French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

A series of European conflicts in which revolutionary and Napoleonic France fought shifting coalitions of states from 1792 to 1815.

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War of the Third Coalition: A 1805 war in which Britain, Austria, Russia, and others opposed Napoleonic France. Its campaign culminated in Napoleon’s victory at Austerlitz.
Levée en masse: A 1793 French decree that mobilized the population and resources for national defense. It helped revolutionary France replace battlefield losses with mass mobilization.
French Revolution: A political and social upheaval in France beginning in 1789 that ended the monarchy and reshaped the state. The revolution transformed France’s government and alarmed neighboring monarchies.
Congress of Vienna: A diplomatic congress held from 1814 to 1815 to reorganize Europe after Napoleon’s defeat. Its negotiations established the postwar territorial and political settlement.
British Royal Navy: The naval force of Great Britain, dominant in European waters during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. British sea power constrained French invasion plans and protected Britain from conquest.
Peninsular War: A conflict fought in Spain and Portugal from 1807 to 1814 against French occupation. Spanish and Portuguese resistance tied down French forces for years.
Grande Armée: The French imperial army that Napoleon led in his major campaigns. Its organization and scale made rapid campaigns possible across the continent.
Declaration of Pillnitz: An 1791 statement by Austria and Prussia concerning the French monarchy and possible intervention. It heightened fears of foreign intervention and sharpened revolutionary suspicion.
Concert of Europe: A system of great-power consultation that sought to preserve the European settlement after 1815. It grew from cooperation among the powers that defeated Napoleon.
Battle of Trafalgar: An 1805 naval battle in which the British fleet defeated the combined French and Spanish fleets. The defeat ended Napoleon’s prospect of invading Britain.