Causes of the Napoleonic wars

The Contemporary Age begins with a period of great changes in the social orbit in which they would go laying the foundations for new government structures and with it the end of absolute monarchies in Europe. In this lesson from a TEACHER we bring you the causes of the Napoleonic wars, through which, Napoleon bonapartetook control of a large part of Europe, putting in check the entire absolutist system that had existed until now and installing in different corners of the geography kings more akin to his ideals, as would be the case of José I "Pepe Botella", his brother, on the throne of Spain in the year 1808.

Starting our lesson on the causes of the Napoleonic wars, we must talk about a series of fundamental elements to understand the passage from a Republic to an Empire, with its consequent eagerness to expand:

Rise of the bourgeoisie

In the first place, we must find one of the most important incentives in the bourgeois class, social class that had led to the end of the absolute monarchy of Louis XVI because, while it was in operation, they would not have possibility to enter the head of society, although they were the wealthiest people in all of France, since they owned the most commercial houses and banks important.

Therefore, we have to see in the attempt to reach the same situation as the nobility, one of the destabilizing elements of France because at manage to move up the social ladder, they were the first to be placed in a conservative model, to preserve the improvements that had achieved.

Clashes between the population

Secondly, and keeping much relation with the first point, we will talk about the second cause of the Napoleonic wars, since a Once the constitution was created, the moderate groups were facing the exalted groups, experiencing very shocking moments such as the "Period of terror".

This would lead to the third and most important point, since On November 9, 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte carried out a coup, thus creating the Consulate, which gave him full powers.

Thus ends in France the period known as the French Revolution, to give way to the government of Napoleon, which, advised by Fouche, proclaimed on May 28, 1804 the Empire that would be a consulate for life and would also have an heir.

It will be the creation of the Empire the most important trigger of the Napoleonic wars, as they allowed Napoleon Bonaparte to gain control of the entire French state. In this way he began to carry out a series of campaigns to gradually add territories to the new empire. thus starting in Italy and reaching Russia, where he would be stopped thanks to the cunning of the tsars.

It must be borne in mind that, until the creation of the consulate, Napoleon was a simple military man who was in charge of the explorations undertaken in Egypt at a time of expansionism defined by the French Republic itself.

After this we will find some facts that led to a series of changes in the dominance of Europe because until 1805 France, Although it was an imperialist state, it had remained more or less settled in its territories, occupying some areas of Italy. But after the defeat at Trafalgar Before the English, European power changed hands because until then, Spain had a large army that placed it in a rank of the first power being a great ally for Napoleon, (who did not want to have such a powerful and near).

From that moment, England became the mistress of the seas with an army that had came out reinforced and had also crushed the two most important enemy armies in a single battle.

Continuing with our lesson on the causes of the Napoleonic wars, the defeat of Spain in Trafalgar It meant the end of the relations of equals that existed with France, something that caused Napoleon to start treating it as a state inferior, forcing her to sign a pact so that her troops would pass through Spanish territory with the premise that she was going to attack Portugal.

Within that treaty was also the one that Spain attacked its neighboring country initiating the war of the oranges, although in the end this was only a stratagem on the part of the emperor to enter with his army and force both Fernando VII and Carlos IV to abdicate and thus obtain the Spanish Crown.

To conclude our lesson on the causes of the Napoleonic wars, we must emphasize a series of events that occurred after the defeat of the emperor:

• The fall of the great empiresLike Spain, it was one of the most important events that will exist at the beginning of the Contemporary Age, we must know that, From that moment on, power will swing towards the German-speaking countries, such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire or Prussia.
• The independence of the American colonies, the current South American countries, began a series of movements to become independent, at the time of greatest weakness of their metropolises, as would be the case of Spain, which lost in a short time all the continental territories, being able to keep only Cuba, Puerto Rico and Philippines
• It was also the moment of the appearance of human rights and the appearance of the civil code, created by Napoleon himself and that after his defeat was not abolished.