The Subalpine Republic ( Italian : Repubblica Subalpina ) was a short-lived republic that existed between 1800 and 1802 on the territory of Piedmont during its military rule by the French Consulate .
116-578: Piedmont was the main part of the Kingdom of Sardinia which, despite its name, had its core on the mainland. The kingdom suffered a first French invasion in 1796, which led to the Treaty of Paris and the loss of Savoy and Nice . After a second invasion in 1798, King Charles Emmanuel IV escaped to Rome, but he never agreed to sign a new peace treaty, approving a final arrangement of its continental territories according to international law. The Piedmontese Republic
232-530: A composite monarchy and a personal union which was formally referred to as the " States of His Majesty the King of Sardinia ". This situation was changed by the Perfect Fusion act of 1847, which created a unitary kingdom. Due to the fact that Piedmont was the seat of power and prominent part of the entity, the state is also referred to as Sardinia - Piedmont or Piedmont-Sardinia and sometimes erroneously as
348-723: A military dictatorship . There are numerous opinions on the date to use as the formal beginning of the Napoleonic Wars; 18 May 1803 is often used, when Britain and France ended the only short period of peace between 1792 and 1814. The Napoleonic Wars began with the War of the Third Coalition , which was the first of the Coalition Wars against the First French Republic after Napoleon's accession as leader of France. Britain ended
464-645: A personal union by having the same ruler. The situation changed with the Perfect Fusion of 1847, an act of King Charles Albert of Sardinia which abolished the administrative differences between the mainland states and the island of Sardinia, creating a unitary kingdom. During the 3rd century BC, the Allobroges settled down in the region between the Rhône and the Alps . This region, named Allobrigia and later "Sapaudia" in Latin,
580-605: A personal union which was formally referred to as the "States of His Majesty the King of Sardinia", such as in the documents of the Congress of Vienna. The Perfect Fusion ( Fusione perfetta ) was the 1847 act of the Savoyard King Charles Albert of Sardinia which abolished the administrative differences between the mainland states and the island of Sardinia, in a fashion similar to the Nueva Planta decrees between
696-455: A capital at Chambéry (now in France). Other areas remained independent, such as the powerful communes of Asti and Alessandria , and the marquisates of Saluzzo and Montferrat . The County of Savoy was elevated to a duchy in 1416, and Duke Emmanuel Philibert moved the seat to Turin in 1563. The Spanish domination of Sardinia ended at the beginning of the 18th century, as a result of
812-452: A collective war effort. Tactically, the French Army had redefined the role of artillery , while Napoleon emphasised mobility to offset numerical disadvantages, and aerial surveillance was used for the first time in warfare. The highly successful Spanish guerrillas demonstrated the capability of a people driven by fervent nationalism against an occupying force. Due to the longevity of
928-494: A dramatic miscalculation. There was one serious attempt to negotiate peace with France during the war, made by Charles James Fox in 1806. The British wanted to retain their overseas conquests and have Hanover restored to George III in exchange for accepting French conquests on the continent. The French were willing to cede Malta, Cape Colony, Tobago , and French Indian posts to Britain but wanted to obtain Sicily in exchange for
1044-634: A global scale for over a decade. The British government paid out a large amount of money to other European states so that they could pay armies in the field against France. These payments are colloquially known as the Golden Cavalry of St George . The British Army provided long-term support to the Spanish rebellion in the Peninsular War of 1808–1814, assisted by Spanish guerrilla ('little war') tactics. Anglo-Portuguese forces under Arthur Wellesley supported
1160-696: A liberal ministry under Count Camillo Benso di Cavour was installed and the Kingdom of Sardinia became the engine driving Italian unification . The Kingdom of Sardinia took part in the Crimean War , allied with the Ottoman Empire , Britain , and France , and fighting against Russia . In 1859, France sided with the Kingdom of Sardinia in a war against Austria , the Austro-Sardinian War . Napoleon III did not keep his promises to Cavour to fight until all of
1276-533: A new alliance began, the War of the Sixth Coalition . The coalition defeated Napoleon at Leipzig , precipitating his fall from power and eventual abdication on 6 April 1814. The victors exiled Napoleon to Elba and restored the Bourbon monarchy . Napoleon escaped from Elba in 1815, gathering enough support to overthrow the monarchy of Louis XVIII , triggering a seventh, and final, coalition against him . Napoleon
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#17328481900871392-486: A new flag, which consisted of a red-blue-gold triband (based on the flag of the earlier Republic of Alba ). Its motto was Liberté, Égalité , which was taken from the French motto Liberté, égalité, fraternité . The Subalpine Republic was heavily dependent on France and was never really independent as it was under French military occupation . The state was not recognized by the international community. Its government changed
1508-542: A new income tax. The cost of the war amounted to £831 million. In contrast, the French financial system was inadequate and Napoleon's forces had to rely in part on requisitions from conquered lands. From London in 1813 to 1815, Nathan Mayer Rothschild was crucial in almost single-handedly financing the British war effort, organising the shipment of bullion to the Duke of Wellington's armies across Europe, as well as arranging
1624-633: A number of times during its brief existence, and was made up of the following people: Paris introduced French-style reforms within the Subalpine Republic. It used the French franc , and also minted its own coins. In March 1801, when the Treaty of Lunéville ended the war with Austria, Paris resumed its annexation goals, the Piedmontese Army was incorporated into the French Army, and a few months later
