Napoleon Man of War
Wars of 1806-1807
By John Cook, UK
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In the meantime Prussia hesitated and concluded an alliance with France in February 1806 in which she was to receive Hanover in return for territory on the east bank of the Rhine and closure of her ports to British trade. As a result Britain declared war on Prussia and seized her ships in British ports. The new Franco-Prussian alliance was to be brief and the reasons for its failure were, once again, the responsibility of Napoleon. It is possible to conclude that it was merely a successful ploy to keep Prussia out of the allied camp, and to buy time. Frederick William II had been at peace with France since 1795 and his policy was one of continued neutrality and coexistence-existence. Napoleon, however, provoked the Prussians in 1805 such that it seems deliberate, and had the Russians won at Austerlitz it is almost certain that Prussia would have joined the Third Coalition. Frederick William II, like his famous forebear, had a cabinet of advisors, but unlike Frederick the Great they exerted greater influence on the monarch, thus foreign policy fluctuated in accordance with the ascendancy of the competing war and peace factions within the cabinet. French provocations meant that by 1806 the war faction, epitomised by Queen Louise, exercised the greater influence. There were a number of factors.
2. The creation of the French vassal state of Berg. 3. Creation of the Kingdom of Holland in June 1806. 4. Formation of the Confederation of the Rhine in July1806. 5. Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire of GermanNations. 6. Napoleon’s duplicity over the question of Hanover. 7. The abduction and execution of the Nuremberg publisher Palm. The formation of the Confederation of the Rhine and dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire meant that France dominated almost all of Germany outside the borders of Prussian and Austria, and dictated policy in the region which the Austrians and Prussians considered an important sphere of influence. It provided Napoleon with a buffer, garrisons for the Grande Armée at local rather than French expense, and a springboard for future French attacks. It was also exploited by Napoleon for the good and benefit of France. In the meantime, in March 1806, Napoleon declared the Bourbon monarchy in Naples dissolved, placed Joseph Bonaparte on the throne, and brought the whole of the Italian peninsula under his control. This was yet a further provocation to Austria specifically and a cause for concern throughout the rest of Europe. In June 1806 he placed Louis Bonaparte on the throne of Holland, which was also bound to harden resistance in Britain. Running continental Europe was fast becoming a Bonaparte family business. The treaty France concluded with Prussia had, as described, included the transfer of Hanover in exchange for Prussian territory on the east bank of the Rhine. Napoleon delayed handing over Hanover because he was in secret negotiations with London, which ultimately broke down, in which he had offered Hanover back to Britain in return for a withdrawal of British forces from Sicily so that he could unite it with Naples. On discovery of this duplicity, notwithstanding that the British had rejected the offer out of hand, Prussia concluded a secret alliance with Russia and prepared for war. Johann Philipp Palm, the Nuremberg bookseller, published a pamphlet in 1806 entitled Germany in her Deepest Humiliation, in which he called on Saxony and Prussia to save Germany from Napoleonic domination. Napoleon sent a force under Berthier into foreign territory to seize the unfortunate man, and two others from Augsburg. Palm was promptly executed. Napoleon further decreed that all booksellers who spread similar defamatory writings were to be tried by court martial and shot. Booksellers in Austria who published similar documents were tried in absentia and condemned to death! The kidnapping and murder of Palm was the final straw and the Prussians sent an ultimatum on 26 August which required the French to withdraw from the east bank of the Rhine by 8 October or a state of war would exist. Napoleon bluffed the Prussians by feigning conciliation whilst preparing for war and left for Mainz on 24 September. A final Prussian ultimatum was received on 2 October. The Prussians, in a display of almost unrivalled military ineptitude at the highest level, whose movements were so bizarre that Napoleon had difficulty discerning their intent, were spectacularly defeated when the respective armies blundered into each other in the two encounter battles at Jena and Auserstädt which, because of Berthier’s incompetence, resulted in the bulk of the cavalry being absent from the