Napoleon - The Conquest of Europe (1805 - 1812)

                                                                                                  France and its Spanish ally are at war against the United Kingdom.

Napoleon's Great Army or the so-called Grande Armée,

is gathered along th

e Channel coast, ready to invade the island.

To this end, Napoleon asks the French Mediterranean fleet to head for the Caribbean

to lure the powerful Royal Navy.

They must then rush back to the English Channel to facilitate a military landing.

But upon their return, the plan fails.

The French fleet is spotted and attacked along the Spanish coast, forcing its retreat to Cadiz.

But Napoleon, the recently named french Emperor and the King of Italy,

has already changed his plan since the United Kingdom convinced Russia and Austria

to form a new anti-French coalition.

The British would finance the war.

Austria sends an army to Italy and a second to Bavaria, where the Russian army would join.

Napoleon then sends his Great Army at full speed to Bavaria in order to arrive before the Russians.

He organises a diversion by sending an army corps into the Black Forest,

where the Austrians wait, ready to fight, while the main battalion of the army gets around them in the north.

The Austrian army discovers, too late, that they are surrounded.

Five days later, 25,000 soldiers surrender without a fight.

Meanwhile, Napoleon orders his fleet, still blocked in Cadiz, to join the Mediterranean.

The French and Spanish fleets try to end the British blockade,

but are destroyed by the fleet of Admiral Nelson, who dies during the battle.

With this victory, the United Kingdom reaffirms its maritime supremacy.

In Austria, the Russian army retreats towards the northeast to await reinforcements,

paving the way for the French to Vienna.

Meanwhile in the south, the second Austrian army is defeated and retreats.

Napoleon seizes the Austrian capital.

He decides to leave a big part of his army there and leaves with 60,000 soldiers

to meet the army of Alexander I of Russia, which has received reinforcements from Francis II.

As he is outnumbered, Napoleon decides to station his troops on the strategic plateau of Pratzen.

He studies the field and devises a plan.

On the evening of December 1st, as the Austro-Russian army approaches,

he orders his troops to retreat, pretending to flee.

The army of the allies jumps on the opportunity and seizes the plateau for the night.

The next morning, convinced that the French are retreating,

40,000 Russians charge toward the south.

The outnumbered French army tries to hold them back as best as they can.

But further north, hidden behind the hills,

the bulk of the French Army launches a surprise attack and takes back the plateau.

The Austro-Russian army finds itself split in two.

The russians try at all costs to take back the plateau but fail.

The army in the north is pushed back to the east,

while the French surround thousands of Russian soldiers in the south.

Russian troops panic and surrender, or try to escape on frozen ponds,

which are targeted by French artillery fire.

With the French victory complete, the Emperor of Austria negotiates peace.

He loses control over the German states, marking the end of the Holy Roman Empire,

which would gradually be replaced by the Confederation of the Rhine under Napoleon's protection.

Napoleon appoints his brother Joseph as the king of Naples

and his other brother Louis as the king of Holland.

He also begins the construction of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to celebrate future victories.

Prussia dislikes French management of the German states,

so comes together with other powers to form a fourth coalition against France.

Three Prussian armies enter Saxony and an ultimatum is given to the French,

demanding their withdrawal to the west of the Rhine.

Napoleon goes to meet them with his Great Army.

Initial contact is established and the French immediately get the upper hand,

causing the Prussian armies to turn back to Leipzig.

But the French army, which is faster, catches up and positions itself between the two main armies.

Napoleon then makes an error of judgment.

Thinking that the great Prussian army is in the south, he sends a small army of 25,000 men to the north.

They find themselves confronted by the great Prussian army of over 60,000 men.

However, despite the odds, both battles are won by the French that day,

opening the doors of Berlin to Napoleon.

With Prussia defeated, Napoleon attacks Russia.

Along the way, he enters Polish territory, which was captured and shared between Russia,

Prussia and Austria 10 years earlier.

The French are welcomed as heroes, and thousands of people join the ranks of the army.

The Russians avoid battle and retreat to await reinforcements.

Eventually the two armies start fighting.

Two days of fierce battles ensue, causing thousands of fatalities.

Both sides are tested and need time to recruit new forces.

Four months later, the Russians try to surprise the French by launching a frontal attack.

But they are repelled and chased.

A second decisive battle drives the Russian army beyond the Niemen River.

Exhausted by war, neither side is able to gain supremacy over the other.

