Leslie Jones
The Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon
HY 598-01
November 30, 2015
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was a military conflict between Napoleon's empire and the allied powers of Spain, Britain, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war started when the French and Spanish armies invaded and occupied Portugal in 1807, and escalated in 1808 when France turned on Spain, its ally until then. The war on the peninsula lasted until the Sixth Coalition defeated Napoleon in 1814, and is regarded as one of the first wars of national liberation, significant because of the emergence of guerrilla warfare.
The Peninsular War overlaps with what the Spanish-speaking world calls the Guerra de la
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Vitoria is located on the east of the Zaddora River, with five roads that lead into Vitoria. The armies could enter from the North from Bilbao, from the Northeast from Salinas and Bayonne, East from Salvatierra, South from Logrono, and West from Burgos on the South side of the Zadorra River. The French would come into battle with 60,000 troops, which would put them up against a strong British army of 82,000 troops. The French Army had 49,000 infantry, 11,000 cavalry and 151 guns going into this battle. While the British had more men and few guns with 96 guns they would come to battle and …show more content…
He was seen by Bonapartists as the rightful Emperor of the French after the death of Napoleon's own son Napoleon II in 1832, although he did little to advance his claim.
In 1812, when Napoleon set out with a massive army on what proved to be a disastrous campaign to conquer Russia, a combined allied army under Wellesley pushed into Spain defeating the French at Salamanca and taking Madrid. In the following year, Wellington scored a decisive victory over King Joseph's army at Vitoria. Pursued by the armies of Britain, Spain and Portugal, Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult, no longer able to get sufficient support from a depleted France, led the exhausted and demoralized French forces in a fighting withdrawal across the Pyrenees during the winter of 1813–1814.
The years of fighting in Spain was a heavy burden on France's Grande Armée. While the French were victorious in battle, their communications and supplies were severely tested and their units were frequently isolated, harassed or overwhelmed by partisans fighting an intense guerrilla war of raids and ambushes. The Spanish armies were repeatedly beaten and driven to the peripheries, but they would regroup and relentlessly hound the French. This drain on French resources led Napoleon, who had unwittingly provoked a total war, to call the conflict the "Spanish
Answer the following: Is it valid to call the War of 1812 "America's worst-fought war"? Was the cause of the failure essentially military, or was it an inevitable result of the political disunity over the war's purposes? Provide support for your stance and "discredit" the opposing view. Maximum of 2 pages/ 15 Points
An Historiography Review of Napoleon failed invasion of Russia using Clausewitz and Theodore Evault Dodge books
The British were the culprits that started this war. The fact that Britain and France were at war highly affected the start of the battle. “…the British were impressing American seaman to help fight the war against Napoleon”. They had been helping the Indians by giving them weapons and helping them “attack the frontier”, they hadn’t left our property and fort...
Napoleon just maintains the goals of the French Revolution since he needed to secure and reinforce his own energy.
For four hundred years Spain ruled over an immense and profitable global empire that included islands in the Caribbean, Americas, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. After the Napoleonic Wars (1808-1815) many of Spain’s colonies followed the US’s lead, fighting and winning their independence. These revolts, coupled with other nations chipping away at Spain’s interests, dwindled Spain’s former Empire. By 1860, only Cuba and Puerto Rico were what remained of Spain’s former Empire. Following the lead of other former Spanish colonies, Cuban fighters started their campaign for independence, known as the Ten year war (1868-1878). This war developed into a Cuban insurgency which fought a guerilla war against the Spanish occupation.2
At first, the French won many decisive battles with the aid of its allies against the British Empire. Both countries, however, were relatively equal in size and power at the time, but that would soon change. The British began to turn the tide as they made significant leadership changes in government and amassed their army, particularly their navy, to counter the Allied forces.3 With the new change of leadership, Britain began to pour more effort and money into this war.... ... middle of paper ... ...
The Spanish-American War was the brief conflict that the United States waged against Spain in 1898. The war had grown out of the Cuban struggle for independence, and whose other causes included American imperialism and the sinking of the U.S warship Maine. The actual hostilities in the war lasted four months, from April 25 to August 12, 1898. Most of the fighting occurred in or near the Spanish colonial possessions of Cuba and the Philippines, nearly halfway around the world form each other. In both battlegrounds, the decisive military event was the complete destruction of a Spanish naval squadron by a vastly superior U.S. fleet. These victories, after brief resistance, brought about the surrender of the Spanish to U.S. military forces as indicated by a peace treaty signed between the two countries on December 10, 1898, in Paris, France. In the end, the Americans had minimal casualties, while the Spanish suffered immense fatalities and damage to their naval resources (Encyclopedia Britannica).
