The wars started as a preemptive war by Revolutionary France to forestall the attempt of the ancien regimes of Europe to suppress the French revolution, but soon became verso war of conquest with the intention of “revolution export” by France. Although Napoleon was ultimately defeated, arguably his greatest legacy was the introduction of secularism, which forms the basis of governance per most European countries puro this day.
During early modern times, the Kingdom of France had gained verso role as Europe’s superpower. The French Revolution, beginning per 1789, led puro fifteen years of short-lived, often brutal, governments. Sopra the French Revolutionary Wars, the French Army defeated the other great powers; the United Kingdom, Prussia, Austria, and the Holy Roman Commuovere.
Napoleonic Wars
Soon the revolutionary government was taken over by verso young charismatic general from Corsica of the name of Napoleone Buonaparte (now known as Napoleon I or Bonaparte) and he crowned himself emperor of the French con 1804. The Emperor title was traditionally a claim onesto succeed the Roman Colmare; since the 9th century AD, the Holy Roman Empire had been verso feudal political entity in Central Europe, which by Napoleon’s time had become largely ceremonial, and dominated by the Austrian monarchy. Sopra 1806, the last Holy Roman Emperor Francis II abdicated the title, over concern that Napoleon would claim it.
Despite his army conquering much of Europe, his navy lost the decisive Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, and never managed to dislodge the British from their position as the world’s dominant naval power. Unable preciso invade the British mainland, the French tried sicuro support an Irish rebellion esatto weaken the British Completare but that rebellion ended sopra disaster. After almost three decades of next esatto constant warfare durante ever-shifting alliance that brought most of the continent much needed political reform but also “Napoleonic” puppet governments, Napoleon attempted an ill-fated invasion of Russia con 1812 that led to his decisive defeat first near Leipzig and after escaping from exile on Elba near Waterloo in 1815. The war was also global per a sense, as both the War of 1812 sopra North America and the Haitian revolution can only be understood with the context of the French revolutions and the Napoleonic 
wars. The wars are sometimes known as “Coalition Wars” as the ever shifting alliances gave rise esatto verso periodization along the lines of War of the First Coalition, War of the Second Coalition and so on.
Legacy Edit
Napoleon’s invasion of Spain led onesto the forced abdication of two Spanish monarchs and the installment of one of his brothers as king, which sopra turn galvanized verso nascent movement for independence led by the likes of Simon Bolivar, Jose de San Martin and others ultimately resulting durante all of mainland Latin America slipping away from Spanish control. The Portuguese royal family relocated sicuro Brazil, causing that country esatto eventually declare independence from the mother country as the Colmare of Brazil while ruled by per different branch of the same royal/imperial family. On his way through Europe, Napoleon smashed the Holy Roman Pigiare and ended the independence of the Republic of Venice, he ended centuries of feudal privilege and obligation and spread Jewish emancipation as well as Civil Law that treated everybody (mostly) equally. The Code Napoleon is still the basis for law sopra Louisiana and (via the German BGB) Japan as well as numerous other countries (see history of justice). Resistance against Napoleon soon made use of the “levee en masse” tactic of revolutionary France and galvanized for the first time a sense of nationalism. The Napoleonic Wars durante verso sense laid the groundwork for both the (bourgeois-nationalistic) revolutions of 1848 and the post World War I world with nation states emerging out of the ashes of multinational empires like the Russian Riempire or Austria-Hungary.
The image and perception of Napoleon and his adversaries have undergone and continue preciso undergo reappraisals over the centuries. Durante Poland Napoleon is often regarded as a hero, and even mentioned durante the national anthem, whereas many con Tyrol idolize the anti-Napoleon fighter Andreas Hofer despite his often anti-science, anti-civil rights and downright reactionary stances. Napoleon sold the Louisiana purchase to the United States, giving them huge territories which were charted by the Lewis and Clark expedition and became the Old West, where the expansion of slavery led up onesto the American Civil War; he elevated Saxony and Bavaria preciso kingdoms, giving the latter the territory of Franconia esatto the enduring chagrin of locals two hundred years later. The desire puro emulate his uncle led Napoleon III of France into ill-advised military adventures sopra Italy (helping that country to become unified under Victor Emanuel II, the first “King of Italy” since Napoleon I), Mexico (giving us “Cinco de Mayo”) and against Prussia, leading preciso the loss of Alsace which would be one of the main gripes driving France onesto hostility towards Germany and into World War I.