This new special edition from BBC History Magazine explores the dramatic clashes and campaigns fought across Europe at the turn of the 19th century. Discover: - How Napoleon seized power in Revolutionary France - The chain of events leading to the Duke of Wellington's famous victory at Waterloo - Why the Peninsular War proved so costly for the French - How Lord Nelson masterminded Britain's naval triumph at the battle of Trafalgar - The impact of the Napoleonic Wars across the globe – from India to Latin America
The Story of the Napoleonic Wars
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Timeline • Jeremy Black charts Napoleon’s rise to power in Revolutionary France and the dramatic chain of events leading up to his final defeat at Waterloo
Napoleon’s chance • The ending of privilege in France gave the young Napoleon the opportunity to shine in his military career, says Marisa Linton, but what really allowed him to rise to the top was his astute exploitation of the political instability and years of war that followed the French Revolution
NAPOLEON IS COMING • When Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned emperor in 1804, his imperial ambitions extended to the islands across the Channel. Nicholas Best explains how Napoleon intended to invade Britain, and what Britain planned to do to stop him
BRITAIN’S BOGEYMAN • Napoleon was epitomised as the incarnation of evil
PITCHFORKS AT THE READY • Britain was ill-prepared for an attack, had Napoleon landed
TRAFALGAR THE BATTLE • Nelson spent 10 months hunting the French fleet. Now, as it left Cádiz, he had his chance to destroy forever Napoleon’s hopes of invading Britain. Tim Clayton describes the dramatic clash between 60 warships when the two sides met at last
THE BATTLE Hour by hour
A BRITISH VICTORY • Skilled crews and Nelson’s masterplan swung the day
TRAFALGAR THE SAILORS • More than 18,000 officers, seamen and marines fought for the British at Trafalgar. The Ayshford Trafalgar Roll has revealed some fascinating details about the men who accompanied Nelson into battle, says Peter Hore
BRITISH COMBATANTS AT TRAFALGAR • Men of all ages and backgrounds fought in the battle
TRAFALGAR THE CONSEQUENCES • Britain’s victory was not only a superb naval achievement, says Andrew Lambert, but a pivotal event with effects that would be felt long after the smoke of battle had cleared
Nelson 10 DAYS THAT CREATED A LEGEND • Quintin Colville and James Davey, curators of the Nelson, Navy, Nation gallery at the National Maritime Museum, reveal the moments in Horatio Nelson’s life that propelled him to greatness
Austerlitz A QUEST FOR GLORY • It was a battle that proved to be one of the most decisive engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. Ian Castle investigates Napoleon’s crushing defeat of the Austro-Russian army, whose fate, he believes, was sealed even before the first musket shot rang out
THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ • The battle centred around the Pratzen plateau, west of the town of Austerlitz in what is now the Czech Republic. This illustration shows how the climactic clash unfolded on 2 December 1805
KEY OPPONENTS AT AUSTERLITZ • FACING NAPOLEON IN BATTLE
Napoleon’s ‘Spanish ulcer’ • For Napoleon, stalemate in the Peninsular War of 1808–14 tied up resources he desperately needed in other fronts across Europe. No wonder the conflict was compared to a festering sore that just would not heal, says Jeremy Black
FIVE KEY PENINSULAR WAR BATTLES • How the momentum swung in Britain’s favour thanks to Wellington’s genius and the bravery of his troops
CHILDBIRTH AND CANNON FIRE • Annabel Venning, author of a history of army wives, tells the story of women who left Britain and shared with their menfolk the terrible hardships and dangers of the Peninsular...