The Formation of the Napoleonic Empire

Abstract

France had begun expanding its boundaries before Napoleon seized power in November 1799. Revolutionary France invaded and occupied neighboring countries as early as 1792, soon after the outbreak of the First Coalition War. This war ushered in a period of more than two decades of international conflicts, the so-called Coalition Wars, between France and European alliances consisting of Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and other less powerful countries. The revolutionary governments justified the occupation of foreign lands, using the theory of “natural frontiers” and declaring their intention of liberating oppressed people from tyrannical regimes. In reality, the French armies requisitioned provisions and imposed heavy war contributions on occupied regions, thereby alienating their populations. The Directory annexed Belgium and established several satellite “sister” republics: the Batavian (Dutch), the Helvetic, and four Italian states — the Cisalpine, Ligurian, Roman, and Neapolitan. The French introduced in all of them constitutions and legal and political structures based on the French system, and compelled them to pay for the upkeep of the French armies stationed on their soil.