1740-674: A part of the Sardinian region. In 1792, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the other states of the Savoy crown joined the War of the First Coalition against the French First Republic , but was beaten in 1796 by Napoleon and forced to conclude the disadvantageous Treaty of Paris (1796) , giving the French army free passage through Piedmont. On 6 December 1798 General Joubert occupied Turin and forced Charles Emmanuel IV to abdicate and leave for
1856-515: A retention of Malta for at least ten years, the permanent acquisition of the island of Lampedusa from the Kingdom of Sicily, and the evacuation of Holland. They also offered to recognise French gains in Italy if they evacuated Switzerland and compensated the King of Sardinia for his territorial losses. France offered to place Malta in the hands of Russia to satisfy British concerns, pull out of Holland when Malta
1972-751: A standing army of 220,000 at the height of the Napoleonic Wars, of whom less than 50% were available for campaigning. The rest were necessary for garrisoning Ireland and the colonies and providing security for Britain. France's strength peaked at around 2,500,000 full-time and part-time soldiers including several hundred thousand National Guardsmen whom Napoleon could draft into the military if necessary. Both nations enlisted large numbers of sedentary militia who were unsuited for campaigning and were mostly employed to release regular forces for active duty. The Royal Navy disrupted France's extra-continental trade by seizing and threatening French shipping and colonial possessions , but could do nothing about France's trade with
2088-618: The Statuto Albertino . By the time of the Crimean War in 1853, the Savoyards had built the kingdom into a strong power. There followed the annexation of Lombardy (1859), the central Italian states and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1860), Venetia (1866), and the Papal States (1870). On 17 March 1861, to more accurately reflect its new geographic, cultural and political extent,
2204-649: The Austrian Empire out of the war , and formally dissolving the Holy Roman Empire. Within months, Prussia declared war, triggering a War of the Fourth Coalition . This war ended disastrously for Prussia, which had been defeated and occupied within 19 days of the beginning of the campaign. Napoleon subsequently defeated Russia at Friedland , creating powerful client states in Eastern Europe and ending
2320-615: The Consulate and transforming the republic into a de facto dictatorship. He further reorganised the French military forces, establishing a large reserve army positioned to support campaigns on the Rhine or in Italy. Russia had already been knocked out of the war , and, under Napoleon's leadership, the French decisively defeated the Austrians in June 1800 , crippling Austrian capabilities in Italy. Austria
2436-560: The Crown of Castile and the realms of the Crown of Aragon between 1707 and 1716 and the Acts of Union between Great Britain and Ireland in 1800. In 1848, King Charles Albert granted the Statuto Albertino , which functioned as the constitution of the state. The Statute was proclaimed only because of concern at the revolutionary insurrection agitating Italy in 1848. At the time, Charles Albert
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#17328481900872552-621: The Directory , suffered from heavy levels of corruption and internal strife . The new republic also lacked funds, no longer enjoying the services of Lazare Carnot , the minister of war who had guided France to its victories during the early stages of the Revolution . Bonaparte, commander of the Armée d'Italie in the latter stages of the First Coalition, had launched a campaign in Egypt , intending to disrupt
2668-616: The Erster Napoleonischer Krieg ("First Napoleonic War"). In Dutch historiography, it is common to refer to the 7 major wars between 1792 and 1815 as the Coalition Wars ( coalitieoorlogen ), referring to the first two as the French Revolution Wars ( Franse Revolutieoorlogen ). Napoleon was, and remains, famous for his battlefield victories, and historians have spent enormous attention in analysing them. In 2008, Donald Sutherland wrote: The ideal Napoleonic battle
2784-659: The First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte (1804–1815) and a fluctuating array of European coalitions . The wars originated in political forces arising from the French Revolution (1789–1799) and from the French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802) and produced a period of French domination over Continental Europe . The wars are categorised as seven conflicts, five named after the coalitions that fought Napoleon, plus two named for their respective theatres:
2900-590: The House of Savoy , and hence this title was and still is used often to indicate the whole of their possessions. In reality, the Savoys ruled not a unitary state, but a complex array of different entities and titles with different institutional, cultural, and legal backgrounds. These included for example the Duchy of Savoy , Duchy of Aosta , Principality of Piedmont , and County of Nice , which were distinct and not juridically part of
3016-476: The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia had been conquered. Following the bloody battles of Magenta and Solferino , both French victories, Napoleon thought the war too costly to continue and made a separate peace behind Cavour's back in which only Lombardy would be ceded. Due to the Austrian government's refusal to cede any lands to the Kingdom of Sardinia, they agreed to cede Lombardy to Napoleon, who in turn then ceded
3132-614: The Kingdom of Piedmont . Before becoming a possession of the House of Savoy, the medieval Kingdom of Sardinia had been part of the Crown of Aragon and then of the burgeoning Spanish Empire . With the 1720 Treaty of The Hague , the island of Sardinia and its title of kingdom were ceded by the Habsburg and Bourbon claimants to the Spanish throne to the Duke of Savoy , Victor Amadeus II . The Savoyards united it with their historical possessions on
3248-461: The Kingdom of Sardinia , which included only the island of Sardinia itself. The Savoys themselves referred to their possessions as a whole as " the States of the King of Sardinia " ( Italian : "gli Stati del Re di Sardegna"). Today, historians use the term Savoyard state to indicate this entity, which is an example of composite monarchy where many different and distinct territories are united in
