23-Challenges to the Empire

The Continental blockade
Since Britain was a trading nation, it had the resources to finance military coalitions against the French, so 1 aspect of French warfare lay in undermining British commerce. From 1805, after abandoning his plans to invade Britain, Napoleon decided to take this economic warfare a stage further. In Nov 1806-he issued Berlin Decree. This forbade all states under French control (or allied to France) from buying British goods and declared that Britain and its overseas possessions were in a state of blockade.
British responded with ‘Orders in Council’ of Nov 1807. These imposed reciprocal terms: Britain would not buy goods from France, its allies or neutral countries that obeyed the French blockade, and the Royal Navy would blockade the ports of France and its allies (thus preventing them from selling to, or received goods from, elsewhere). The Orders demanded that all shipping coming from or heading towards a French controlled port had to stop at a British port to be checked for ‘contrabande’ and that any ships that failed to comply would be seized
Napoleon took yet 1 more step. In the Milan Decree of Dec 1807, he authorised French warships to capture neutral ships sailing from any British port of country occupied by British forces. The decree declared that any ships that had allowed themselves to be searched by the British royal Navy were liable to capture by the French
This ‘continental system’ lay behind many of the problems encountered by Nap after 1808 and proved one of Nap’s most unpopular policies throughout Empire. Tea, coffee, sugar and tobacco became almost unobtainable- provoked complaints and uprisings. The strains of maintaining the system added to Nap’s commitments and military engagements. Portugal refused to obey, provoking a damaging Napoleonic entry into Spain (1808). 1810- Alexander I chose to opt out of the system, caused severe damage to Russia’s trade. Lead to Nap’s disastrous attempt to invade and defeat Russia in 1812

Peninsular War
Spain had been in alliance with France since 1795, following its defeat at the hands of the French Revolutionary armies. It veered briefly into British camp in 1805-07, following its naval defeat at Trafalgar. However, it was won over again in 1807, when a joint Franco-Spanish force was created to take control of Portugal, which was being used by Britain as an entry point for British goods.

This army took Lisbon in Dec 1807 and Portuguese royal family fled, However, Franco-Spanish relations soured. Nap’s view of Spanish King, Charles IV, had already been devalued by latter’s switching of alliances, and Spain was plagued by political chaos and corruption. Nap used opportunity of an attempted coup in March 1808 by Charles’ pro-British son, Ferdinand. Backed by 100,000 French soldiers who had entered Spain under the pretext of reinforcing Franco-Spanish army occupying Portugal, he forced the abdication of Charles in March, followed by that of Ferdinand in May 1808. Spaniards were divided among:
groups of educated middle classes who welcomed French rule and French enlightened reforms
landowners who feared loss of power and influence
powerful clerics who regarded French as ‘godless’ and opposed Napoleonic Concordat and secular state
large numbers of conservative and Catholic peasantry, hostile to ‘outsiders’ (particularly Frenchmen), who challenged the authority of the Papacy. ‘Rebel’ Spaniards formed local resistance committees (juntas) and in July 1808 the Spanish Army of Andalusia defeated Nap’s forces at the Battle of Bailen, forcing French to retreat and abandon much of Spain to insurgents. The surrender of 22,000 men was a shattering blow which had major consequences:
Aug 1808: Nap imposed his brother, Joseph, as King of Spain.
Aug 1808: British sent Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington) to aid Spaniards. A British/Spanish army defeated the French at Battle of Vimiero in Portugal. This gave the British a series of ports and bases from which to maintain pressure on the French.
Nov 1808: Nap placed himself in command in Spain. On 4 Dec- he entered Madrid with 80,000
The Peninsula War turned into a long-drawn out war of attrition. Nap’s strategy was to use overwhelming number of French troops to attack Spanish rebels, but French found ‘living off land’ problematic, given hostility of Spanish peasants and guerrilla warfare mounted against French troops. Fighting in mountainous and barren areas where communications were poor, amid a hostile population, was a new experience for French armies. Getting a message from 1 village to another was fraught with difficulties and it was almost impossible for commanders in different parts of Spain to keep contact. Supply lines back to France were difficult to maintain, given size and geography of peninsula

