing the other of breaking its terms.
- May 18, 1803Britain declares war on France, opening the Napoleonic Wars
Britain, citing French expansion in Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands and a dispute over evacuating Malta, resumed war; Napoleon had in turn protested British occupation of Malta and Egypt.
- May 18, 1804Napoleon is proclaimed Emperor of the French
Napoleon's reign as Emperor began on 18 May 1804, ending the Consulate. He crowned himself in December 1804.
- October 21, 1805Nelson defeats the Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar
Off Cape Trafalgar, a British fleet under Nelson (killed in the battle) beat the combined fleets of Villeneuve and Gravina. It ended Napoleon's chances of invading Britain and confirmed British naval supremacy.
- December 2, 1805Napoleon defeats Russia and Austria at Austerlitz
Outnumbered by about 85,000 to 72,000, Napoleon routed the Russian and Austrian armies of Alexander I and Francis II. Austria left the Third Coalition by the Treaty of Pressburg on 26 December.
- August 6, 1806Francis II dissolves the Holy Roman Empire
After sixteen German states formed the French-aligned Confederation of the Rhine in July, Emperor Francis II abdicated the imperial title, ending the Holy Roman Empire.
- October 14, 1806Napoleon crushes the Prussian army at Jena and Auerstedt
On the same day, Napoleon beat Prince Hohenlohe at Jena and Marshal Davout, though outnumbered, defeated the main Prussian army at Auerstedt. Berlin fell to the French soon after.
- November 21, 1806Napoleon's Berlin Decree launches the Continental System
Napoleon banned British goods from France's allies and dependents to isolate Britain economically. Britain answered with blockading Orders in Council, and smuggling and hardship spread on both sides.
- 1807 – April 17, 1814The Peninsular War in Portugal and Spain
French forces occupied Portugal in 1807 and then Spain, where Napoleon installed his brother Joseph. Spanish armies and guerrillas, with British and Portuguese forces under Wellesley, fought until the war ended on 17 April 1814.
- July 7, 1807Treaties of Tilsit: France allies with Russia and cuts Prussia down
Napoleon and Alexander I agreed an alliance on the Neman river on 7 July. By the 9 July treaty Prussia lost about half its territory and population, including lands that formed the Duchy of Warsaw.
- November 29, 1807 – March 7, 1808The Portuguese court flees Napoleon's invasion for Brazil
On 29 November 1807, as French troops advance on Lisbon, Prince Regent John and the court, perhaps 10,000-15,000 people, sail for Brazil. They reach Salvador on 22 January 1808 and Rio de Janeiro on 7 March, making it the seat of the empire.
- May 2, 1808Madrid rises against French rule on the Dos de Mayo
After Napoleon forced Charles IV and Ferdinand VII to abdicate and installed Joseph Bonaparte, an uprising in Madrid began the Spanish rebellion against French occupation.
- July 1808Spanish forces defeat a French army at Bailén
In Andalusia, Spanish forces defeated a French army in July 1808, regarded as the first open-field defeat of Napoleon's forces on a European battlefield.
- November 7, 1808Dominican rebels defeat the French at Palo Hincado, east of Santo Domingo
On 7 November 1808 Juan Sánchez Ramírez's rebels, supported by Puerto Rico and British Jamaica, beat General Ferrand's French army at Palo Hincado. The victory opens the siege of Santo Domingo and the return of Spanish rule.
- April 1809 – October 1809Austria, with Britain and Spain, renews war against Napoleon
In April 1809 Austria launched the War of the Fifth Coalition. Napoleon defeated it at Wagram and imposed a harsh peace in October 1809.
- July 1809French garrison surrenders Santo Domingo and Spanish rule returns
In July 1809, after a siege helped by a British blockade, the French garrison leaves Santo Domingo and Spain recovers its colony. The following period of neglect is remembered as the 'España Boba' (foolish Spain).
- June 24, 1812 – December 24, 1812Napoleon invades Russia with the Grande Armée
Over 450,000 men crossed the Neman on 24 June 1812. Russia withdrew deeper, preserving its army and, at Borodino and Moscow, denying a decisive result; only about 120,000 of Napoleon's force survived. The campaign ended 24 December.
- September 7, 1812Napoleon fights the Russian army at Borodino
West of Moscow, Napoleon failed to destroy Kutuzov's Russian army in what was among the bloodiest single days of the wars. The Russians then withdrew and abandoned Moscow.
- September 14, 1812Napoleon enters a burning, deserted Moscow
French troops occupied Moscow, set ablaze under governor Rostopchin. Napoleon waited about five weeks for a peace offer that never came, then began the retreat in October.
- October 16, 1813 – October 19, 1813Battle of Leipzig: the Sixth Coalition defeats Napoleon
Russian, Austrian, Prussian and Swedish armies under Alexander I, Schwarzenberg, Blücher and Bernadotte defeated Napoleon in the largest battle of the wars. France lost control of lands east of the Rhine.
- April 6, 1814Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba
After the Sixth Coalition captured Paris, Napoleon's first reign ended on 6 April 1814. He was sent to the island of Elba, where he stayed from 30 May 1814 to 26 February 1815.
- September 1814 – June 9, 1815The Congress of Vienna redraws Europe
Metternich, Castlereagh, Alexander I, Hardenberg and the defeated France's Talleyrand sought a balance of power and the restoration of the pre-revolutionary order. The Final Act was signed on 9 June 1815.
- March 20, 1815Napoleon returns from Elba: the Hundred Days begin
Napoleon left Elba and regained power in France, with his Hundred Days beginning on 20 March 1815. The Seventh Coalition of the allies ended it at Waterloo in June.
- June 18, 1815Wellington and Blücher defeat Napoleon at Waterloo
An Anglo-allied army under Wellington held until the Prussians under Blücher broke the French right flank. Napoleon abdicated again on 22 June and was exiled to Saint Helena.
- November 20, 1815The Napoleonic Wars formally end
The wars ended in a Coalition victory, with 20 November 1815 given as the end date, months after Waterloo and the Congress of Vienna's Final Act.