| French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars | |||||||
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| Part of theSecond Hundred Years' War and aftermath of theFrench Revolution | |||||||
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TheFrench Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars[5] (sometimes called theGreat French War[6] or theWars of the Revolution and the Empire)[b] were a series of conflicts between the French and several European monarchies between 1792 and 1815. They encompass first theFrench Revolutionary Wars against the newly declaredFrench Republic and from 1803 onwards, theNapoleonic Wars against First Consul and later EmperorNapoleon Bonaparte.[7][8] They include theCoalition Wars as a subset: seven wars waged by variousmilitary alliances of greatEuropean powers, known as Coalitions, againstRevolutionary France – later theFirst French Empire – and its allies between 1792 and 1815:
Although the Coalition Wars are the most prominent subset of conflicts of this era, some French Revolutionary Wars such as theFrench invasion of Switzerland, and some Napoleonic Wars such as theFrench invasion of Russia and thePeninsular War, are not counted amongst the "Coalition Wars" proper.
One of the first usages of the term "Coalition Wars" can be found in the 1803Tribunat report, titledRésultats des guerres, des négociations et des traités qui ont préced́é et suivi la coalition contre la France ("Results of the Wars, Negotiations and Treaties that preceded and followed the Coalition against France"). About the situation in April 1793, when GeneralDumouriez had just beendefeated at Neerwinden and defected toAustria, causing despair in France, it states: "Les événements de cette époque sont les plus pénibles à décrire de tous ceux qui ont signaléles guerres de la coalition." ("The events of that time are the most painful to describe of all those that markedthe wars of the coalition." [emphasis added]).[9]
In January 1805, theSalzburger Intelligenzblatt was one of the first to number the Coalition Wars when it discussed "Das Staatsinteresse von Baiern bei dem dritten Koalitions-Kriege" ("The national interest of Bavaria in the Third Coalition War").[10] Although the Third Coalition had been formed by that time, war had not yet broken out;[c] the Austrian newspaper discussed why the neighbouringElectorate of Bavaria was likely to side with the French Empire rather than the Austrian-led Coalition. On 30 September 1805, a few days after the launch of theUlm campaign, Emperor Napoleon addressed his troops inStrasbourg, starting his speech with the words: "Soldats, la guerre de la troisième coalition est commencée." ("Soldiers, the war of the third coalition has begun.")[11]
The term is distinct from "French Revolutionary Wars", which covers any war involving Revolutionary France between 1792 and 1799, when Napoleon seized power with theCoup of 18 Brumaire (9 November 1799), which is usually considered the end of the French Revolution. Since the War of the Second Coalition (1798–1802) had already begun when Napoleon seized power, the war as a whole may[8] or may not be counted amongst the French Revolutionary Wars, which therefore may end in 1799, 1801 (Treaty of Lunéville), or 1802 (Treaty of Amiens).
It also differs from "Napoleonic Wars", which is variously defined as covering any war involving France ruled by Napoleon between 1799 and 1815 (which includes the War of the Second Coalition, 1798–1802), or not commencing until theWar of the Third Coalition (1803/05, depending on periodisation). In the latter case, historians do not term the War of the Second Coalition "Napoleonic", since Napoleon did not initiate it himself, but merely "inherited" it from the RevolutionaryFrench Directory which he overthrew during the war.
Because it only pertains to wars involving any of the Coalition parties, not all wars counted amongst the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars are considered "Coalition Wars". For example, theFrench invasion of Switzerland (1798, between the First and Second Coalition), theStecklikrieg (1802, between the Second and Third Coalition), thePeninsular War (1807–1814) and theFrench invasion of Russia (1812, between the Fifth and Sixth Coalition) were not assigned to the "Coalition Wars".
The term "Great French War" arose from British historiography, which occasionally used it to refer to the nearly continuous period of warfare from 1792 to 1815, or as the final phase of the Anglo-FrenchSecond Hundred Years' War, spanning the period 1689 to 1815.[12] Historian Mike Rapport (2013) suggested using the term "French Wars" to unambiguously describe the entire period from 1792 to 1815.[13]
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The main European powers who forged the various anti-French Coalitions wereGreat Britain,Russia,Austria, andPrussia, although except for Great Britain not all of them were involved in every Coalition. Smaller powers that occasionally joined the Coalitions includeSpain,Naples,Piedmont–Sardinia, theDutch Republic, theOttoman Empire,Portugal,Sweden,Denmark–Norway, and various German and Italian states. The First until Fifth Coalitions fell apart when one or more parties were defeated by France and were forced to leave the alliance, and sometimes became French allies; the Sixth and Seventh were dissolved after Napoleon was defeated in 1814 and 1815 and a new balance of power was established between the parties at theCongress of Vienna.
| Members | First (1792–1797) | Second (1798–1802) | Third (1803–1806) | Fourth (1806–1807) | Fifth (1809) | Sixth (1813–1814) | Seventh (1815) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Great Britain[a] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
 Holy Roman Empire (to 1806) | Yes | Yes | |||||
 Baden (from 1806)[d] | Yes (from Oct 1813) | ||||||
 Bavaria (from 1806)[d] | Yes (from Oct 1813) | Yes | |||||
 Nassau (from 1806)[d] | Yes | ||||||
 Saxony (from 1806)[d] | Yes (until Dec 1806) | Yes (from Oct 1813) | |||||
 Württemberg (from 1806)[d] | Yes (from Oct 1813) | ||||||
 Black Brunswickers (from 1809)[d] | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||||
 Hanover (from 1814)[d] | Yes | ||||||
 Austrian Empire (from 1804) | Yes (1805) | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
 Prussia | Yes (until 1795) | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
 Sardinia | Yes (until 1796) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
 Portugal | Yes | Yes (until 1801) | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
 Spain | Yes (until 1795) | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
 Ottoman Empire | Yes (until 1801) | ||||||
 Russia | Yes (until 1799) | Yes (1805) | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
 Tuscany (to 1801 and from 1815) | Yes (until 1801) | Yes | |||||
 Hospitaller Malta | Yes (1798) | ||||||
 Naples | Yes | Yes (until 1801) | Yes (from 1805) | ||||
 Sicily | Yes (from 1806) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
 Netherlands[e] | Yes (until 1795) | Yes | Yes | ||||
 Sweden | Yes (from 1805) | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
 Switzerland | Yes | ||||||
Kingdom of Great Britain (to 1801),United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (from 1801)
Dutch Republic (to 1795) Principality of the United Netherlands (1813–1815)United Kingdom of the Netherlands (from 1815)
