The basic problem of history of the 19 century is the Napoleonic wars, impossible, in particular, for economic and organizational reasons. Revolution had left France in complete ruin:
— The scientists knowing secrets of weapon saltpeter, were sent to a guillotine;
— The officers (and all of them were 100 % noblemen) mostly escaped abroad;
— The colonies delivering the currency colonial goods, were lost;
— Doctors and hospitals disappeared together with the destroyed monasteries;
— In 1791-1793 (the period of «Great Horror”) everything was on fire in France;
— In 1799 France lost its Mediterranean fleet — entirely.
This totally ruined France conducted two series of protracted all-European wars in the result of which it submitted almost all countries.
I will add concomitant circumstances.
EFFICIENCY OF QUARTERMASTERS
The site genstab.ru mentions the following: “If we exclude the Austrians and Prussians and consider the number of the Great Army as 500000 Frenchmen and their allies, the ratio between combants and transport personnel will be 25:1. Now this ratio is approximately 10:1”. It means that the Napoleonic quartermaster supplied armies 2.5 times more effectively, than the modern one, despite of absence of the asphalted highways and railway networks.
PERCENTAGE OF THE MOBILIZED SOLDIERS
The participants of wars mobilized 7.9 million soldiers per 200 million population in Europe totally, that is, 4 %, the figure is 10-20 times higher the average values of army size in the 19 century. It means that during the Napoleonic wars there must be 10-20 times increasing of seamstresses number sewing regimentals, capacities of powder plants, the number of military warehouses, carts, masterful. All infrastructure working for army supporting, should be puffed up during some years in 10-20 times, thus, the free market was still not developed; the economy in Europe was feudal, the production was of guild type, and each worker was fixed to a certain seigneur, therefore a worker could not be simply taken from the place and engaged in some other job.
MOTIVES
When they asked Napoleon: “What do you go to Russia for”, — he had no answer.
SECULAR HIERARCHY
Napoleon for the European nobility was a mob, a wild aborigine with a fish bone in his nose. However, the members of his family became related with the key ruling families.
Now I will show how a large European war of three developed and rich countries looked like half a century later after Napoleon Bonaparte’s period.
LARGE EUROPEAN WAR OF 1864
Data about Danish-Austrian-Prussian war for Schleswig and Holstein.
1864. Duration of the war was 273 days (9 months). On the average, a war of the 19 century lasted four times shorter. Pay attention to the average percent of armies according to the total number of population – 0.22 %, that is, the countries of the 19 century could not afford more than 0.2-0.4 % of the country population, — it was too unprofitable.
The population was not involved in combat operations. The purpose of military operationsis capture of communications. Destruction of manpower of the opponent was not the purpose at that time, that is why there were extremely low battle losses if compared to modern estimates. To make it clear, just imagine that 1 (one) «killed in action» notice was for 42 five-storied houses with 80 flats. It was a large war. Other wars of the 19 century were, on the average, four times less costly. A unique exception was Napoleon Bonaparte’s deeds.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE’S DEEDS
It is not necessary to read, however, it makes sense to look through these data.
November, 1799, France was subdued to Napoleon
June, 1800, Lombardy was ceded to Napoleon
December, 1800, Napoleon invaded Swabia and Bavaria
February, 1801, Rhine and Etsch were recognized as the borders of France
February, 1801, Napoleon abolished some imperial cities
February, 1801, Napoleon compensated some losses of imperial authorities by the church lands
February, 1801, Italy was made a pro-French republic
THE TREATY OF AMIENS
March, 1802, Napoleon got all colonies back, except Trinidad and Ceylon dominion
March, 1802, the republic of Seven (Ionic) islands was recognized
March, 1802, Malta came back to the Johannites’ Order
March, 1802, George III removed the French lilies from his coat of arms
THE TREATY OF LUNÉVILLE
February, 1803, the Batavian Republic was created, dependent on France
February, 1803, the Helvetic Republic was created, dependent on France
February, 1803, the Ligurian republic was affirmed dependent on France
February, 1803, the Cisalpine Republic was created, dependent on France
February, 1803, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was transformed into Kingdom of Etruria
February, 1803, Napoleon returned the Roman Republic to the Pope
February, 1803, Napoleon returned the Parthenopean Republic to the Pope February, 1803, Otranto, Tarentum and Brindisi passed to Napoleon