3364-476: The Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia proclaimed the Kingdom of Italy , so ratifying the annexations of all other Apennine states, plus Sicily, to the Kingdom of Sardinia. The institutions and laws of the kingdom were quickly extended to all of Italy, abolishing the administrations of the other regions. Piedmont became the most dominant and wealthiest region in Italy and the capital of Piedmont, Turin, remained
3480-503: The Republic of Genoa . Following Geneva 's accession to Switzerland , the Treaty of Turin (1816) transferred Carouge and adjacent areas to the newly-created Swiss Canton of Geneva . In 1847–48, through an act of Union analogous to the one between Great Britain and Ireland , the various Savoyard states were unified under one legal system with their capital in Turin, and granted a constitution,
3596-462: The Sardinian scudo , the coins that had been in use on the island throughout the period. Before 1847, only the island of Sardinia proper was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia , while the other mainland possessions (principally the Duchy of Savoy , Principality of Piedmont , County of Nice , Duchy of Genoa and others) were held by the Savoys in their own right, hence forming a composite monarchy and
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3712-477: The Savoyard state from 1720 until 1861, which united the island of Sardinia with the mainland possessions of the House of Savoy . Before 1847, only the island of Sardinia proper was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia , while the other mainland possessions (principally the Duchy of Savoy , Principality of Piedmont , County of Nice , Duchy of Genoa and others) were held by the Savoys in their own right, hence forming
3828-575: The Seven Years' War , which historians term a " world war ". In response to the naval blockade of the French coasts enacted by the British government on 16 May 1806, Napoleon issued the Berlin Decree on November 21, 1806, which brought into effect the Continental System . This policy aimed to eliminate the threat from Britain by closing French-controlled territory to its trade. Britain maintained
3944-507: The Swiss Confederation . Austria joined the alliance after the annexation of Genoa and the proclamation of Napoleon as King of Italy on 17 March 1805. Sweden, which had already agreed to lease Swedish Pomerania as a military base for British troops against France, entered the coalition on 9 August. The Austrians began the war by invading Bavaria on 8 September 1805 with an army of about 70,000 under Karl Mack von Leiberich , and
4060-751: The Treaty of Amiens , declaring war on France in May 1803. Among the reasons were Napoleon's changes to the international system in Western Europe, especially in Switzerland , Germany, Italy , and the Netherlands . Historian Frederick Kagan argues that Britain was irritated in particular by Napoleon's assertion of control over Switzerland. Furthermore, Britons felt insulted when Napoleon stated that their country deserved no voice in European affairs, even though King George III
4176-521: The Treaty of Stupinigi , the Kingdom of Sardinia extended its protectorate over the Principality of Monaco . In the reaction after Napoleon, the country was ruled by conservative monarchs: Victor Emmanuel I (1802–21), Charles Felix (1821–31) and Charles Albert (1831–49), who fought at the head of a contingent of his own troops at the Battle of Trocadero , which restored the reactionary Ferdinand VII to
4292-805: The War of the Spanish Succession . By the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, Spain's European empire was divided: Savoy received Sicily and parts of the Duchy of Milan , while Charles VI (the Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria ), received the Spanish Netherlands , the Kingdom of Naples , Sardinia, and the bulk of the Duchy of Milan. During the War of the Quadruple Alliance , Victor Amadeus II , Duke of Savoy and Prince of Piedmont (and now King of Sicily too), had to agree to yield Sicily to
4408-691: The War of the Third Coalition , War of the Fourth Coalition , War of the Fifth Coalition , War of the Sixth Coalition , War of the Seventh Coalition , the Peninsular War , and the French invasion of Russia . The first stage of the war broke out when Britain declared war on France on 18 May 1803, alongside the Third Coalition. In December 1805, Napoleon defeated the allied Russo-Austrian army at Austerlitz , thus forcing Austria to make peace. Concerned about increasing French power, Prussia led
4524-449: The fascist government of Benito Mussolini (who ruled with the tacit approval of King Victor Emmanuel III ), the Statute lasted mostly unaltered in the structure until the implementation of the republican constitution in 1948, which superseded several primary features of the document, with specific regard to those of monarchical nature. The head of state was the King of Sardinia , while
4640-518: The Austrian Habsburgs and receive Sardinia in exchange. The exchange was formally ratified in the Treaty of The Hague of 17 February 1720. Because the Kingdom of Sardinia had existed since the 14th century, the exchange allowed Victor Amadeus to retain the title of king in spite of the loss of Sicily. Victor Amadeus initially resisted the exchange, and until 1723 continued to style himself King of Sicily rather than King of Sardinia. The state took
4756-421: The British army, in accordance with the orders which had subsequently been countermanded. On 8 March they ordered military preparations to guard against possible French retaliation and justified them by falsely claiming that it was only in response to French preparations and that they were conducting serious negotiations with France. In a few days, it was known that Cape Colony had been surrendered in accordance with
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4872-502: The British control of India . Pressed from all sides, the Republic suffered a string of successive defeats against revitalised enemies, who were supported by Britain's financial help. Bonaparte returned to France from Egypt on 23 August 1799, his campaign there having failed . He seized control of the French government on November 9, in a bloodless coup d'état , replacing the Directory with
4988-428: The British fleet away from the English Channel . A complex plan to distract the British by threatening their possessions in the West Indies failed when a Franco-Spanish fleet under Admiral Villeneuve turned back after an indecisive action off Cape Finisterre on 22 July 1805. The Royal Navy blockaded Villeneuve in Cádiz until he left for Naples on 19 October; the British squadron caught and overwhelmingly defeated
