The Napoleonic Wars
Although there were actions fought in the colonies and possessions of both the British and French Empires, the Napoleonic Wars were not as global as the preceding Seven Years War, nor even the American Revolutionary War. Most of the land fighting was confined to the European continent, mostly due to the British policy of financially supporting the continental powers against the French. After the threat of French invasion of Great Britain faded following the defeat of the combined Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar, the British imposed a blockade on the ports of Europe held by the French or their allies.
On the continent the French won victory after victory, as one coalition after another formed and financially supported by the British was defeated by French armies. The great battles fought on the continent grew increasingly bloody, Austrians, Prussians, Russians, troops from the German states, Poles, Spanish, Danes, and Dutch fought against and were overwhelmed by the French. British propaganda – a new form of warfare – railed against French tyranny while the wealth of the empire was spent to contain French power. Austerlitz, Jena and Auerstadt, Essling, and numerous other battles increased the power of Napoleon’s name and the strength of the French Empire.
Neutrality was considered an inconvenience to the British, who destroyed the neutral Danish fleet at Copenhagen, occupied neutral territories, and ignored the provisions of treaties in their drive to prevent a universal monarchy in Europe. When the Iberian Peninsula erupted in rebellions against the assertion of French rule over Spain the British committed an Army there, and the Peninsular War, combined with Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, led to the end of French domination of the continent. The great powers which finally brought down the Napoleonic Empire agreed to meet in Vienna to redraw the map of Europe, after reinstalling the Bourbon Kings of France.
The Congress of Vienna sought to reduce the influence of France on the continent, a position particularly desired by Great Britain, which strove to create a balance of power in which no nation threatened British economic dominance. The French had spread much of the ideals of their revolution across Europe, including the right of due process in courts, suppression of the civil authority of the clergy, a weakening of the nobility, and the Napoleonic Code of civil law. Serfdom was abolished throughout most of Europe under Napoleon, though it remained in the Russian Empire. The Congress of Vienna cleared the way for Great Britain to become the dominant economic power of Europe.
The Congress of Vienna also cleared the way for new rivals to emerge, threatening the economic might of Great Britain and France. Prussia received Westphalia and the Rhineland, as well as parts of Poland, and was soon on its path to becoming an industrial power, and eventually a unified Germany. In the decades following the Napoleonic Wars German and Italian nationalism rose, and the empires of Austria and Spain were reduced in international significance. French nationalism led to another French Empire by the middle of the century. The rivalry between the French and British reached its peak during the Age of Napoleon, but it was not yet over.