former. Once again allied co-ordination had been awful. The Prussians were defeated before the Russians could render any assistance and British help was confined to moral support so fast did events unfold. Nevertheless, the outcome of the Jena campaign, including a pursuit unique in the entire wars, which ultimately chased the Prussian army to the Baltic was, unlike that of Austerlitz, not decisive and the Russians continued the war this time, together with remnants of the Prussian army, and fought the French to bloody draw at Eylau in February 1807, followed by the last Napoleonic victory in the old style at Friedland in June. To give this war the title of a ‘coalition’ is wrong. There was no coalition as befor in 1792, 1798 and 1805, indeed, Britain was at war with both France and Prussia as already described . The Treaties of Tilsit
The Second Treaty of Tilsit of 9 July was imposed on a Prussia which Napoleon humiliated to a degree that not even Austria had experienced. Prussia was forced to apply the Continental System and was returned to her 1772 borders. She lost approximately half her territory in Germany which was formed into the artificial kingdom of Westphalia and given to Jérôme, who was married off to a daughter of Frederick I of Württemberg, another German state which had been elevated to the status of a kingdom. Prussian possessions in Poland were absorbed into the Grand Duchy of Warsaw which was placed under the administration of Frederick Augustus of Saxony. In December 1806 Saxony was elevated to the status of a kingdom by the Treaty of Posen, and joined the Confederation of the Rhine on 1 January 1807. Finally, Prussia was required to pay an unprecedented indemnity of 311 million francs which over the period up to 1812 rose to approximately 500 million. Napoleon’s intention was to emasculate the Prussian state. Shortly after the First Treaty of Tilsit had been signed, Napoleon absorbed the Grand Duchy of Warsaw into the Confederation of the Rhine and sent 30,000 troops to the region in contravention of the treaty conditions. This was, of course, seen by Alexander as another major provocation which served to confirm his perceptions of Napoleon’s intention to establish an independent Poland. 1807: DenmarkIt is necessary at this point to rectify Mr. Weider’s description of the British attack on Denmark. Immediately after Tilsit Napoleon began to intimidate Denmark and on 31 July 1807 an ultimatum was delivered to the Danish ambassador in Paris. Denmark was informed by ‘the man of peace’ that France would declare war on her unless she closed her ports to British trade and declared war on Britain; Bernadotte was given command of the forces earmarked for invasion. All this was known to the British through her extensive and efficient network of agents. The purpose was to tighten the noose on British commerce and make use of the Danish fleet for operations in the Baltic, particularly against Sweden which was the remaining British Baltic ally and important trading partner in the region. It would also serve to isolate Britain’s’ expeditionary force which was operating with the Swedes at Straslund. Frederick VI, unable to preserve Denmark’s neutrality in the face of a threatened French invasion, was forced into an alliance with France. The threat presented by the Danish fleet in the Baltic was clear enough for Britain to demand that the unfortunate Danes surrender it. This, of course, the Danes refused to do. The British government determined that it should not fall into French hands and on 16 August troops from Britain, and those which had been formerly operating with the Swedes in Pomerania, disembarked on Danish soil. Further troops arrived during late August and by 31 August Copenhagen was besieged. By 2 September the batteries, comprising 40 mortars, ten howitzers and 30 cannon, were in place and the city was summoned to surrender, which was refused. The initial 12 hour bombardment set fire to the city and three days later it capitulated avoiding the necessity for a storm. Although Denmark did not declare war on Britain until she was attacked, Mr. Weider’s claim that Denmark was a neutral country is incorrect. She had become a de facto French ally which posed a significant naval threat in the Baltic. Britain’s position regarding French allies was consistent and the measures taken to neutralise the threat from the Danish navy in the Baltic were entirely necessary in the national interest. Finally, Mr. Weider’s wild description of the siege of Copenhagen, complete with ‘smart’ weapons that apparently targeted women and children specifically, is simply anglophobic nonsense. It was no more inhuman than any other siege during the period. The Invasion of Portugal and the Peninsular WarWhat can one say about the