5104-454: The British from evacuating it after three months as stipulated in the treaty. The Helvetic Republic was set up by France when it invaded Switzerland in 1798 . France had withdrawn its troops, but violent strife broke out against the government , which many Swiss saw as overly centralised. Bonaparte reoccupied the country in October 1802 and imposed a compromise settlement . This caused widespread outrage in Britain, which protested that this
5220-418: The Continental System, led to Napoleon invading Russia in June 1812. The invasion was an unmitigated disaster for Napoleon; scorched earth tactics, desertion, French strategic failures and the onset of the Russian winter compelled Napoleon to retreat with massive losses . Napoleon suffered further setbacks: French power in the Iberian Peninsula was broken at the Battle of Vitoria the following summer, and
5336-459: The Fourth Coalition. Concurrently, the refusal of Portugal to commit to the Continental System, and Spain 's failure to maintain it, led to the Peninsular War and the outbreak of the War of the Fifth Coalition . The French occupied Spain and formed a Spanish client kingdom , ending the alliance between the two. Heavy British involvement in the Iberian Peninsula soon followed, while a British effort to capture Antwerp failed. Napoleon oversaw
5452-519: The French Revolution had been received with great alarm by the rulers of Europe's continental powers, further exacerbated by the execution of Louis XVI , and the overthrow of the French monarchy . In 1793, Austria , the Kingdom of Sardinia , the Kingdom of Naples , Prussia , the Kingdom of Spain , and the Kingdom of Great Britain formed the First Coalition to curtail the growing power of revolutionary France. Measures such as mass conscription , military reforms, and total war allowed France to defeat
5568-439: The French army marched out from Boulogne in late July 1805 to confront them. At Ulm (25 September – 20 October) Napoleon surrounded Mack's army, forcing its surrender without significant losses. With the main Austrian army north of the Alps defeated (another army under Archduke Charles fought against André Masséna 's French army in Italy ), Napoleon occupied Vienna on 13 November. Far from his supply lines, he faced
5684-412: The French government believed that cutting Britain off from the Continent would end its economic influence over Europe and isolate it. A key element in British success was its ability to mobilise the nation's industrial and financial resources, and apply them to defeating France. Though the UK had a population of approximately 16 million against France's 30 million, the French numerical advantage
5800-467: The Italian Republic annexed Novara (as the department of Agogna ). 45°04′N 07°42′E / 45.067°N 7.700°E / 45.067; 7.700 This Italian history article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about the period of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kingdom of Sardinia (1720%E2%80%931861) The Kingdom of Sardinia denotes
5916-405: The Italian capital until 1865, when the capital was moved to Florence . But many revolts exploded throughout the peninsula, especially in southern Italy, and on the island of Sicily, because of the perceived unfair treatment of the south by the Piedmontese ruling class. The House of Savoy ruled Italy until 1946, when Italy was declared a republic by referendum . Major progress in the economy
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#17328481900876032-481: The Italian peninsula . The war in Iberia greatly weakened Spanish power, and the Spanish Empire began to unravel; Spain would lose nearly all of its American possessions by 1833 . The Portuguese Empire also shrank, with Brazil declaring independence in 1822. The wars revolutionised European warfare; the application of mass conscription and total war led to campaigns of unprecedented scale, as whole nations committed all their economic and industrial resources to
6148-468: The Italian peninsula, and the kingdom came to be progressively identified with the peninsular states, which included, besides Savoy and Aosta , dynastic possessions like the Principality of Piedmont and the County of Nice, over both of which the Savoyards had been exercising their control since the 13th century and 1388, respectively. Under Savoyard rule, the kingdom's government, ruling class, cultural models and center of population were entirely situated in
6264-406: The Kingdom of Sardinia changed its name to the Kingdom of Italy , and its capital was eventually moved first to Florence and then to Rome . The Savoy-led Kingdom of Sardinia was thus the legal predecessor of the Kingdom of Italy, which in turn is the predecessor of the present-day Italian Republic . The Kingdom of Sardinia was the title with the highest rank among the territories possessed by
6380-419: The Kingdom of Sardinia were to keep the new acquisitions they would have to cede Savoy and Nice to France. This was done through the Treaty of Turin , which also called for referendums to confirm the annexation. Subsequently, somewhat controversial referendums showed over 99.5% majorities in both areas in favour of joining France. In 1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi started his campaign to conquer southern Italy in
6496-431: The Royal Navy, doubling the number of frigates , adding 50 per cent more large ships of the line , and increasing the number of sailors from 15,000 to 133,000 in eight years after the war began in 1793. France saw its navy shrink by more than half. The smuggling of finished products into the continent undermined French efforts to weaken the British economy by cutting off markets. Subsidies to Russia and Austria kept them in
6612-420: The Savoyard shield, as his flag. This flag would later become the flag of the Kingdom of Italy , and the tricolor without the Savoyard escutcheon remains the flag of Italy . References : Napoleonic Wars Other coalition members: 100,000 regulars and militia at peak strength (1813) [REDACTED] French Empire : The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of conflicts fought between
6728-430: The Savoyards of recognizing the Sardinian's rights and representaion in government caused the Sardinian Vespers (also known as the "Three years of revolution") started by sa dii de s'aciappa ("the day of the pursuit and capture"), commemorated today as Sa die de sa Sardigna , when people in Cagliari started chasing any Piedmontese functionaries they could find and expelled them from the island. Thus, Sardinia became