British replaced Wellesley with Sir John Moore, who took command of British ground forces. These played an important part in harassing French, although they failed to cut French communication lines in northern Spain. By the beginning of 1809, British army was forced to withdraw to Corunna, on the northern coast of Galicia. Both armies suffered extremely from the harsh winter conditions, but French forced a battle to try to prevent the British troops from being evacuated. Moore killed in actions, but French repulsed and British forces saved by their navy. This left N. Spain to French but British action had frustrated French ambition to retake Portugal and southern Spain
Nap forced to leave Spain in Jan 1809 to deal with Austrians, who, encouraged by French setbacks, were planning renewed attacks on French. Wellesley returned to Lisbon in April 1809 with 30,000 men. They protected themselves by building a series of forts and earthworks from 1809-1810, both to defend Lisbon and to use as a base from which to mount further attacks.
Although a ¼ million French troops and huge amounts of money poured into Spain, French never achieved breakthrough they sought. Every victory from Nap’s deputies was countered. War known as Spanish Ulcer and English attacks and Spanish guerrilla warfare gradually wore French down. By 1813, Wellesley was able to advance, defeat French at Vitoria and enter Madrid. At this, Joseph fled and Wellesley led an invasion of France, defeating French at Toulouse in 1814.

Austrian Campaign
Encouraged by French setbacks in Peninsula, Austrians debated re-entering the war. Decision to do so was taken in Feb 1809. Austrian army had undergone reforms since defeat of Austerlitz, improving tactics and corps structure and developing conscription, Despite this, it was still hampered by old-fashioned commanders who disliked change and military leaders who were wary of taking initiative without written orders.
However, Austrians had the advantage, in that Napoleon was uncertain about Austrian planning and his intelligence gave the wrong information about where an attack might be launched. Austrian army invaded (French) Bavaria in April and although slowed by poor roads and freezing rain, the opposing Bavarian forces gradually retreated. Nap went to Paris- Uprising. - his forces defeat principal Austrian army at Battle of Eckmuhl (21/22 April) inflicting 12,000 casualties to French 6,000 and forcing an Austrian retreat. By May he entered Vienna. However, he still needed to defeat Austrian forces north of danube. They met at Essling where he was outnumbered, lost 20,000 men and was forced to retreat to an island on the Danube
Nap spent 6 weeks planning and preparing for his next attempt at crossing Danube, bringing in more troops and guns. At beginning of July, French re-crossed river with 188,000 troops. 2 sides met on 5-6 July at Wagram near Vienna. 2 day battle, in which Austrians used some of their newly-developed tactics. Extensive use of artillery on a packed battlefield of 300,000 men caused horrendous casualties but Nap eventually won through, although he lost 34,000 men
Austrian moral collapsed. Lost 43,000 from army and immediately sought peace. Resulting Treaty of Schonbrunn of 14 Oct 1809 cost Austria 83,000 square km of territory and 1/6 of population
Nap’s campaign ended in success. However, losses had been huge and battles less easily won than in past encounters:
Nap had been over-confident and less well-prepared at outbreak of hostilities
French army contained fewer veterans and more raw recruits than in the past.
Nap had relied on foreigners from satellite states; some of these had deserted at Wagram showing ill-discipline.
Austria had learned from French and built up size and mobility of its armies; its artillery had proved a better match for French
Spanish campaigns and risings in Germany and Alps had diverted French troops and demoralised soldiers