1803 Napoleon became the president of the Italian Republic
1803 Napoleon transmitted a lot of land to Bavaria
1803 Napoleon increased the domain of the Margrave of Baden
1803 Napoleon increased the domain of Württemberg
1803 Napoleon increased the domain of Giessen-Kassel
1803 Napoleon increased the domain Giessen-Darmstadt
1803 Napoleon increased the domain of Nassau
1803 Napoleon increased the domain of Hanover, etc.
In 1803 only six imperial cities out of fifty kept their status:
Hamburg, Bremen, Lübeck, Frankfort on the Main, Nuremberg, Augsburg
Other cities Napoleon reformatted so that it was convenient from his point of view.
THE THIRD COALITION
May, 1803t, Hanover surrendered to Napoleon
March, 1805, Napoleon’s crowning in Milan took place
1805, Napoleon behaved as he was the lord of all Rhine riparian territory (Aachen, Cologne and Mainz)
1805, Napoleon obliged Spain to help France
1805, Napoleon prepared monarchy introducing in Holland for the benefit of one of his brothers
1805, Napoleon got support of the South German princes
1805, Napoleon was strengthened by troops from Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria, Giessen, Nassau, etc.
October, 1805, the Austrian army capitulated
THE TREATY OF PRESSBURG
December, 1805, Napoleon received the Venetian Area
December, 1805, Napoleon received Istria (except Trieste)
December, 1805, Napoleon received Dalmatia
December, 1805, Napoleon’s allies received the lands to the west of Carinthia
December, 1805, allied to Napoleon the Electorate of Bavaria received Tirol with Brixen and Trent, Vorariberg, the area adjoining the right bank of the Inn, Burgau and Lindau, and also Passau and Eichstätt
December, 1805, allied to Napoleon the Electorate Württemberg acquired domain in Swabia: Altdorf, Hohenberg, Nellenburg, Ehingen and Bondorf
December, 1805, allied to Napoleon the Electorate Baden received Konstanz, and the territory of the Duchy of Breisgau, including Freiburg and Ortenaukreis
December, 1805, the monarchs of Bavaria and Wurtemberg got acknowledged titles of kings that excluded them from the power of the institutes of the Sacred Roman Empire 1805, Napoleon’s brother got the crown of Naples
1805, the other Napoleon’s brother got the crown of Holland
1805, Prussia enter into an alliance with Napoleon
1805, Prussia transmitted to Napoleon the Duchy of Cleves
1805, Prussia transmitted to Napoleon several Frankish princedoms
1805, Prussia received Hannover from Napoleon
1805, Napoleon’s stepson married the princess of Bavaria
1805, Napoleon’s brother Jérôme married the princess of Wurtemberg
1805, Napoleon increased the domain of Baden and transformed it into the Great Duchy
1805, Napoleon became related with the Grand Duke of Baden through Josephine’s niece
1805, Napoleon transformed Berg into the Great Duchy — for the son-in-law Murat
1805, Napoleon presented taken from Prussia Neuchâtel to his marshal
1805, Napoleon assigned his uncle as the successor of Mainz archiepiscopate
1806, Napoleon gathered the Rhine Union subordinated to him
1806, Napoleon conducted mediatisation in the Rhine Union with the following resubmission of all system
1806, Napoleon granted the Neapolitan Kingdom to his brother Joseph
1806, Napoleon passed Benevento and Pontecorvo as feudal duchies to Talleyrand and Bernadotte
1806, Napoleon divided the Venetian territory into fees and passed them to his subordinates
1806, Napoleon gave Lucca, Massa and Carrara to the sister Eliza, and then Toscana as well
1806, Napoleon gave some unnamed domain to the sister Pauline Borghese (!)
