1in the spring of 793, Britain, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and some small countries in Sardinia, Italy, formed the first anti-French coalition to jointly attack France. By the beginning of 1794, France basically resisted the allied attacks, pushed the war outside France, and forced Prussia, Spain and the Netherlands to withdraw from the anti-French alliance. From 65438 to 0795, Britain, Russia and Austria disagreed on their strategic intentions, and it was difficult to determine a unified military policy and action against France, which made the war progress slow. 1796 On March 2, Napoleon was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Italian army in France. At the age of 27, he began his unique campaign command. This is also the beginning of his lifelong campaign.
Napoleon led more than 30,000 people, crossed the famous "natural barrier" in the alpine coastal mountainous area, made a breakthrough among the allied forces in Ossa, and won successively in the battles of Monnott, Rorty, Leonet, castel, Akelette and Rivoli, forcing Austria to sign the Campo Formmio Peace Treaty in June 1797+00, thus contributing to the complete disintegration of the first anti-French alliance. In the Italian war that lasted for more than a year, the French army captured the enemy 1.5 million people, captured the flag 1.7, 550 cannons, 600 field guns and 5 warships/ship. It seized many areas from Austria, ruled northern Italy, and made the slogan and system of "freedom and equality" popular in the Italian peninsula. In the Italian War, Napoleon had many military successes, such as: breaking the traditional thought of fear of mountain warfare, he commanded troops to dare to cross the inaccessible "natural barrier", received amazing results, and developed the experience of mountain warfare; Can correctly handle the relationship between siege and field battle, the French army besieged mantua fortress for seven months, but did not storm, but focused on attacking Austrian reinforcements and annihilating them in the field battle; It cultivated the tenacious fighting spirit of the troops and enabled them to win the war under extremely difficult conditions. In view of the fact that Napoleon's army broke through the Alps, Engels said, "From Napoleon's first battle in the Alps in 1796, to his March across the Alps in 1797, until 180 1, the history of the whole war has proved that the mountains and deep valleys in the Alps can no longer make modern troops afraid.
1798 In May, Napoleon led a French expedition to Egypt. In February 65438+, Britain joined forces with Russia, Austria, Portugal, Naples and Turkey to form the second anti-French alliance in an attempt to overthrow the French government and recapture the territory occupied by France. 1799 10, Napoleon returned from Egypt, 1 19, launched a coup and established a new government with him as the first ruling. 1800 In May, Napoleon led his troops into Italy. 14 In June, he fought the Battle of Marengo and defeated the Austrian army. In 65438+February, the French army defeated the Austrian army in Hornlinden. 180 1 year 1 month, France and Austria signed the Luneville Peace Treaty, and the second anti-French alliance disintegrated.
1805 From April to August, Britain, Russia, Austria, Sweden and Sicily formed the third anti-French alliance, which is expected to defeat France with 500,000 allies. Napoleon led the French army to defeat the Russian-Austrian Coalition forces. France and Austria signed the Pressburg Peace Treaty, Russian troops withdrew from Austria, and the third anti-French alliance failed.
1in September, 806, Britain, Russia, Sweden, Saxony and other countries formed the fourth anti-French alliance in an attempt to expel the French army from the occupied area. 65438+ 10 65438+April, the French army and Pusa allied forces fought with Russia in Jena and Auerstaedt, as well as in Orr and friedland, and the French army won, and the fourth anti-French alliance collapsed immediately.
1807165438+1October, the French army invaded Portugal; From March to April of the following year, the French army seized the strategic location of Spain and occupied Madrid. 1809 65438+ 10, Britain and Austria formed the fifth anti-French alliance. In the middle and late April, the French army won five of five wars and repelled the Austrian army entering Bavaria; May 13 reoccupied Vienna. In the same year, 65438+1October 65438+April, France and Austria signed the Shenbrunn Peace Treaty, and the fifth anti-French alliance disintegrated on its own.
1865438+In June 2002, Napoleon led an army of more than 600,000 people to invade Russia. At the beginning of the war, Russian troops were forced to retreat. 17 After the Smolensk meeting in August, Russian troops continued to retreat. On September 14, the French army entered Moscow. Russian troops began to counterattack in June 18; The next day, the French army retreated from Moscow and then retreated one after another. By June+February of 65438, it was almost completely annihilated. Napoleon's invasion of Russia ended in a fiasco that lost more than half a million people.
1865438+In February 2003, Russia and Portugal formed an alliance. In March, Prussia declared war on France. Subsequently, Russia, Britain, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and other countries formed the sixth anti-French alliance (Austria joined in August). Then a series of battles were fought. Napoleon fought in many places and won small victories in succession, but he could not stop the allied forces from advancing in multiple ways. On March 30th, the defenders of Paris surrendered. On April 6, Napoleon was forced to abdicate and was exiled to the island of Elba. 1 865438+On March, 20051day, Napoleon secretly fled to France from the island of Elba and returned to power in Paris on the 20th (known as the "Hundred Days Dynasty" in history). Representatives from Russia, Britain, Sweden, Austria and other countries attending the Vienna Conference immediately formed the seventh anti-French alliance and decided to send 700,000 troops to attack France in five ways. In June, Napoleon led the French army to take the initiative to attack, and the Lini battle was held on 16. Pu Jun was defeated and retreated, and the Battle of Waterloo was held on 18. With the cooperation of Pu Jun, the British army completely defeated the French army. Napoleon fled back to Paris, abdicated again on the 22nd, and was exiled to St. Helena until his death.
Napoleon personally commanded about 60 battles in his life, more than the sum of the famous military commanders Alexander, Hannibal and Caesar in history. Known as a generation of "military giants." Borodino, Leipzig, Battle of Waterloo, etc. Have a high position in the history of war. The Napoleonic War, which lasted for about 20 years, mainly resisted foreign aggression in the early stage and also resisted national oppression in the later stage, but the war was obviously aggressive. The reactionary purpose of plundering other nations and annexing other countries' territories has brought great disasters to the people of Europe and France.
Engels once pointed out: "Napoleon's immortal achievement lies in his discovery of the only way to correctly use the broad masses of armed people in war and strategy, and the emergence of this broad masses of armed people is possible because of the revolution." Napoleon's "meritocracy", not stick to one pattern in selecting generals, usually pays attention to education and training, actively improves equipment, and especially pays attention to the development of artillery and cavalry. In the military history of the world, artillery was officially designated as the arms next to Napoleon, and its successful use played a significant role in promoting the development of artillery in the world. All these have had a far-reaching impact on the construction of the bourgeois army and the development of its operational theory.
Napoleon was good at concentrating his forces to guide the war, dared to win more with less, and tried to decide the outcome of the war with one or two total decisive battles; Long-distance maneuver circuitous, take advantage of the enemy unprepared, surprise victory; Take active attack as the main type of combat, assess the situation and use troops flexibly; There are many innovations in operational command, including the earliest establishment of the General Staff Department in the world. These have developed the bourgeois fighting thought to a peak and aroused widespread concern in the western military circles. Later, many wars launched by western countries were influenced by Napoleon's war thought.