Napoleon Bonaparte: Victory After Victory

In 1806, clouds were gathering over the young empire of the brave conqueror Napoleon. Europe's most extensive monarchies did not accept their previous defeats and formed a fourth anti-French coalition, which included Britain, Prussia, Saxony, Russia, and Sweden. The British authorities, who financed the preparation of their allies for the coming war, were seriously concerned with Napoleon's increasing power. King Frederick William III of Prussia arrogantly issued an ultimatum to France, demanding the dissolution of the Confederation of the Rhine and the withdrawal of all French troops from Germany. After that, war became inevitable. The first casualty of Napoleon's military might was Prussia, whose troops collapsed in two battles near Jena and Auerstedt, losing up to 40,000 dead and wounded. After the capture of Berlin to counteract the British monarch, Bonaparte declared a continental blockade of Britain, which was made to prevent trade between the countries of land Europe and the British Isles. After this, Napoleon occupied West Prussia and went to meet the combined forces of the Prussian and Russian armies in the eastern territories of Prussia. French forces inflicted several localized defeats on Russian and Prussian troops, but in the Battle of Preußisch-Eilau, Napoleon's 65,000-strong army met with a stiff response from numerically superior Russian and Prussian forces. Up to 29,000 Russians and Prussians and up to 23,000 French were killed or seriously wounded in the massacre. Also, the French captured more than 5,000 prisoners. As a result, neither side gained a clear advantage, and the fighting-capable part of the Prussian army ceased to exist. This did not prevent Russians from declaring themselves victorious in this battle and introducing various types of awards for the so-called victory. Napoleon set the final point in this campaign at the Battle of Friedland when he defeated the 65,000-strong Russian army, which had lost about half of its members, killed, wounded, and captured. These defeats of the anti-French coalition troops led to the signing of the Treaties of Tilsit, 7-9 July 1807, according to which Russia and Prussia acknowledged all of Napoleon's conquests. Prussia lost half its territory as well as most of its army and paid France 100 million francs. From the Polish lands of Prussia, the Duchy of Warsaw was formed, which became another ally dependent on Napoleon. The Russian Empire pledged to break its alliance with Britain and join the continental blockade. Emperor Bonaparte became a hegemon in Europe, and the glory of his victorious army kept his enemies quiet for a while. How did the son of a provincial Corsican nobleman gain such power and triumphantly conquer half of Europe? At the end of the 18th century, European monarchies, fearing revolutionary changes in their respective states, formed a coalition to fight revolutionary France. To fight the Austrians and the Kingdom of Sardinia, France sent an army to Italy led by the young Napoleon Bonaparte. His military talent came to light during the First Italian Campaign. General Bonaparte, leading a 38,000-strong force, was able to divide the superior Austro-Sardinian forces and defeat the Kingdom of Sardinia at the Battle of Mondavi due to maneuvering speed and bold, non-standard tactical moves. Thus, Bonaparte brought the Kingdom of Sardinia out of the war. After this, Napoleon inflicted a series of defeats on Austrian troops, occupied Lombardy, defeated the army of Pope Pius VI, and vanquished Austrian forces in southern Carinthia, opening the way for the French to Vienna. These unexpected victories forced Austria to conclude a peace treaty, under which it lost most of the land in northern Italy and in its place created French-dependent republics. In 1798, Napoleon led a 45,000-strong expeditionary force to Egypt, which at the time was formally part of the Ottoman Empire. Bonaparte did that because he decided to create a bridgehead to attack British India. In June, French troops landed near Alexandria, captured it after a quick skirmish, and set out for Cairo. They were crossed by a combined 60,000-strong Ottoman-Egyptian army, the most formidable part of which was a Mamluk cavalry. In the Battle of the Pyramids, Napoleon defeated the enemy. But the joy of victory was replaced by disappointment with the destruction of the French ships by the British fleet, led by Admiral Nelson at the Despite these obstacles, over the next year, French forces conquered lower Egypt and southern Palestine. Also, they vanquished Turkish forces near Acre. However, due to the defeat at sea, Napoleon's army was cut off from supplies of human and material resources and was doomed to surrender. Aware of this, Bonaparte secretly sailed to France in August 1799, leaving Cleber as commander. With no support and reinforcements, French forces surrendered in less than two years. Bonaparte's Egyptian escapade left France without an important potential ally, Turkey. Returning to France, Napoleon became the co-organizer of the coup d'état, in which the regime of the Directory was overthrown, and the government of the three consuls was established. The first consul of France was Napoleon, who was vested with peremptory executive power and had the right of legislative initiative. Focusing on such capabilities, Bonaparte reorganized the army and state administration. At the same time, Napoleon had to retake northern Italy, which had been captured by Austrian and Russian forces during his absence. French forces led by Bonaparte marched through Switzerland and firmly wedged between the numerically superior Austrian armies in Piemonte. The 40,000 strong Austrian and 28,000 strong French armies met in a dynamic Battle of Marengo, where strategic mistakes and the arrogance of Austrian command led to a valiant victory for Napoleon's troops. At the same time, the French defeated the Austrians in Bavaria, leading to the surrender of Austria and the conclusion of the Treaty of Lunaville, which consolidated the existence of the French-dependent Ligurian and Cisalpine republics in northern Italy. After a triumphant military campaign and on a wave of popular support, the first consul, Napoleon, expanded his powers to a lifelong consulship. This was due to the people's support at French constitutional referendum held by Bonaparte. After this, the young warlord gained almost unlimited power and embarked on banking and management reforms that led to economic recovery and increased efficiency of state administration. In addition, Napoleon settled relations with Pope Pius VII, which reduced the degree of religious confrontation in France. Napoleon's increased ambition culminated in his coronation as emperor in 1804. After strengthening his authority, the new emperor took care of the legal regulation of relations in his state and issued the Civil Code. This groundbreaking document was full of progressive and democratic legal norms. In 1805, fearing Napoleon's increasing influence, Britain, Austria, and Russia formed a third anti-French coalition, and the short-lived peace in Europe ended. The coalition forces were 2.5 times larger, so Napoleon decided to break up the enemy forces one by one. At first, the 150,000-strong French army surrounded and defeated the Austrian forward troops at Ulm in southern Germany. Most of the Austrians were captured or killed. At this time, the British fleet led by Nelson Horatio inflicted a crushing defeat on the French-Spanish fleet at Cape Trafalgar, ending all of Napoleon's aspirations to conquer Britain. On land, however, the French continued to win. They captured the Austrian Habsburg capital of Vienna. After this, the French began the pursuit of parts of the Austrian armies who were going to join the Russian army led by Emperor Alexander. On 2 December, the troops of the three countries, led by three emperors, met at the Battle of Austerlitz, in which Napoleon's 72,000-strong army defeated 85,000 Russian and Austrian forces. This brilliant victory prompted Emperor Franz of Austria to sign the Peace of Pressburg. Under it, the Habsburgs lost most of their possessions in southern Germany, as well as Tyrol, Venice, Dalmatia, and Istria to the benefit of Napoleon and his allies. The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved, and its place in Germany was occupied by the Confederation of the Rhine, which was loyal to Bonaparte. In addition, as a result of the defeat of the anti-French coalition, Napoleon occupied the Kingdom of Naples, where the French emperor put his brother Joseph to rule.