The War of 1812 was a war between Britain and the United States fought primarily in Upper Canada. It had many causes, few which involved British North America. The results of the war include the fact that there was no clear winner or loser among them. The only real losers in the situation were the Natives in the region. They were driven out of their lands and customs. None of the borders was changed by the war, though many attempts were made. The Treaty of Ghent, which ended the war, did nothing to advance the state of the countries. It went so far as to end the war and put things back the way that they were, but the main causes of the conflict were not addressed or dealt with. In order to evaluate the significance of this war, Canadian victories and losses, as well as overall results, must be analyzed.
There has been a great deal of controversy between the interpretations of the war of 1812, also know as, “the forgotten war.” Some say it’s the efforts of James Madison to try and measure up to great leaders like Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, of Franklin Roosevelt. But, was this really because of James Madison’s own pettiness or because of miscommunications between countries? One war or another, this war was to lead us towards independence, but some historians might not agree on the easy answer, but go deeper into the source of the war and its effects in America.
The French and Indian War, a continuation of the Seven Years War that ransacked Europe from 1756 to 1763, had turned out to be the bloodiest and one of the most destructive American wars in the 18th century. Taking more lives than the American Revolution, it cosisted of people living on three continents, including the Caribbean islands. The war was a product of an imperial skirmish, between the French and English over colonial territory and wealth. Within these world powers, the French and Indian War can also be apprised of as an aftermath of the localized rivalry between British and French colonists.
Napoleon was a great soldier that graduated from military school at the age of sixteen and quickly worked his way through the ranks. Napoleon was a brilliant leader in battle and consistently defeated armies larger than his own; including when he forced the Austrians to make peace after defeating four of their generals. In 1799 Napoleon and his colleagues overtook the French government and established power. He revised the constitution in 1802 to make himself consul for life, and then again in 1804 to make himself Emperor of France. Soon after Napoleon came to power he restructured the administration, simplified the court system, and began monitoring the schooling system; French law was also put in the Napoleon Code which guaranteed the rights and liberties that were gained through the revolution. Napoleons violent behavior caused war with Britain to break out, who allied with Russia and Austria. Prussia later allied themselves with Russia; creating a huge alliances against France and Napoleon. Napoleon successfully extended his reign over large parts of Europe and put each state under the Napoleon Code, which gave citizens new rights and privileges. In 1812 all of Europe turned against Napoleon, which lead to his exile in 1814. He regained power in 1815 just to loose it later that year. He died in exile in Saint Helena in 1821.
They resisted the continental system ? the system Napoleon set up ? based on Roman government, because it was cutting off their supply?s as it was aimed as destroying the British economy. Conflict broke out and Portugal violated the blockade against the British trade and Spain revolted against Napoleon?s brother?s rule. These small revolts resulted in guerrilla warfare ? small bands of troops that attack in short bursts. Napoleons worst battle was in Russia and it led to his downfall. Napoleon amassed a huge army when Czar Alexander I refused to suppress British trade, and marched on Russia in 1812. Napoleon wanted to fight the Russians in one big battle but the Russians, seeing that they were vastly outnumbered, withdrew and went back to Russia to build a better army. As they went back to Russia the instituted a ?scorched earth policy?, meaning, that they burned everythi...
War would break out after the sinking of the Battleship Maine. This took place in Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898. Before all of this, Spain would become the first European country to claim land, sailing westward crossing the Atlantic, exploring, and colonizing the lands and its inhabitants in the western hemisphere. At the peak of its time, the empire that resulted from Spain’s exploration extended from Virginia all the way to Tierra del Fuego in South America. The empire then continued to expand t...
The first reason for the Spanish American War was public opinion. In 1895, American citizens took notice of a Cuban revolt against their corrupt Spanish oppressor. The Cuban insurgents reasoned that if they did enough damage , the US might move in and help the Cubans win their independence. Not only did Americans sympathize with the Cubans upon seeing tragic reports in the newspaper, but they also empathized in that the US once fought for their own independence from Britain. If France didn’t intervene, the Americans probably would not have won their freedom. As if this did not rally enough hate for the Spanish among the American Public, fuel was added to the flame by the Spanish General (“Butcher”) Weyler. He attempted to crush the rebellion by herding Cubans into barbed-wire concentration camps. In turn, the American public was outraged.
I don’t believe the Philippine War was justified. There are more ways than war to solve the annexation of the Philippines. I agree on some of the policies, but not all of the policies, that were in place during that time period.