Introduction
While studying the French Revolution of 1789 and the Napoleonic Wars of 1803-1815, I was challenged by the question of their impact on the ideas of nations. In order to understand and develop this topic I would like to tell you some historical facts.
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The Napoleonic Wars involved French Empire of the Napoleon period, a number of European allies and coalitions that were opposed to the Napoleon’s conquest. Napoleon’s power rose very quickly. He conquered most of Europe, but failed in the France’s invasion of Russia in 1812. As the result of these events there was a collapse of the Napoleon’s Empire, the Bourbon monarchy was revived in France again. Meanwhile French occupation of Spain had weakened. The Spanish Empire began to stand up for its independence from France in the question of holding over its colonies. So here we can see the direct impact of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars on the ideas of the Spanish nation. The Spanish Empire provided a certain opening for nationalist revolutions in the territory of Latin America.
There are couple of versions of the Napoleonic Wars ending. First one relates it to the Waterloo (18 June 1815) and the Second Treaty of Paris (Scott, 1992, pp. 443-469). Another version, which predominates in the United Kingdom, asserts that the end of the Napoleonic Wars should be referred to as the Anglo-French Second Hundred Years’ War of 1689 – 1815 (Crouzet, 1996, pp. 432-450).
If we are talking about war between Britain and France of 1803–1814, then we need to mention that Britain remained at war throughout the whole period of the hostilities of the Napoleonic Wars. The British Army gave a great support to the Spanish strike in the Peninsular War of 1808-1814. So we can see that Britain actually helped the Spanish nation to embody its national ideas. Britain was very powerful state at that time and its influence on the European economy was great. The French government thought that cutting the United Kingdom off from the Continent would be a good way to end its economic influence over Europe and would isolate it. That is why French designed the Continental System, but it never succeeded in its objective. So I guess we can say that the impact of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars on the ideas of the British nation was very important, because they strengthened British nation in the idea that their nation is strong because of its economic supremacy and its geographical location.
In 1812 Napoleon invaded the Russian Empire. After being defeated, Napoleon had left his army and urgently returned to Paris. The impact of this war on the ideas of the Russian nation can be described as a consolidation of these people against outer threats.
As a conclusion I would like to say that the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars brought great changes to the European continent and made a great impact on the ideas of different nations. By the end of the Napoleonic Wars, France was no longer the dominant force in Europe, as it had been since the times of the French king – Louis XIV.
The United Kingdom became firmly one of the most powerful countries in the world. Britain’s Royal Navy held superiority throughout the whole world and her economy was the most powerful in the commercial system of that time.
Such ideas of the French Revolution as democracy, abolition of privileges and due process in courts that were imported to the European countries played a great role on its people’s national ideas and views. The rights of the middle classes were incorporated into law and custom. The wealth was meant to be built on the citizen’s activities, such as industry and commerce. I think that is why European monarchs had to keep some of the reforms that were brought about by Napoleon. As a result of these, institutional legacies have survived and remained to this day. Most of the European countries have a civil-law legal system, where codes are clearly redacted and based on the Napoleonic Code.
That is how the new powerful movement had appeared. Nationalism shaped the course of European history. I think that the growth of the nationalism stated the beginning of some nations and the end of others. The map of Europe changed a lot in the hundred years after the Napoleonic Era. It was based not on the basis of human culture, national origins, and on the very important issue – national ideology. Napoleon’s ruling over Europe was the basic ground for the founding of the nation-states of Germany and Italy, because its main idea was the consolidation of the city-states, kingdoms and principalities.
Works Cited
Crouzet, Francois. The Second Hundred Years War: Some Reflections. New York: Pocket, 1996.
Scott, H. M. Review. “The Second ‘Hundred Years War’ 1689-1815”. The Historical Journal 35 (1992): pp. 443-469.