A History of the Nations and Em

l conditions Finally

and Germany - The C

Moreau at Hohenlind

Napoleon - Campaign

uest of Prussia - The

Campaign of 1809 - V

The Invasion of Russ

The Hundred Days - T

oly A

r the plain of time. The myriad of petty happenings are lost to sight, and we see only the striking events, the critical epochs, the mighty crises through which the world has passed. These are the things that make true history, not the daily doings in the king's palace or the peasant's hut. What we should seek to observe and store up in our memories are the turning points in human events, the great thoughts which have ripened into noble deeds, the hands of might which have pushed the world forward in its career; not the triflin

this genius of war. He was respected, feared, hated; he had risen with the suddenness of a thunder-cloud on a clear horizon, and flashed the lightnings of victory in the dazzled eyes of the nations. All the events of the period were concentrated into one gre

public; Napoleon rose from the people, and was not even a native of the land which became the scene of his exploits. Pure force of military genius lifted him from the lowest to the highest place

e, his native ability as a man of action was first made evident in 1794, when, under the orders of the National Conven

ng the Austrians and the Sardinians wherever he met them, seizing Venice, the city of the lagoon, and forcing almost all Italy to submit t

en at the head of the government, had lost all authority, and Napoleon, who had unexpectedly returned, did not hesitate to overthrow them and the Assembly which supported them. A

IN FRANCE

in India, while founding colonies in twenty other lands. In commerce and manufactures it entered the nineteenth century as the greatest nation on the earth. The hammer and the loom resounded from end to end of the island, mighty centers of industry arose where cattle had grazed a century before, coal and iron were being torn in great quantities from the depths of the earth, and there see

til 1786, and whose ambition, daring, and military genius made him a fitting predecessor of Napoleon the Great, who so soon succeeded him in the annals of war. Unscrupulous in his aims, this warrior k

ither holy nor an empire." It had drifted down in this fashion from the Middle Ages, and the work of consolidation had but just begun, in the conquests of Frederick the Great. A host of petty potentates ruled the land, whose states, aside from Prussia and Austr

ous neighbor, Frederick the Great, his kingdom being extended ruthlessly at the expense of her imperial dominions. Austria remained a great country, however, inclu

in effect the power of a king. No one dared question his word, the army was at his beck and call, the nation lay prostrate at his feet - not in fear but in admiration. Such was the state of affairs in France in the c

Russia, by a shrewd move. While the other nations refused to exchange the Russian prisoners they held, Napoleon sent home 6,000 of these captives, newly clad an

a, offering peace. The answers were cold and insulting, asking France to take back her Bourbon kings and return to her o

PAIGN I

mined to take advantage of the separation of their forces, and strike an overwhelming blow. He sent word to Moreau and Massena to keep the enemy in check at any cost, and secretly gathered a third army, whose co

cross the mountains seemed favorable to his purpose, especially those of the St. Bernard, the Simplon and Mount Cenis. Of these the first was the most difficult; but it was much the shorter, and Napoleon determined to lead the main body of his army over this ice-covered mou

oleon was equal to the task. The cannon were taken from their carriages and placed in the hollowed-out trunks of trees, which could be dragged with ropes over the ice and

epulsed an Austrian force. The divisions which had crossed by other passes one by one joined Napoleon. On June 9th Marshal Lannes met and defeated the Austrians at Montebello, after a hot e

TORY AR

ated and driven back in retreat in the first stage of the battle. But Napoleon was not the man to accept defeat. Hurrying up Desaix, one of his most trusted generals, with his corps, he flung these fresh troops upon the enemy,

of cannon, and forced from the Austrians an armed truce which left him master of South Germany. A still more momentous armistice was signed by Me

AT HOHE

ive months later, Austria refusing to make peace without the concurrence of England, the war began again. Moreau winning an

ol, a number of fortresses and large magazines of war material. This truce was followed by a peace in February, 1801. It was one that left Napoleo

