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General
Figures - the War.
The Napoleonic Wars were massive in their geographic scope, ranging,
as far as Britain was concerned, over all of the five continents. They
were massive, too, in terms of expense. From 1793 to the Battle of Waterloo
in June 1815 the wars cost Britain more than £1,650,000,000. Only
25% of this sum was raised by government loans, the rest coming largely
from taxation, not least from the income tax that was introduced in
1798. But the wars were massive most of all in terms of manpower. Between
1789 and 1815 the British army had to expand more than six fold, to
about a quarter of a million men.
The Royal Navy, bedrock of British defence, aggression, trade, and empire,
grew further and faster still. Before the wars it had employed 16,000
men; by the end of them, it employed more than 140,000. Because there
was an acute danger between 1797 and 1805 that France would invade Britain,
the civil defence force also had to be expanded. The militia was increased,
and by 1803 more than 380,000 men were acting as volunteers in home-based
cavalry and infantry regiments. In all, one in four adult males in Britain
may have been in uniform by the early 19th century.
Finance:.
Britain had paid for American War of Independence by piecemeal loans
with chaotic results
1784 - National Debt nearly £250,000
Pitt was determined to put Britain in a sound financial position again.
he advocated free trade and private enterprise
got rid of old Mercantilist system with its rigid controls
1786 - he introduced a sinking fund to
deal with National debt (£1m invested annually)
reorganised tax collection
he targeted smuggling by simplifying customs duties( It was estimated
that smuggling exceeded 20% of imports and accounted for half all tea
in Britain, creating an obvious loss of revenue. High duties made smuggling
profitable, so Pitt decided to reduce duties to make the temptation
no longer adequate to the risk. Tea duties, averaging 119%, were reduced
to 25%. Duties also were reduced on wines, spirits and tobacco. By 1789,
quantity of tea passing through Customs had doubled and in one year
(1784-5) the Exchequer got an extra £200,000. By 1792, government
revenue had increased by £3 m as a result of legal increased consumption.
The 1787 Hovering Act also attacked smuggling by extending the duties
of Customs officials to 12 miles offshore. Again, revenue rose.
he revised indirect taxation
1786 - made Eden treaty with France securing
customs duty concessions
BUT
he failed to readjust the economy of the nation to face immediate needs
of probable war and fell back on piecemeal loans and hand to mouth methods
e.g. 1796
loyalty loan of £18m
more than £200m added to National Debt
plus £108m received in loans
resulted in inflation and run on the banks whose bullion holdings were
not enough to meet their commitments so Bank of England had to suspend
cash payments and issue notes in small denominations
1797
Pitt took out a further loan of £15m; raised assessed taxes to
3 or 4 times their former level and raised a further £2 1/2m by
a new voluntary contribution
1798
first income tax imposed on a sliding scale up to 2s in the pound.
1803
Addington’s property tax (an income tax levied at a rate of 1s
in the £ on all incomes over £150
1805
income tax raised by a further 3d in the £
1806
further increase of 60% in property tax
by 1815 the British National Debt had risen from £228m (1793)
to £876m.
Existing taxes on windows, horses, servants and carriages were trebled
However
we were able to pay subsidies
e.g. loan to Austrians 1796-7
subsidy to Tsar in Treaty of St. Petersburg
also - the Russian army that fought at Zurich in 1799 was British paid
1800
Britain financed 30,000 mercenaries in Austrian service and made an
interest free loan in return for Austria undertaking not to make a separate
peace
1813
£1m subsidy given to Sweden in return for 70,000 men.
Austrians offered 150,000 troops in return for £1m subsidy
WHY?
Industrialisation - some figures.
At the first census of 1801, the population of England and Wales was
about nine million and that of Scotland about 1.5 million. By 1851 the
comparable figures were 18 million and three million. At its peak between
1811 and 1821, the growth rate for Britain as a whole was 17 percent
for the decade.
Indeed, national income at constant prices increased nearly threefold
between 1801 and 1851, substantially more than the increase in population;
and the share of manufacturing, mining, and building in the national
accounts of wealth increased sharply, as compared with the share of
agriculture. In 1801 agriculture accounted for 34 percent and manufacturing,
mining, and building for 28 percent. The comparable figures for 1851
were 21 percent and 40 percent. There were 1,800 cotton factories in
1851. Raw cotton imports had increased unevenly from £101m in
1815 to £757m in 1851 and exports of manufactured cotton piece
goods from 253m yards in 1815 to 1,543m yards in 1851.
The new technology reached its peak in the age of the railway and the
steamship. Coal production, about 13m tons in 1815, increased five times
during the next 50 years, and by 1850 Britain was producing more than
2m tons of pig iron, half the world's output. Both coal and iron exports
increased dramatically, with coal exports amounting to 3.3m tons in
1851, as against less than 250,000 tons at the end of the French wars.
Industrialisation preceded the coming of the railway, but the railway
did much to lower transport costs, to consume raw materials, to stimulate
investment through an extended capital market, and to influence the
location of industry. The railway age may be said to have begun in 1830,
when the line from Manchester to Liverpool, the country's most vigourously
expanding port, was opened, and to have gone through its most hectic
phases during the 1840s, when contemporaries talked of a “railway
mania.” By 1851, 6,800 miles of railway were open.
Reminders.
1788 Triple Alliance with Prussia and Holland
to deal with problem of no allies
BUT WHOOPS
reduced strength of navy
1792 - predicted 15 years of peace.
1793-7 First Coalition war.
