Amiens (1802) was a pause. Malta, trade, and mutual distrust reopened the war in 1803. Ulm and Austerlitz (1805), Jena-Auerstedt (1806), and Friedland (1807) made Napoleon master of the German lands and imposed Tilsit on Russia. The Continental System tried to blockade Britain by land -- an economic war that created smugglers and enemies.
Spain from 1808 was different: a popular war, a British army under Wellington, and a drain Napoleon never sealed. The 1812 Russian campaign -- Borodino, Moscow, the retreat -- is the operational catastrophe. 1813 in Germany became a war of nations; Sweden, Prussia, Austria and Russia coordinated better than in 1805.
Check each criteria to confirm findings against the atlas verdict.
Amiens (1802) was a pause. Malta, trade, and mutual distrust reopened the war in 1803. Ulm and Austerlitz (1805), Jena-Auerstedt (1806), and Friedland (1807) made Napoleon master of the German lands and imposed Tilsit on Russia. The Continental System tried to blockade Britain by land -- an economic war that created smugglers and enemies.
Spain from 1808 was different: a popular war, a British army under Wellington, and a drain Napoleon never sealed. The 1812 Russian campaign -- Borodino, Moscow, the retreat -- is the operational catastrophe. 1813 in Germany became a war of nations; Sweden, Prussia, Austria and Russia coordinated better than in 1805.
The Congress of Vienna redrew Germany and Italy, restored Bourbons, and created a concert that managed crises until the Crimean War. Napoleon died on St Helena in 1821. The legend (bulletins, paintings, the Invalides tomb) became a political resource for later French regimes -- and a British national story about sea power and the square at Waterloo.
Napoleon did not invent coalition war, but he forced Europe to invent mass armies and a diplomatic congress system to contain France. Waterloo closes the era; the Royal Navy paid for Britain's part; later total wars inherited conscription more than musket drill.
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