SUL MAD

but able ruler, making himself king in everything but name, restoring the old court customs and etiquette, but not interfering with the liberties and privileges whi

than Caesar, he escaped their plots and was elected Emperor of the French by an almost unanimous vote of the people. The Pope was obliged to come to Paris at the fiat of the new autocrat and to anoint him as emperor,

ODE N

made in the financial system that provided the great sums needed for these enterprises. The most important of these evidences of intellectual activity was the Code Napoleon, the first organized code of French law and still the basis of

ance. It practically ended in 1803, when Great Britain, Napoleon's most persist

andy, Napoleon prepared a large fleet and strong army and threatened an invasion of the island kingdom. This might possibly have been successful but for the

IGN O

Great Britain at their back. The bold Corsican had roused nearly all Euro

he army prepared for the invasion of England was at once set in motion towards the Rhine, and was hand

e allies to 70,000 French) came face to face on the field of Austerlitz, where

OF AU

to occupy the plateau of Pratzen, which Napoleon had designedly left free. His plans of battle were already fully made. He had, with the intuition of genius, foreseen the

" he said, "and while the enemy march to turn

with the purpose of cutting off the road to Vienna by isolating numerous corps dispersed

he afterward famous "sun of Austerlitz." The movement of the allies had the effect of partly withdrawing their troops from the plateau of Pratzen. At a signal from the emperor the strongly concentrated center of t

ent. "See how the French climb the height without staying to r

n its arms and surrendered. Two columns rushed upon the ice of a frozen lake. Upon this the fire of the French cannon was turned, the ice splintered and gave way beneath their feet and thousands of the despairing troops perished in the freezing waters. Of the w

he states of Germany were numerous and radical. Those of south and west Germany were organized into the Confederation of the Rhine, under his protection. Many of the small principalities were suppressed and their territories added to the larger states. As to the

been seriously affected by Napoleon's map-making, and in the end its king, Frederick William, b

QUEST O

wly collecting his troops and war material, the veterans of France were already on the march and approaching the borders of Prussia. The hasty levies of "Fred

in panic and flight. Nothing could stop them. Reinforcements coming up, 20,000 in number, were thrown acr

ictory for the French. The king had been with the duke and was borne back by the flying host, the two bodies of fugitives finally coalescing. In that

ollowed, and the war ended with new map-making which grea

ASION O

army found itself exposed to serious privations. The country was a frozen desert, incapable of supplying food for an army. The wintry chill and the desolate character of the country seriously interfered with Napoleon's plans, the troops being obliged to make their way through thick and rain-soaked forests, and

AND FR

uary 30, 1807, Napoleon left Warsaw and marched in search of the enemy. General Benningsen retreated, avoiding battle, and on the 7th of February entered the small town of

overing some small lakes formed part of the country upon which the armies were encamped, but was thic

n to decimate the opposing ranks. The Russian fire was concentrated on the town, which was soon in flames. That of the French was directed against a hill which the emperor deemed it important

nse that the armies lost sight of each other, the French columns losing their way in the gloom. When the snow ceased, after a half-hour's fall, the French a

e cavalry of his army, driving the Russians back, occupying a hilly ground in th

sed before either was in condition to resume the war. It was the month of June before the armies were again put in motion. Now the wintry desolati

nigsberg, toward which the Russians were marching. Here Benningsen, the Russian general, had incautiously conce

, many being killed on the field, many more drowned in the river. Konigsberg, the prize of victory, was quickly occupied by the French, Prussia the ally of Russ

to induce him to mitigate his harsh terms. In vain she brought to bear upon him all her powers of persuasion an

of victory was for a time diversified by an example of defeat, from the consequences of which only his indomitable ene

re in person. He defeated the insurgents wherever met, took the city of Saragossa and replaced his brother Joseph on

IGN O

trary acts of the conqueror, this growing so intense that in April 1

harles, who led the Austrians, proved equally rapid, and was in the field so quickly that the wi

nd captured a large number of prisoners and cannon. In Italy, on the contrary, the Austrians, were victorious, but the rapid advance of Napoleon towards Vi

he opposite side of the Danube. Napoleon, seeking to strike a blow before a junction between the armies could be made,

aving the French in a perilous situation. On the afternoon of the 21st the entire Austrian army, 70,000 to 8

the swift current. The struggle went on all day, the bridge being again built and again broken, and at night the French, cut off from their supply of ammunition, were forced to retreat. Nap

