The Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts fought between France under Napoleon Bonaparte and shifting coalitions of European powers, including Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia. They began when the short Peace of Amiens broke down, and Napoleon built a French-dominated empire across much of the continent. The Royal Navy's victory at Trafalgar in 1805 secured British control of the seas, but Napoleon won on land at Austerlitz. His disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812, and defeat at Leipzig in 1813, led to his abdication. After his return from exile, he was finally beaten at Waterloo in June 1815, and the Congress of Vienna redrew Europe's map.
Before and after
- 25 March 1802Treaty of Amiens
- 24 July 1802Birth of Alexandre Dumas
- 1803Discovery of rhodium
- 1803Discovery of palladium
- from 1803 to 1815Napoleonic Wars
- 1803Discovery of iridium
- 30 April 1803Louisiana Purchase
- 25 May 1803Birth of Ralph Waldo Emerson
- from 18 June 1803 to 6 December 1803Blockade of Saint-Domingue
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 18 June 1812 to 18 February 1815War of 1812
- from October 1853 to February 1856Crimean War
- from 19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871Franco-Prussian War
- from 1885 to 1914Scramble for Africa
- from 25 April 1898 to 11 August 1898Spanish–American War
- from 8 February 1904 to 5 September 1905Russo-Japanese War
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.