Because of the duality of the Napoleonic Wars, it is necessary to comprehensively analyze its influence, not only its negative consequences, but also its historical progress.
1. The Napoleonic Wars brought disaster to the European people.
The Napoleonic Wars violated the sovereignty of some European countries, plundered and enslaved the people of all countries, and brought unprecedented catastrophe to the people of all European countries. Napoleon adopted the war policy of supporting war with war. He levied military taxes on the occupying country and requisitioned military materials, which increased the burden on the people of the occupied country. 1804, the total amount of money he received from the occupying power was as high as10.23 billion francs, accounting for one seventh of France's total annual income. During the period of 1807- 1809, Napoleon collected one billion francs from Prussia and other countries.
In addition, he plundered many classical cultural relics and artistic treasures from the Pope and Italian countries, and shipped them back to Paris continuously. He replaced constant revolution with constant war? He completely satisfied the egoism of the French nation. When Napoleon marched from Egypt to Syria, he captured more than 4,000 Albanians in the Turkish army and killed them all without mercy. In Cairo, just because a few French soldiers were killed, they ordered a village to be burned and looted. In Italy, in order to suppress the riots in pavia, he burned the city of Binasco and allowed the French army to rob it for several days. In Madrid, Spain, the French army captured the city and slaughtered more than 20,000 Spanish defenders and more than 30,000 citizens.
Second, the Napoleonic Wars defended the victory of the French Revolution.
The purpose of the anti-French alliance to put out the French Revolution and restore the feudal ruling order in Europe is unshakable. Napoleon won many wars with the anti-French alliance, saved revolutionary France again and again, dealt a heavy blow to the feudal forces in Europe, defended the achievements of the 17-year French Revolution, consolidated it in France, and had unshakable and powerful vitality. The Bourbon dynasty restored later could not be a comprehensive restoration from the economic base to the superstructure, but only a partial restoration. It is because the bourgeois state machine was further improved and strengthened during the Napoleonic period, and the capitalist relationship was consolidated and developed, and it was impossible to completely restore the previous feudal rule.
Third, the Napoleonic Wars broke the feudal order in European countries and accelerated the bourgeois reform in European countries.
At that time, most of Europe was a serfdom country with a feudal monarchy. Before the French Revolution, Germany was nominally ruled by the Holy Roman Empire. In fact, it was organized by more than 300 small vassal States, which were politically divided, feudal and extremely backward economically. In various vassal States, princes and nobles are tyrannical, church monks are overbearing, farmers are in serfdom, uneducated, ignorant and backward, industries are underdeveloped, all walks of life are declining, and people live in poverty.
After defeating the third anti-French alliance and occupying the left bank of the Rhine and many small countries, Napoleon drove away the feudal princes and bishops there, canceled all kinds of corvees, feudal tributes and church tithes, eliminated the feudal privilege hierarchy, and declared the equality and freedom of citizens. Later, 16 states joined the Rhine Union, generally carried out bourgeois reforms, carried out the Napoleonic Civil Code, and abolished the holy Roman Empire which lasted for more than 800 years. The Napoleonic Wars first accelerated the development of capitalism in the Rhine region and laid a solid foundation for the Rhine region to become a world-famous industrial base. Napoleon defeated Prussia, and Prussia was baptized and reformed by the French Revolution. Prussia began bourgeois reforms for national rejuvenation, such as abolishing serfdom.
Reduce the burden and labor of farmers on landlords, abolish the right of nobles to be exempted from paying land tax, cancel the restrictions on guilds and implement free employment. These measures opened the way for Prussia to develop capitalism and promoted the historical process of Prussia. Napoleon was the founder of the German bourgeoisie. Because of Prussia's inevitable freedom of management under his oppression, Germans have industry and expanded the exploitation of mineral deposits.
Napoleon's army cleaned up the land like immigrants who entered the virgin forest in the western frontier of the United States. The virgin forest of "Christian Germany" association disappeared like a sunrise cloud in the victorious March of the French army. For Germany, Napoleon was not a tyrannical tyrant as his enemies said. He is a representative of the German revolution, a disseminator of revolutionary principles and a destroyer of the old feudal society. Napoleon made great contributions to cleaning the cowshed and building a civilized traffic avenue in Ghias.