invasion of Portugal? It is clear from the secret protocols of the Treaty of Tilsit that Napoleon had designs on this country, and his ally Spain, for some time. The purpose of this was, once again, to enforce the Continental System on a neutral country with ports still open to Britain. On 19 July 1807, the Portuguese ambassador in Paris was informed by the ‘man of peace’, as Denmark was to be twelve days later, that unless Portugal closed her ports to British trade and confiscated all British property, France would declare war on her. On 29 July an army was formed under Junot at Bayonne to make good this threat and on 12 August the Portuguese were given a further ultimatum which, in addition to the previous demands, required that they declare war on Britain immediately. Under these circumstances the British and Portuguese governments entered into a secret arrangement by which British forces would be sent to Portugal if the French attacked her, or if Portugal was forced to close her ports to British trade.Portugal also agreed not to reinforce Madeira and undertook to surrender the island to the British for the duration of the war. Portugal further agreed to open her Brazilian markets to British trade if this happened. In the event of a French attack the Portuguese also undertook to send half their fleet to Brazil immediately, out of French hands, whilst the British undertook to provide a Royal Navy escort for the Portuguese royal family to Brazil, together with the remaining half of the Portuguese fleet which would stand-by in the Tagus to join the evacuation. The Portuguese refused to comply with French demands and Napoleon duly declared the House of Braganza dissolved! Having persuaded his Spanish ally to allow passage to attack Portugal, with the promise of dividing the country between them, Junot entered Spanish territory on 19 October. In the meantime Napoleon made preparations, executed with great duplicity, to attack his erstwhile Spanish ally. Even whilst negotiating with the Spanish for passage to conduct a joint attack on Portugal, Napoleon ordered a second force formed at Bayonne on 16 October, under Dupont, with the intention of attacking Spain. Under the terms of Franco-Spanish treaty arrangements Napoleon was allowed, on giving notice to the Spanish government, to send up to 40,000 troops to aid Junot in the event of British landings in Portugal. The French forces on the Spanish border were increased in the coming months and, in February 1808, 80,000 French troops crossed the Spanish frontier and invaded an allied country. Murat’s suppression of the resulting insurrection in Madrid in May 1808 is well enough documented elsewhere to render repetition unnecessary, suffice to say that it was the catalyst for revolt throughout Spain. The Spanish resistance was, however, disparate and uncoordinated but motivated universally by intense indignation at the prospect of Spain becoming a dependency of France. Also in May, Joseph swapped Naples for the Spanish throne, whilst Murat took the former, and the Peninsular War followed. Even Napoleon admitted at leisure that the whole episode was a mixture of treachery and injustice. I don’t think it is worth dwelling much further on the Peninsular War except to say that it resulted from a blatant act of military aggression against a neutral Portugal and an allied Spain. Mr. Weider’s claim that Napoleon’s intention was to return Spain to position of greatness is just risible. It was also a massive error of judgement which drained France and her allies of tens of thousands of men. Most importantly it gave Britain the foothold on the continent she sought, which was ultimately instrumental in his downfall. More Napoleon Man of War Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #56 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com |
Following Friedland Alexander chose to make terms, which were concluded by the First Treaty of Tilsit on 7 July. The terms of the treaty allowed, amongst other things, the Russians to pursue their own territorial ambitions in Finland and the east where Alexander coveted Ottoman possessions in Europe, whilst Napoleon was given a free hand in central and western Europe. It also required the Russians to apply the Continental System and mediate between France and Britain. In the likely event that Britain rejected Russian mediation, which is indeed what occurred, Alexander was to declare war on Britain. In a secret protocol Russia agreed to raise no objections to a French invasion of Spain and Portugal.At the same time the duplicitous Napoleon had been playing both sides off against each other by encouraging Alexander attack the Ottoman Empire, whilst pretending to be the friend of both and encouraging the Sultan Selim III to attack Russia.