6844-439: The Spanish throne. Victor Emanuel I disbanded the entire Napoleonic Code and returned the lands and power to the nobility and the Church. This reactionary policy went as far as discouraging the use of roads built by the French. These changes typified Sardinia. The Kingdom of Sardinia industrialized from 1830 onward. A constitution, the Statuto Albertino , was enacted in the year of revolutions, 1848 under liberal pressure. In
6960-400: The Spanish, who campaigned successfully against the French armies, eventually driving them from Spain and allowing Britain to invade southern France. By 1815, the British Army played the central role in the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. Beyond minor naval actions against British imperial interests, the Napoleonic Wars were much less global in their scope than preceding conflicts such as
7076-486: The administrative management of the region ended up completely in French hands as the Subalpine Gaul . Scholars in Paris underlined the resemblance of the Piedmontese language , at time the popular speaking while the Italian language was limited to the universities, with the French language . On 4 June 1802, Charles Emmanuel abdicated in favour of his brother Victor Emmanuel I , who was in Cagliari under British naval protection. Napoleon took this opportunity to declare
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#17328481900877192-439: The anti-French press. Malta was captured by Britain during the war and was subject to a complex arrangement in the 10th article of the Treaty of Amiens, where it was to be restored to the Knights of St. John with a Neapolitan garrison and placed under the guarantee of third powers. The weakening of the Knights of St. John by the confiscation of their assets in France and Spain along with delays in obtaining guarantees prevented
7308-433: The coalition, despite the concurrent civil war in France . Napoleon , then a general of the French Revolutionary Army , forced the Austrians to sign the Treaty of Campo Formio , leaving only Great Britain opposed to the fledgling French Republic. A Second Coalition was formed in 1798 by Great Britain, Austria, Naples, the Ottoman Empire , the Papal States , Portugal , Russia , and Sweden . The French Republic, under
7424-412: The coalitions arrayed against him. The so-called Continental System formed a League of Armed Neutrality to disrupt the blockade and enforce free trade with France. The British responded by capturing the Danish fleet , breaking up the league, and later secured dominance over the seas , allowing it to freely continue its strategy. Napoleon won the War of the Third Coalition at Austerlitz , forcing
7540-448: The combined enemy fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October (the British commander, Lord Nelson , died in the battle). Napoleon never again had the opportunity to challenge the British at sea, nor to threaten an invasion. He again turned his attention to the enemies on the Continent. In April 1805, Britain and Russia signed a treaty with the aim of removing the French from the Batavian Republic (roughly present-day Netherlands) and
7656-442: The counter-orders, but it was too late. Bonaparte berated the British ambassador in front of 200 spectators over the military preparations. The Addington ministry realised they would face an inquiry over their false reasons for the military preparations, and during April unsuccessfully attempted to secure the support of William Pitt to shield them from damage. In the same month, the ministry issued an ultimatum to France, demanding
7772-561: The creation of the Fourth Coalition, which resumed war in October 1806. Napoleon soon defeated the Prussians at Jena-Auerstedt and the Russians at Friedland , bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. The treaty had failed to end the tension, and war broke out again in 1809, with the Austrian-led Fifth Coalition. At first, the Austrians won a significant victory at Aspern-Essling but were quickly defeated at Wagram . Hoping to isolate and weaken Britain economically through his Continental System , Napoleon launched an invasion of Portugal ,
7888-426: The date according to the Republican Calendar then in use; 18 May 1803, when Britain and France ended the one short period of peace between 1792 and 1814; or 2 December 1804, when Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor . British historians occasionally refer to the nearly continuous period of warfare from 1792 to 1815 as the Great French War, or as the final phase of the Anglo-French Second Hundred Years' War , spanning
8004-453: The east , while the Peninsular War spilled over into southwestern France . Coalition troops captured Paris at the end of March 1814, forced Napoleon to abdicate in April, exiled him to the island of Elba , and restored power to the Bourbons . Napoleon escaped in February 1815 and reassumed control of France for around one Hundred Days . The allies formed the Seventh Coalition, which defeated him at Waterloo in June 1815, and exiled him to
8120-512: The economic consequences of reduced trade, routinely violated the Continental System, prompting Napoleon to launch a massive invasion of Russia in 1812. The resulting campaign ended in disaster for France and the near-destruction of Napoleon's Grande Armée . Encouraged by the defeat, Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia formed the Sixth Coalition and began a new campaign against France, decisively defeating Napoleon at Leipzig in October 1813. The Allies then invaded France from
8236-425: The fall of the Western Roman Empire, the region was repeatedly invaded by the Burgundians, the Goths (5th century), Byzantines , Lombards (6th century), and the Franks (773). At the time, what is known today as Piedmont, as part of the Kingdom of Italy within the Holy Roman Empire , was subdivided into several marks and counties. In 1046, Oddo of Savoy added Piedmont to their main segment of Savoy , with
8352-514: The final forfeiture of the old sovereignty over Piedmont, and plans were made to annex it to France. The Subalpine Republic ceased to exist on 11 September 1802, when it was divided between the French Republic and the Italian Republic . The French Republic annexed the départements of Doire , Marengo , Pô (briefly named "Éridan", after Eridanos ), Sesia , Stura , and Tanaro , while