Russian campaigns
By 1810, Tsar Alexander I had tired of constraints imposed by his alliance with Nap. The strains of the continental system and British blockade were causing hardship in Russia and Tsar was annoyed by Nap’s marriage in 1810 to Marie-Louise of Austria (rather than to a Russian princess). Tsar concerned about Nap’s ambitions for Poland, which he feared involve taking back the land which Russia had seized from Poland in 1793 and 1795. In addition, he was offended by French annexation of Oldenburg (whose duke was married to Tsar’s sister) and dissatisfied by Nap’s failure to help him in furthering Russia’s ambitions in the eastern Mediterranean and Constantinople
31 Dec 1810, Tsar Alexander broke Nap’s trade embargo. He put tariffs on French imports and allowed neutral ships (which would be carrying British goods) intro Russian ports. An outraged Nap began assembling grand armee, drawn from across Empire in Poland , on Tsars western fronteir, ready to force a decisive battle with Russian army. For his part, Tsar allied with Sweden in Mar 1812, then waited. June 1812- Nap began his invasion of Russia. His armies marched from Grand Duchy of Warsaw through what had been Lithuania: a territory incorporated into Russian empire in partition of 1795. Had Nap been driven by reforming principles, would have liberated Lithuanian sers and win over anti-Russian Lithuanian people. Instead, he went to destroy Tsar’s armies. Pressed on towards Muscovy- heartland of Russia- expecting to engage russian army and win a victory within weeks
However, Nap had not bargained on Russian tactic of withdrawal, backed up by a scorched earth policy. Russia determined to prevent French relying on normal tactic of living off land and burned villages, towns, crops and livestock as they retreated. Solders of grand armee, who had set off with only 4 days rations, became dependent on an ever-lengthening supply line, which provided incapable of feeding large army
Nap had not planned for a lengthy campaign. French had poor maps, inadequate clothing for a struggle which would continue into winter and carried limited medical supplies, Nap’s normal advantages of speed, manoeuvrability and surprise were of no use in this campaign, Not only did he size of his army slowed him down, his reliance on raw recruits and conscrupts made it less discipline force. Thousands died from disease as they advanced and campaign was to be plagued by constant hunger leading more to succumb to illness and death
Although Nap fared the better when the 2 armies finally met outside Borodino in Sep, French still failed to break Russian army and Nap did not dare risk his Imperial Guard, which was his last reserve. The Russians lost around 40,000 men and French 28,000 but Russian armiers were able to continue to withdraw in an orderly fashion.
Nap able to advance to Moscow but his planned ‘victory’ eluded him. Found city deserted and his surviving troops looted city, russian governor set it on fire. Since Russians refused to sue for peace, grand advance turned into an ignominious retreat. As the French withdrew, frostbite and starvation proved even greater enemies than constant harassment of cossack and peasant forces
Dec- Nap abandoned his men to return to Paris, having heard news of a plot by Claude-francois de Malet to overthrow him. Pledged to raise more forces; but, with his departure, what army he had left virtually disintergrated
Only 10,000 soldiers remained from Nap’s grande armee and barely 1000 of these were fit for further military service. Campaign was a disaster which hit hard at Nap’s position. He had lost grande armee and his failures triggered a new coalition, as prussia and austria chose to break their forced alliances with France and prepared for further battle against Emperor

War of 4th coalition
Alexander I determined to force Nap from power and looked to create a 4th coalition against him. Prussians,who had, not entirely willingly joined french in invasion of Russia, were won over, They signed a seperate armistice with Russia in 30 Dec 1812 and March 1813 Frederick-william declared war on France. Britain, which had concluded a formal alliance with Russians in Aug 1812, joined Prussia and Russia in June 1813. The alliance brought in Austrian and Sweden.
Nap managed to create a new army of 250,000 within 3 months of his Russian campaign. Declared war on Prussia in Apr 1813. He won 3 battles, including an impressive victory at Bautzen but he failed to follow up a Prussian retreat and agreed to an armistice. In Oct 1813, he faced joint force of Prussians, Austrians, Russians and Swedes at Battle of Nations at Leipzig. Although Nap had Denmark on his side, he was overwhelmed by sheer force of numbers (3 allied solders for every 2 french). After nearly 3 days of fighting, Nap forced into retreat across Germany, pursued by allied forces. He fought a series of battle, winning a good number, but was steadily forced back against overwhelming odds. Refused a generous peace deal (which would have allowed France to keep natural forntiers of Rhineland and Belgium) and issued a decree for 900,000 fresh conscripts; but only a fraction of these were ever raidsed.
Empire fell apart, until only Italy, Belgium, Switzerland and a typhus-ridden army of 60,000 remained. British under Wellesley had captured Madrid and expelled Joseph from Spain after Battle of Vitoria in June 1813. In the last months of 1814 and into 1814 British Peninsula Army pushed its way into SW France.
At Treaty of Chaumont in March 1814, allies agreed to preserve their coalition until Nap had been totally defeated and future of Europe was settled. Allies entered Paris on 30 March 1814 and Nap’s marshals persuaded him to accept terms. By Treaty of Fontainebleau in Apr 1814 Nap was made to give up his throne, but he was allowed to keep title of Emperor, an income of c£200,000 and island of Elba as his own kingdom. Thus, with the Prussians, Russians and British encamped in Paris, Nap departed for his life in Elba;’ his wife Marie-Louise, leftherhusband and made her own way to Vienna.