1806, Napoleon put his brother Louis to rule Holland
THE FOURTH COALITION
1806, Napoleon mediatized related the Hohenzollerns the princely House of Thurn and Taxis
October, 1806, Napoleon captured Szczecin, Kostrzyn, Magdeburg
October, 1806, Napoleon captured Giessen, Braunschweig, Mecklenburg, Oldenburg
October, 1806, Napoleon imposed an indemnity on Hanse
December, 1806, Napoleon transformed Saxony into the kingdom
January, 1807, Napoleon invaded Warsaw
May, 1807, Napoleon captured Danzig
THE TREATY OF TILSIT
July, 1807, Napoleon forced Russia to acknowledgement of all his acquisitions
July, 1807 Napoleon forced Russia to prohibition of deliveries to England
July, 1807, Napoleon forced Russia to withdrawal of troops from Moldova and Walachia
July, 1807, Napoleon forced Russia not to prevent him to capture the Ionian Islands
July, 1807, Napoleon formed the Warsaw Duchy which was subordinated to him
July, 1807, Napoleon separated Prussia from Hanover, the County of Mark, with the cities of Essen, Verdun and Lippstadt, the County of Ravensberg, the city of Lingen and Tecklenburg, the Princedom of Minden, East Frisia, Muenster, Paderborn, Kleve and the easten coast of the Rhine
July, 1807, Napoleon transformed Prussia into the state which was subordinated to him
1807 Napoleon formed the Kingdom of Westphalia from the domain taken away from Prussia
1807 Napoleon made his brother Jérôme the king of Westphalia
1807 Napoleon possessed all Germany
1807 Napoleon squeezed out the House of Braganza from the continent — to Brazil. Control over Portugal passed to England
1808, Napoleon helped Russia to acquire Finland
1808, Napoleon occupied the domain of Sweden in the northern Germany
1808, Napoleon assigned Bernadotte as the successor of a royal throne in Sweden
1808, Napoleon put his brother Joseph on the Spanish throne
1808, Napoleon transferred the Neapolitan Kingdom to his son-in-law Murat
February, 1808, Napoleon invaded Rome
THE FIFTH COALITION
May, 1809, Napoleon captured Vienna
May, 1809, Napoleon suggested Hungarians to elect a new king
1809, Napoleon took from Austria Salzburg with Berchtesgaden, the Inn district and the western part of the Gauzruck district for the benefit of Bavaria
1809, Napoleon took away the western Galicia from Austria
1809, Saxony received from Napoleon some lands in the Upper Lusatia and half of salt mines in Wieliczka
1809, Napoleon took away from Austria some part of the eastern Galicia for the benefit of Warsaw Duchy and Russia
1809, Napoleon created Illyria from the lands of Austria (some part of Carinthia, Krajna, Trieste, Friuli, etc.) together with Dalmatia, Istria and Ragusa
SCHÖNBRUNN
May, 1809, Napoleon joined the Papal States to France
1810, Napoleon joined Holland to France
1810, Napoleon joined Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck to France
1810, Napoleon joined the Duchy of Oldenburg to France, and other lands between the Elba and Rhine
1810, Napoleon joined the Swiss canton of Valais to France
RUSSIA
1812, Unprecedented campaign of 500-thousand army to Moscow
THE MAIN CONCLUSION:
This dynamics of events (most likely, rather accurate and, certainly, with participation of armed forces) had no military character. It looks like not war, but the collapse of financial houses of cards. Synchronously with those events, the countries of Europe passed through — sovereign defaults.
1788 — sovereign default in France
1790 — sovereign default in the United States
1796 — sovereign default in the Archduchy of Austria
1798 — sovereign default in the United States
1802 — sovereign default in the Archduchy of Austria
1805 — sovereign default in the Austrian Empire
1807 — sovereign default in Germany — Prussia
1809 — sovereign default in Spain
1811 — sovereign default in the Austrian Empire
1812 — sovereign default in Germany — Westphalia
1812 — sovereign default in France
1812 — sovereign default in Sweden
1813 — sovereign default in Germany — Prussia
1813 — sovereign default in Denmark
1814 — sovereign default in Germany — Giessen
1814 — sovereign default in the Netherlands
Defaults are typically explained with war events, and it just that case where the cause and the effect should be changed in places.