8468-578: The first European country to have engaged in a revolution of its own, the episode not being the result of a foreign military importation like in most of Europe. In 1814, the Crown of Savoy enlarged its territories with the addition of the former Republic of Genoa , now a duchy, and it served as a buffer state against France. This was confirmed by the Congress of Vienna , which returned the region of Savoy to its borders after it had been annexed by France in 1792. By
8584-495: The flag of a naval power. This posed the problem that the same flag was already in use by the Knights of Malta . Because of this, the Savoyards modified their flag for use as a naval ensign in various ways, adding the letters FERT in the four cantons, or adding a blue border, or using a blue flag with the Savoy cross in one canton. Eventually, King Charles Albert of Savoy adopted the "revolutionary" Italian tricolor , surmounted by
8700-461: The fundamental reorganization of German and Italian territories into larger states, and the introduction of radically new methods of conducting warfare. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the Congress of Vienna redrew Europe's borders and brought a relative peace to the continent, lasting until the Revolutions of 1848 and the Crimean War in 1853. Napoleon seized power in 1799, establishing
8816-641: The head of the government was the Prime minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia . The Royal Sardinian Army and the Royal Sardinian Navy functioned as the military of Kingdom of Sardinia until they became the Royal Italian Army on 4 May 1861 and the Regia Marina on 17 March 1861. When the Duchy of Savoy acquired the Kingdom of Sicily in 1713 and the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1723, the flag of Savoy became
8932-406: The international system unstable, and forcing Britain to the sidelines. Numerous scholars have argued that Napoleon's aggressive posture made him enemies and cost him potential allies. As late as 1808, the continental powers affirmed most of his gains and titles, but the continuing conflict with Britain led him to start the Peninsular War and the invasion of Russia , which many scholars see as
9048-522: The island of Saint Helena , where he died six years later in 1821. The wars had profound consequences on global history, including the spread of nationalism and liberalism , advancements in civil law , the rise of Britain as the world's foremost naval and economic power , the appearance of independence movements in Spanish America and the subsequent decline of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires ,
9164-473: The island of Sardinia. The provisionary government voted to unite Piedmont with France. In 1799 the Austro-Russians briefly occupied the city, but with the Battle of Marengo (1800), the French regained control. The island of Sardinia, having defeated the armies of the French expedition to Sardinia without the royal army's help, stayed out of the reach of the French for the rest of the war. The refusal by
9280-528: The kingdom's governmental institutions would be centralized in Turin. When the peninsular domains of the House of Savoy were occupied and eventually annexed by Napoleonic France , the king of Sardinia temporarily resided on the island for the first time in Sardinia's history under Savoyard rule. The Congress of Vienna (1814–15), which restructured Europe after Napoleon's defeat, returned to Savoy its peninsular possessions and augmented them with Liguria, taken from
9396-457: The major continental economies, and posed little threat to French territory in Europe. France's population and agricultural capacity greatly outstripped Britain's. Britain had the greatest industrial capacity in Europe, and its mastery of the seas allowed it to build up considerable economic strength through trade. This ensured that France could never consolidate its control over Europe in peace. Many in
9512-457: The name of the Kingdom of Sardinia. He quickly toppled the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies , which was the largest of the states in the region, stretching from Abruzzo and Naples on the peninsula to Messina and Palermo on Sicily. He then marched to Gaeta in the central peninsula. Cavour was satisfied with the unification, while Garibaldi, who was too revolutionary for the king and his prime minister, wanted to conquer Rome as well. Garibaldi
9628-498: The official title of Kingdom of Sardinia, Cyprus and Jerusalem , as the House of Savoy still claimed the thrones of Cyprus and Jerusalem , although both had long been under Ottoman rule. In 1767–1769, Charles Emmanuel III annexed the Maddalena archipelago in the Strait of Bonifacio from the Republic of Genoa and claimed it as part of Sardinia. Since then the archipelago has been
9744-600: The only remaining British ally in continental Europe. After occupying Lisbon in November 1807, and with the bulk of French troops present in Spain, Napoleon seized the opportunity to turn against his former ally, depose the reigning Spanish royal family , and declare his brother King of Spain in 1808 as José I . The Spanish and Portuguese thus revolted, with British support, and expelled the French from Iberia in 1814 after six years of fighting . Concurrently, Russia , unwilling to bear
9860-570: The orders to not restore Cape Colony. At the same time, Russia finally joined the guarantee regarding Malta. Concerned that there would be hostilities when Bonaparte found out that Cape Colony had been retained , the British began to procrastinate on the evacuation of Malta. In January 1803, a government paper in France published a report from a commercial agent which noted the ease with which Egypt could be conquered. The British seized on this to demand satisfaction and security before evacuating Malta, which
9976-400: The payment of British financial subsidies to their continental allies. Britain gathered allies to form the Third Coalition against The French Empire after Napoleon was self-proclaimed as emperor. In response, Napoleon seriously considered an invasion of Great Britain , massing 180,000 troops at Boulogne . Before he could invade, he needed to achieve naval superiority—or at least to pull
10092-485: The peninsula. The island of Sardinia had always been of secondary importance to the monarchy. While the capital of the island of Sardinia and the seat of its viceroys had always been de jure Cagliari , it was the Piedmontese city of Turin , the capital of Savoy since the mid 16th century, which was the de facto seat of power. This situation would be conferred official status with the Perfect Fusion of 1847, when all