RY AT

until by July 1st he had an army of 150,000 men. The Austrian army had also been augmented and now numbered 135,

ied by them, as a more favorable point, and during the night of July 4th he threw fresh bridges from Lobau to the main land and set i

his brother John, which failed to appear, and, assailed at every point, was obliged to order a retreat. But this was no rout. The retreat was conducted slowly and in battle array. Both t

he obsolete one of his enemies, and his path to empire was over the corpses of slaughtered armies and the ruins of fallen kingdoms. But year by year his foes learned his art, in war after war their resistance grew more stringent, each successive victory was won with more difficulty and at greater

PAIGN I

away by the Austrian war. This ended by the treaty of peace, he filled Spain once more with his veterans, increasing the strength of the army there to 300,000 men, under his ablest generals, Soult, Massena, Ney, Mar

ult, who followed him, was equally unsuccessful, and when Napoleon in 1812 depleted his army in Spain for the Russian campaign, Well

ASION O

e gathered near the end of June 1812, an immense army of more than 600,000 men, attended by an enormous multitude of non-combatants, their purpose being the invasion of the empire of Russia. Of this great army, made up of troops from half the nations of Europe, there reappeared six months later on that broad stream about 16,000 arm

der's commander in chief, adopted a Fabian policy, that of persistently avoiding battle, and keeping the French in pursui

der the hot midsummer sun, did the work of many battles, and when Smolensk was reached after two

e Russians, weary of retreating, faced him in one battle, that of Borodino. Here they fought stubbornly, but with the usual result. They could not stand against the impetuous dash of Napoleon's veterans a

AL RE

lace of the Kremlin, from which he hoped to dictate terms of peace to the obstinate Czar. What were his feelings on the ne

mlin did not escape and Napoleon was obliged to seek shelter outside the city, which conti

were left unanswered. He hung on despairingly until the 18th of October, when he reluctantly gave

the army followers had also greatly decreased in numbers. But it was still a

point. The food supply rapidly failed. On again reaching Smolensk the army was on

arms crossed, but 18,000 stragglers fell into the hands of the enemy. How many were trodden to death in the press or were crowded from the bridge into the icy river cannot be told. It is said that when spring thawed

ringly clung, recrossed the Niemen, which the "Grand Army" had passed in such magnificent strength and with such abounding

N AND

hered another army, refused all offers of peace on the terms suggested by his enemies, and

ays' battle against all the powers of central and eastern Europe. Then, h

s famous Old Guard. But the Powers of Europe, despite their long experience of Napoleon, did not yet recognize the ability and audacity of the man with whom they had to deal. While the Congress of Vienna, convened to restore the old constitution of Europe, was

UNDRE

rapidly organizing a new army, with which in June he marched into Belgium, where th

ch army broke and fled in disastrous rout, three-fourths of its force being left on the field, dead, wounded, or prisoners. It was the great soldier's last fight. He was forced to surrender the throne, and was again exiled, this time to the island of St. Helena, in the south Atlantic. No s

GRESS O

tself with map-making on a liberal scale. The empire which the conqueror had built up at the expense of the neighboring countries, was quickly dismembered and

ould not go altogether for nothing. The lingering relics of feudalism had vanished, not only from France but from all Europe, and no monarch or congress could bring them back again. In its place the principles of democracy ha

OLY A

under the promising title of the "Holy Alliance." These devout autocrats proposed to rule in accordance with the precepts of the

t was not long before there was work for them to do. The people began to move. The attempt to re-establish absolute governments shook them out of sluggish acceptance. Rev

nce, was sent to Spain, and both the revolutions were vigorously quelled. The only revolt that succeeded was one in Greece against the Turkish p

n was the order of the day. But it was a reaction that was to be viole