WHAT IS THE SOVEREIGN DEFAULT?
If the monarch recognized that he could not pay off under financial liabilities, it always meant absorption of the debtor – in either peace or war. The people giving money for such purchase as Louisiana had no sense of humour. They just sent a collector.
In the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878 a collector role were executed by Russia. The run into debt Ottoman Empire reformatted, — both politically, and territorially, — and, its lands and the people were estimated in quite certain sums of money; for example, that part that was passed to Russia, was estimated in 1 billion 100 million roubles.
NAPOLEON — THE COLLECTOR
Fantastic dynamics and character of the events proves that Napoleon was a collector. He was not at war in fact, but mostly reformatted the territories, paying off the mutual debts of the failed feudal pyramids. Mediatization was offsetting of debts according to feudal rules. The Napoleonic armies participated in it, but did not play a significant role; it was not necessary to do such things himself, it was enough to write off a couple of percent of debt to a feudal lord who had run into debt, and he would easily add his small army in the collector’s assets. So the impression appeared that all Europe took Napoleon’s side at war. In practice it not war; it was force demonstration. Wars appeared in documents – as a claim requirement, and came to the end in documents as well — with the report of the confiscated property acceptance at a warehouse.
KEY BANKRUPTS
At the beginning of the 19 century, there were several empires in the world: France, Britain, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Austria and Russia. Some states were also independent, some were satellites, but these ones were the core. So, who was in default there? Spain, Austria, Prussia, Sweden, Denmark and Holland. They were Napoleon’s sphere of action. Moreover, he really could do everything he wanted with the debtors. Resistance was impossible. If only Napoleon’s owner had made a small nod, Hamburg or Danzig would have ceased shipments. And the guilty one fell in his lap.
I am ready to admit that almost all described military operations happened in reality. However, nobody dragged trains through all Europe. Napoleon’s owner could only blink, and the neighbour attacked the neighbour — to perform the duty and formally as a part of the Napoleonic army. So all glory got the hired Corsican who was not getting out of a bureaucratic table.
WHAT FOR IT WAS NECESSARY TO HIDE THE FACTS?
The essence of the matter was hidden late enough, already in 1870. The proof: Marx did not know neither about Napoleon, nor about his Code, absolutely nothing. Marx’s «Capital» with its more than two million printable characters never mentioned this historical figure. Considering Marx’s meticulousness, it seams impossible.
The essence of the matter was hidden during the epoch of the national states formation. To recognize in such situation that monarchs repaid conditional Sacred Pruss to usurers for the debts of boyars, meant to disorganize all ideological structure. Therefore, the real history of transition of the lands from hand to hand in the course of pledge realization was diluted with some military-patriotic drive.
NAPOLEON’S CODE OF 1804
In 1806, 2 years after accepting of Napoleon’s Code of, Napoleon distributed many lands as fees, and it was a typical feudal norm. Relations of the seigneur and the vassal do not keep within representation about citizenship. These are different legal spaces. As comparing of something yellow and something round. Napoleon’s code was built in the past; first of all, not to show successfully fulfilled feudal mechanisms where the Native land was the most usual goods. It is not a jeer; the noble families traded pieces of their «small Motherland» basing the same legislative grounds as if they traded their rights to serfs. Napoleon’s Code imposed over the events allowed to camouflage the situation and to claim purchase and sale relations as the result of revolutionary or patriotic population feelings. It is clear that some evidences remained — it is difficult to make such enormous insert without any traces left.
Here we see the well recognized world where we all live – a real one, not poeticized by masters of the historical novel literature style.
July 10, 2019 <https://scan1707.blogspot.com/2019/07/blog-post_10.html>
Translated by Berenkova Violetta Michailovna