10208-609: The period 1689 to 1815. Historian Mike Rapport (2013) suggested using the term "French Wars" to unambiguously describe the entire period from 1792 to 1815. In France, the Napoleonic Wars are generally integrated with the French Revolutionary Wars: Les guerres de la Révolution et de l'Empire . German historiography may count the War of the Second Coalition (1798/9–1801/2), during which Napoleon had seized power, as
10324-456: The process by which even a smaller French army could defeat the enemy's forces one by one. After 1807, Napoleon's creation of a highly mobile, well-armed artillery force gave artillery usage an increased tactical importance. Napoleon, rather than relying on infantry to wear away the enemy's defences, could now use massed artillery as a spearhead to pound a break in the enemy's line. Once that was achieved he sent in infantry and cavalry. Britain
10440-514: The restoration of Hanover, a condition which the British refused. Unlike its many coalition partners, Britain remained at war during the period of the Napoleonic Wars. Protected by naval supremacy (in the words of Admiral Jervis to the House of Lords "I do not say, my Lords, that the French will not come. I say only they will not come by sea"), Britain did not have to spend the entire war defending itself and could thus focus on supporting its embattled allies, maintaining low-intensity land warfare on
10556-536: The right choice for Britain because, in the long run, Napoleon's intentions were hostile to the British national interest. Napoleon was not ready for war, and so this was the best time for Britain to stop them. Britain seized upon the Malta issue, refusing to follow the terms of the Treaty of Amiens and evacuate the island. The deeper British grievance was their perception that Napoleon was taking personal control of Europe, making
10672-454: The same year the island of Sardinia, a Piedmontese dependency for more than a century, lost its own residual autonomy to the peninsula through the so-called Perfect fusion issued by Charles Albert; as a result, the kingdom's fundamental institutions were deeply transformed, assuming the shape of a constitutional and centralized monarchy on the French model; under the same pressure, Charles Albert declared war on Austria . After initial success,
10788-774: The situation in Iberia, defeating the Spanish , and expelling the British from the Peninsula. Austria, eager to recover territory lost during the War of the Third Coalition, invaded France's client states in Eastern Europe in April 1809. Napoleon defeated the Fifth Coalition at Wagram . Plans to invade British North America pushed the United States to declare war on Britain in the War of 1812 , but it did not become an ally of France. Grievances over control of Poland , and Russia's withdrawal from
10904-434: The territory to the Kingdom of Sardinia to avoid "embarrassing" the defeated Austrians. Cavour angrily resigned from office when it became clear that Victor Emmanuel would accept this arrangement. On 5 March 1860, Parma, Piacenza , Tuscany , Modena , and Romagna voted in referendums to join the Kingdom of Sardinia. This alarmed Napoleon, who feared a strong Savoyard state on his south-eastern border and he insisted that if
11020-590: The uneasy truce created by the Treaty of Amiens when it had declared war on France in May 1803. The British were increasingly angered by Napoleon's reordering of the international system in Western Europe, especially in Switzerland, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Kagan argues that Britain was especially alarmed by Napoleon's assertion of control over Switzerland. The British felt insulted when Napoleon said it deserved no voice in European affairs (even though King George
11136-537: The war took a turn for the worse and Charles Albert was defeated by Marshal Radetzky at the Battle of Custozza (1848) . Like all the various duchies and city-states on the Apennine peninsula and associated islands, the Kingdom of Sardinia was troubled with political instability under alternating governments. After a short and disastrous renewal of the war with Austria in 1849, Charles Albert abdicated on 23 March 1849 in favour of his son Victor Emmanuel II . In 1852,
11252-512: The war, the Kingdom of Prussia rose to become a great power , while Great Britain, with its unequalled Royal Navy and growing Empire , became the world's dominant superpower , beginning the Pax Britannica . The Holy Roman Empire had been dissolved, and the philosophy of nationalism that emerged early in the war contributed greatly to the later unification of the German states , and those of
11368-505: The war. The British budget in 1814 reached £98 million, including £10 million for the Royal Navy, £40 million for the army, £10 million for the allies, and £38 million as interest on the national debt, which had soared to £679 million, more than double the GDP. This debt was supported by hundreds of thousands of investors and taxpayers, despite the higher taxes on land and
11484-420: The wars, the extent of Napoleon's conquests, and the popularity of the ideals of the French Revolution , the period had a deep impact on European social culture. Many subsequent revolutions, such as that of Russia , looked to the French as a source of inspiration, while its core founding tenets greatly expanded the arena of human rights and shaped modern political philosophies in use today. The outbreak of
11600-505: Was definitively defeated that December , by Moreau 's forces in Bavaria . The Austrian defeat was sealed by the Treaty of Lunéville early the following year, further compelling the British to sign the Treaty of Amiens with France, establishing a tenuous peace. No consensus exists as to when the French Revolutionary Wars ended and the Napoleonic Wars began. Possible dates include 9 November 1799, when Bonaparte seized power on 18 Brumaire ,
11716-473: Was a convenient stepping stone to Egypt. France disclaimed any desire to seize Egypt and asked what sort of satisfaction was required, but the British were unable to give a response. There was still no thought of going to war; Prime Minister Henry Addington publicly affirmed that Britain was in a state of peace. In early March 1803, the Addington ministry received word that Cape Colony had been reoccupied by
