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The First and Second Coalitions
When the powerful and populous France fell under the control of radical revolutionaries, the old regimes in the other countries of Europe had good reason to be scared. France’s reforms threatened not only everything the old regimes in Europe stood for, but those regimes’ very existence. For that reason, they made several attempts to band together to face the French Revolutionary threat. The first of these was the First Coalition of 1792-1797, which started collapsing as early as 1795, when both Britain and Prussia withdrew, and Spain allied with France. In 1797, after Napoleon led a successful Italian campaign against Austria, the Treaty of Campo Formio was signed, creating the Cisalpine Republic in Italy and spelling the final end of the First Coalition.
During Napoleon’s ill-fated Egyptian campaign, Admiral Nelson’s British fleet demolished the French fleet at the Battle of Aboukir (The Battle of the Nile) in 1799. This rare triumph over France led to the formation of a Second Coalition, which lasted from 1799 to 1801, falling apart when the Austrians signed the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801. Soon after, the 1802 Peace of Amiens secured peace between the British and French. What followed was a brief period of Europe-wide peace from 1802-1803, the only time during Napoleon's rule that no two European nations were at war.
Toussaint Louverture
Of course, during this brief European peace, there still were conflicts going on in other parts of the world. Notably, France was desperately trying to quell a rebellion in Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti). During the French Revolution Toussaint Louverture had led a slave rebellion on the French half of the island and become lieutenant governor. Then, in 1801, against Napoleon’s orders, he encouraged a revolt on the Spanish half of the island in order to form a united Saint-Domingue. In doing so, he was able to establish a constitution and begin negotiations with the United States. In response, Napoleon sent General Charles Leclerc to retake Saint-Domingue for France, fighting an expensive and bloody struggle until 1802, when Louverture was imprisoned by the French.
Napoleonic Presence in Europe
Meanwhile, in Europe, Napoleon declared himself the official President of the new “Italian Republic,” which had formerly been the Cisalpine Republic, which had previously been a French-controlled puppet. Now, French dominance was stated outright. Napoleon also changed the name of the French-dominated “Helvetic Republic” to the “Confederation of Switzerland,” declaring himself the “mediator” of this “new” state.
The Holy Roman Empire
Even as the other European powers tried to unify against France, they were torn apart by suspicion of each other. In the period of the First Coalition, Austria and Prussia were so afraid of Russia at their Eastern flank that they kept most of their armies at home and did little to threaten France. German territories, on the other hands, competed for French favor in the hopes of gaining territory, becoming French satellites in the process.
In Europe in the early 19th century, no “Germany” existed except in the loose sense that there was German language and a vaguely German culture. What is today the German nation was divided between Prussian territory and a sprawl of numerous small and contentious kingdoms, principalities, electorates, and duchies called The Holy Roman Empire (a hollow and grandiose name for this loose and ineffectual confederation). The Treaty of Campio Formio, passed in 1797, and reaffirmed by the Treaty of Lunéville in 1802, had given France the left bank of the Rhine, and allowed Napoleon to reorganize the states on the right bank and grant territory to any German state he so pleased.
