Britain's role in the defeat of Napoleon Flashcards
When were the Napoleonic Wars?
1803-19815
What did Britain do in this period?
Continued to create and finance coalitions with other countries in Europe, maintained a naval blockade against France to weaken French trade and used its navy to fight the French and their allies at sea.
What did Britain maintain with Spain?
A war in Spain between 1808 and 1814 using 60,000 troops to support Spanish and Portuguese forces.
What did Britain not really contribute to?
The land fighting, the biggest British army fought in Spain between 1808 and 1814 in the Peninsular War. This army contained 60,000 men. However, the majority of forces fighting France in the Peninsular War were Spanish and Portuguese. Britain spent £18 million supporting their armies in a guerrilla war.
How much money did Britain spend on the war? What was this for?
Britain spent £600 million on the war and subsided its allies heavily.
What led to Napoleon’s downfall?
It was not financial support that led to Napoleon’s downfall, It was his own mistakes that undid him. He arrogantly invaded Russia in 1812 which was a disaster and cost hundreds of thousands of troops.
What did Napoleon do after invading Russia?
Napoleon continued to keep fighting even after his failure in Russia. The disaster in Russia weakened Napoleon’s to such an extent that he couldn’t defend Spain and Portugal and he was defeated in the Peninsular War in 1814 after the British army invaded France through Spain.
Why was the Peninsular War won?
The Peninsular war was only successful because France was much weaker by 1812 but there was still a large French army of approximately 200,000 men in Spain and Wellington’s campaign was a success.
Who’s leadership was significant in winning in Spain?
The Duke of Wellington’s.
What weakened Napoleon’s campaigns?
He was forced to keep 200,000-300,000 troops in Spain which weakened his efforts in other campaigns, like Russia. Napoleon called the Peninsular War his ‘Spanish Ulcer’.
Overall summary of Napoleon’s defeat.
Britain’s decision to rely on the navy was never going to lead to France’s defeat without some major successes on land. In other words, Britain could never have defeated France by itself. Britain’s strategy only worked because Napoleon over-over-committed to the war and suffered catastrophic losses between 1812 and 1814 in Russia.