A peace treaty is prepared.

Both sides meet on a raft especially built for the occasion on the Niemen River,

where Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I negotiate.

According to the terms of the treaty, Prussia loses half of its territory.

Its western territories are annexed to the Kingdom of Westphalia,

of which Jerome Bonaparte becomes the king.

In the East, the Duchy of Warsaw is created.

Allied with France, this new state could act as a strategic buffer in case of future war.

Russia, on the other hand, gets the authorization to seize Finland.

Finally, the two powers ally against the United Kingdom,

which finds itself squeezed by French domination on the continent.

Weakened by wars, the UK faces a difficult economic situation.

And now, Napoleon tries to deliver a final blow by imposing a continental blockade.

No European port may accept British commercial vessels.

But not everyone agrees with this policy, including Portugal, a historical ally of the British.

In response, Napoleon wants to invade Portugal.

Its Spanish ally joins the offensive and allows French troops to cross its territory.

The following month, the Franco-Spanish army seizes Lisbon, forcing the royal family to flee to Brazil.

But after this victory, new French troops are sent to Spain.

Napoleon begins to show a new interest in Spain, which is no longer the great power it once was.

After a coup attempt orchestrated by Ferdinand against his father King Charles IV,

both go to Bayonne to ask Napoleon to resolve the situation.

Meanwhile in Madrid, people rise against the French occupiers.

The revolt is violently put down.

Napoleon then decides to place his brother Joseph on the throne of the country,

while his brother-in law Murat gets the Kingdom of Naples.

The French brutality in Madrid infuriates the Spanish population.

Throughout the country, militias form and organize a guerrilla warfare against the French,

targeting isolated garrisons and lines of communication.

The French are tortured and slaughtered.

In response, French armies burn to the ground villages suspected of harboring rebels.

In the years to come, France would need to constantly strengthen its military presence

to try and defeat rebel strongholds.

In the south, a French army is defeated.

In panic, Joseph Bonaparte flees Madrid with his army.

The news spreads throughout Europe, reinforcing anti-French sentiments.

Meanwhile, a British army contingent lands in Portugal.

Napoleon wants to settle things himself with his Great Army.

But fearful of being outflanked in the east, he organizes a meeting with the Tsar

to try and strengthen their alliance, but in vain.

He still sends part of his army to the peninsula where the Spanish armies,

divided and poorly organized, are crushed in a month.

While advancing on the British army, Napoleon learns that Austria is ready to go to war.

Leaving his army in Spain, he quickly heads eastwards, where the Austrian army enters Bavaria.

They hope to be joined by Prussia and the Confederation of the Rhine,

driven by rising German nationalism. But it would not happen.

Meanwhile, Napoleon asks Russia to go to war against Austria, which it declines.

A fifth coalition is formed, but in fact, Austria finds itself alone against Napoleon.

Within days, the Austrian army is divided into two.

The main body manages to flee north of the Danube, leaving Vienna defenseless.

Napoleon seizes the Austrian capital for the second time,

while the Austrian army positions itself north of the Danube.

To complete victory, Napoleon must find a way to cross the river, but all bridges are destroyed.

He begins building bridges and attempts to cross with his army.

But a powerful Austrian offensive pushes them back to the island of Lobau.

This is Napoleon’s first major defeat.

He moves back to Vienna to strengthen his army and organize a new offensive.

In one night, he makes more than 140,000 soldiers cross the Danube.

After two days of fierce and bloody fighting, the Austrians retreat and ask for an armistice.

As per the unfavourable peace treaty, Austria loses many of its territories and its access to the sea.

Moreover, Napoleon divorces Josephine, with whom he can’t get legitimate heirs.

And marries Marie-Louise, daughter of the Emperor of Austria, with whom he hopes to have a child.

In France, Napoleon becomes increasingly authoritarian, jailing political opponents,

censoring the media, and spreading his propaganda.

The economic situation of the country worsens.

Wars, and especially the 300,000 soldiers stationed in Spain,

are expensive and require a lot of resources.

On March 20, 1811, Marie-Louise gives birth to Napoleon’s much-awaited heir.

The baby receives the title of the king of Rome.

In Portugal, a new British army led by Wellington takes over and pushes the French away.

The French army requests reinforcements from Napoleon,

but these remain unanswered as he focuses all his strength on the Duchy of Warsaw.

The relationship with Russia deteriorates,

causing Napoleon to prepare for the invasion of the country.