11832-450: Was a violation of the Treaty of Lunéville. Although continental powers were unprepared to act, the British decided to send an agent to help the Swiss obtain supplies, and also ordered their military not to return Cape Colony to Holland as they had committed to do in the Treaty of Amiens. Swiss resistance collapsed before anything could be accomplished, and, after a month, Britain countermanded
11948-544: Was achieved during the government of Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour . Cavour believed that economic progress had to precede political change, and stressed the advantages of railroad construction in the peninsula. He was a strong supporter of transportation by steam engine , sponsoring the building of many railroads and canals. Between 1838 and 1842 Cavour began several initiatives in attempts to solve economic problems in his area. He experimented with different agricultural techniques on his estate, such as growing sugar beets , and
12064-576: Was an elector of the Holy Roman Empire ) and sought to restrict the London newspapers that were vilifying him. Britain had a sense of loss of control, as well as loss of markets, and was worried by Napoleon's possible threat to its overseas colonies . McLynn argues that Britain went to war in 1803 out of a "mixture of economic motives and national neuroses—an irrational anxiety about Napoleon's motives and intentions." McLynn concludes that it proved to be
12180-440: Was an elector of the Holy Roman Empire . For its part, Russia decided that the intervention in Switzerland indicated that Napoleon was not looking toward a peaceful resolution of his differences with the other European powers. The British hastily enforced a naval blockade of France to starve it of resources. Napoleon responded with economic embargoes against Britain, and sought to eliminate Britain's Continental allies to break
12296-515: Was declared on 10 September 1798 and it existed until 20 June 1799, when it was conquered by Austro-Russian troops. However, Russian Marshall Alexander Suvorov was the sole political actor showing the will to restore the Kingdom of Sardinia's authority in Piedmont: as the old Republic’s fate was the annexation to France, the Austrian goal was the union of the region to the Holy Empire. More, this dispute
12412-518: Was disappointed in this development, as well as in the loss of his home province, Nice, to France. He also failed to fulfill the promises that had gained him popular and military support by the Sicilians: that the new nation would be a republic, not a kingdom, and that the Sicilians would see great economic gains after unification. The former did not come to pass until 1946. On 17 March 1861, law no. 4671 of
12528-516: Was evacuated, and form a convention to give satisfaction to Britain on other issues. The British falsely denied that Russia had made an offer, and their ambassador left Paris. Desperate to avoid a war, Bonaparte sent a secret offer where he agreed to let Britain retain Malta if France could occupy the Otranto peninsula in Naples. All efforts were futile, and Britain declared war on 18 May 1803. Britain ended
12644-786: Was integrated to the Roman Empire . In the 5th century, the region of Savoy was ceded by the Western Roman Empire to the Burgundians and became part of the Kingdom of Burgundy . Piedmont was inhabited in early historic times by Celto- Ligurian tribes such as the Taurini and the Salassi . They later submitted to the Romans ( c. 220 BC ), who founded several colonies there including Augusta Taurinorum (Turin) and Eporedia ( Ivrea ). After
12760-456: Was irritated by several French actions following the Treaty of Amiens . Bonaparte annexed Piedmont and Elba , made himself President of the Italian Republic , a state in northern Italy that France had set up, and failed to evacuate Holland , as it had agreed to do in the treaty. France then continued to interfere with British trade despite peace having been made and complained about Britain harbouring certain individuals and not cracking down on
12876-503: Was offset by British subsidies that paid for many of the Austrian and Russian soldiers, peaking at about 450,000 men in 1813. Under the Anglo–Russian agreement of 1803, Britain paid a subsidy of £1.5 million for every 100,000 Russian soldiers in the field. British national output continued to be strong, and the well-organised business sector channeled products into what the military needed. Britain used its economic power to expand
12992-581: Was one of the first Italian landowners to use chemical fertilizers. He also founded the Piedmontese Agricultural Society. The currency in use in Savoy was the Piedmontese scudo . During the Napoleonic era , it was replaced in general circulation by the French franc . In 1816, after regaining their peninsular domains, the scudo was replaced by the Sardinian lira , which in 1821 also replaced
13108-612: Was one of the main reasons of the political collapse of the Second Coalition . In 1800 Napoleon returned to Italy, taking back much of the new republics. The Piedmontese Republic was re-established on 20 June 1800. To mark a difference with the Austrian occupation, the First Consul temporary suspended his annexation desires, and the local government took the name of Piedmontese Nation ( Italian : Nazione Piemontese ). The republic had its capital at Turin . On 9 July 1800, it adopted
13224-450: Was only following the example of other Italian rulers, but his Statute was the only constitution to survive the repression that followed the First War of Independence (1848–49). The Statute remained the basis of the legal system after Italian unification was achieved in 1860 and the Kingdom of Sardinia became the Kingdom of Italy. Even though it suffered deep modifications, especially during
13340-409: Was then decisively defeated at Waterloo , and he abdicated again on 22 June. On 15 July, he surrendered to the British at Rochefort , and was permanently exiled to remote Saint Helena . The Treaty of Paris , signed on 20 November 1815, formally ended the war. The Bourbon monarchy was once again restored, and the victors began the Congress of Vienna to restore peace to Europe. As a direct result of
13456-422: Was to manipulate the enemy into an unfavourable position through manoeuvre and deception, force him to commit his main forces and reserve to the main battle and then undertake an enveloping attack with uncommitted or reserve troops on the flank or rear. Such a surprise attack would either produce a devastating effect on morale or force him to weaken his main battle line. Either way, the enemy's own impulsiveness began
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