Napoleon destroyed the Holy Roman Empire and merged Germany from more than 300 divided small countries into more than 30 big countries, which created conditions for the reunification of Germany. This is a progressive phenomenon in history. Napoleon cleaned up the feudal system in Germany, Italy, Poland, Belgium and other countries by means of war, which created conditions for the development of capitalism in Europe.
Fourth, the Napoleonic Wars spread the ideas of the French Revolution and promoted the bourgeois revolutionary movement in Europe.
The bourgeois revolutionary thought of equality, freedom and fraternity put forward by the French Revolution spread to the feudal countries conquered by Napoleon with the Napoleonic War, giving the people of those feudal countries anti-feudal ideological weapons. In the countries and regions he conquered, Napoleon helped local bourgeois advanced people to establish a republic, and implemented the French revolutionary system, revolutionary principles and Napoleon's civil code, thus making the idea of freedom and equality take root among the people of European countries during the French Revolution and greatly impacting European feudalism.
The Italian Republic of Gulias and the Southern Alpine Republic, founded by Napoleon, both formulated constitutions and basically accepted the principles of the French Revolution. They all abolished feudal aristocratic privileges, confiscated church land, implemented civil equality, and promulgated and published freedom. Later, although the Southern Alpine Republic was changed to the Italian Republic, it did not change the class nature of its bourgeois regime, and this kingdom was still loved and supported by the advanced Italian bourgeoisie. During the fourteen years when Napoleon ruled Italy, he not only built good roads, bridges, buildings, schools and parks, but also enforced the Napoleonic Code.
With the disappearance of the old national boundaries, Italians began to regard themselves as Italians, not Tuscans or Piedmontese, and a national consciousness began to emerge. Because of Napoleon's political achievements, French revolutionary thought penetrated into the hearts of the Italian people, took root in the minds of the Italian people, and laid the ideological foundation for Italy's later reunification. An Italian patriot wrote: "No one knows better than me how grateful I am to Napoleon, and no one knows better than me the value of every drop of blood that moistens and revives Italian land."
Napoleon also brought the influence of the French Revolution to Poland, Belgium, Holland and other countries by means of war. In Poland, Napoleon made the civil class and nobility equal in law, abolished serfdom, made the church obey the state power, and reformed the social administrative institutions, which created the premise for the future development of capitalism in Poland. In Belgium, the construction of Napoleon laid the rudiment of modern Belgium. After Napoleon's occupation, Belgium completely eliminated the disadvantages of feudalism and cleared the obstacles to the development of capitalism. In the Netherlands, during the Napoleonic era, the Netherlands carried out successful financial and educational reforms and implemented the Napoleonic Code. After the collapse of Napoleon, the Netherlands regained its independence, but most of the reforms of the Napoleonic era still existed.
5. From the historical development, it promoted the process of European unification.
The French Revolution initially modernized the political system, ideology and culture of the European continent, enhanced the sense of identity and modernity of European society, was a key step in the same process in Europe, and laid the necessary political, economic, social and cultural foundation for the process of modern European integration. The Napoleonic Wars directly promoted the internal unification of various regions in Europe and simplified the political map of Europe, which was most obvious in Germany and Italy. The Napoleonic Wars also led to the frequent exchanges and contacts between various ethnic groups in Europe, and the growing interdependence between regions promoted the process of European integration to a certain extent.
Sixth, the military legacy of the Napoleonic Wars.
In the world military history, artillery was officially designated as an arm only from Napoleon, and it was successfully used. Tactically: in war guidance, he is good at concentrating troops and dares to win more with less. Strive to decide the outcome of the war with one or two total decisive battles, make a surprise victory with long-distance maneuvers, and adopt a deep battle formation that combines the scattered formation with close cooperation between columns and arms. Constantly strengthen the army's assault force. Take active attack as the main type of combat, seize the opportunity and use troops flexibly.
Military organizational system: There have been many innovations, including the earliest establishment of the General Staff in the world, which provided materials for Clovis's On War. In short, in the Napoleonic Wars, the French plundered and occupied the territories of other countries, but these did not change the fundamental historical significance of these wars at all, because they destroyed and shook the feudal system and autocratic system of the whole old serfdom Europe.
As a result, history has experienced a whole era full of wars and tragedies. As Lenin said, "Napoleon's imperialist war lasted for many years, occupying a whole era, showing an extremely complicated scene in which imperialist relations and national liberation movements were intertwined." As a result, history has gone through an entire era full of wars and tragedies of people of all countries, from feudalism to free capitalism. "