Caused by:
French invasion of Holland
opening of River Scheldt to international trade
French Edict of Fraternity
execution of Louis XVI
Problems:
the allies had no leading soldier (French had Carnot)
Allied unity was bought by expensive subsidies (cf desperate enthusiasm
of French revolutionary spirit)
army and navy neglected
no financial provision for a long term war
he wasted his efforts in the West Indies
sent only a small force to Belgium in 1793
Austria and Prussia moved too cautiously
failed to seize the opportunity of pushing through to Paris while French
were preoccupied with revolts in La Vendee and Toulon and defeats in
Netherlands
Key points.
British beaten in Holland
British resources wasted fighting in West Indies (40,000 men died)
British resources wasted backing a hopeless royalist cause in western
France
1794 Austrians withdraw - Prussians make
peace - Holland and Netherlands under French control
only success was
1794 “Glorious First of June”
(naval victory for Howe against French)
Cape Town, Ceylon and East Indies taken from Holland
1795
Austria rejoined war (in Northern Italy) but they were driven out by
Napoleon in 1796
1796 -
threatened French invasion of Ireland under Hoche (prevented only by
the weather)
1796/7 -
Naval mutinies at Spithead and Nore
1797
victory over the Dutch fleet at Camperdown
1797
success for Jervis and Nelson against Spanish at Cape St. Vincent.
1799
British seized Malta from French
Austrian armies overwhelmed at Marengo and Hohenlinden
British troops in Netherlands (Helder campaign) forced to pull out
IE
army still doing badly despite army reforms
1790s army reforms
no more boy officers, captaincy only available after 3 years service,
promotion to major only available after 2 years service, 9 years service
needed to become lieutenant colonel; horse artillery established, more
detailed training undertaken, production of gunpowder and ammunition
developed in government factories; recruiting, clothing and training
exercises were changed, training introduced for cavalry; light troops
in green coats introduced
Second Coalition War: 1799-1800.
1800 Pitt resigned
1801
Austrians defeated at Marengo (Northern Italy)
Abercromby (killed) and Hutchinson defeated French army in Egypt
NB the first sign of army improvement
Tsar Paul murdered - Tsar Alexander I favoured Britain
Russia left League of Armed Neutrality
Nelson’s victory at Copenhagen
1802 Treaty of Amiens.(Britain and France)
Britain gave up conquests (except Ceylon and Trinidad)
France retained Rhine frontier
French continued to seriously hamper British trade on the Continent
1803 War began again
1804 Pitt back in power
(NB Napoleon now emperor and planning another invasion of Britain)
NB Navy thwarted Napoleon’s invasion plans
Third Coalition
War: 1804-6. (Russia, Austria, Sweden,
Britain)
vital importance of fleet in blockading French and Spanish ports
SEE NAVY SECTION
1805 Trafalgar - gave Britain command of
the seas for a century!
enabled Britain to rouse another coalition
NB backed by British money
BUT
Napoleon’s success against Austrians at Ulm
Napoleon occupied Vienna
Napoleon’s success against Austrians and Russians at Austerlitz
1806 Pitt died
1809 Napoleon’s Continental System
unsuccessful - British goods get in through Portugal, Venice, Salonika
and offshore islands
ALSO
Britain’s counter blockade (orders in Council) plus expansion
of non-European trade links
British army sent to Low Countries to attack Antwerp:
defeated at Walcheren (largely due to disease) and Austrians defeated
at Wagram
THEN
Napoleon overextended his forces into Spain and Portugal.
Peninsula War.
Spanish rebel against French rule - Spanish resistance brave and determined
e.g. 1808 Spanish won battle of Bayen
AND
although total French forces outnumbered British army they could never
bring their full weight of numbers to bear because of problems of communication
and supply, and the need to act as an army of occupation
SEE ALSO NAVY
1809
War turns in Britain’s favour largely due to Napoleon’s
strategic mistakes
success against Junot at Vimiera
prevented French from attacking Lisbon though had to retreat to Corunna
Wellington’s success at Talavera campaign
1811
success at Fuentes d’Onoro and Albuera,
1811/12
victories in Portugal at Cuidad Rodrigo and Badajos
1812
Wellington invaded Spain - victory at Salamanca.
NB these victories encouraged the Allies to mount the
campaign which led to Napoleon’s defeat at “the Battle of
the Nations” (Leipzig 1813).
The successful maintenance of these campaigns ensured that the “Peninsula
War” was a “running sore” for Napoleon (it cost France
1/2m men and drained her resources)
1812 Moscow Campaign
Invasion force of 450,000 .(only half of them were French, the rest
were made up of Poles, Italians, Saxons, Bavarians, Swiss, Austrians,
Prussians and Illyrians). + 18,000 heavy draft horses,
10,000 oxen.
BUT PROBLEMS
The lack of roads held up transport, and the scantiness of the population
prevented living on the country. The Emperor had expected to fight pitched
battles with his enemy but they kept on the move.
Key battles -
Smolensk (great French losses)
Borodino (40,000 lost on each side)
Moscow (population had fled - Moscow burned)
Good example of the retreat = the crossing of the Beresina, where the
military bridges broke down, and 12,000 corpses were found when the
winter floods abated.
Of the 450,000 who had crossed the Niemen to conquer Russia in June,
only 20,000 returned in December.
1813
Wellington defeated French army in Spain at Victoria
Austria, Sweden, Prussia and Russia expelled the French from Germany
in the Battle of Leipzig (“Battle of the Nations”)
Wellington advance on Bayonne and Toulouse
1814
Treaty of Chaumont.
again Britain offered money to her allies
Napoleon’s 100 days
1815
Napoleon landed in France and began his attacks
success against Prussians at Ligny
Waterloo
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