The war began in 1793, when the French nation, having overturned
its ancient throne, and revolutionized its social and political
institutions, set out on a democratic crusade for "Liberty,
Equality, and Fraternity," which involved it in a conflict with
the governments of Europe. William Pitt, who had been Prime
Minister of George III. since 1783, had twice banded the European
states against the French republican armies; but while the
English fleets remained masters of the seas, the enthusiasm of
the French soldiers, and the genius of their young generals, had
thus far proved too strong for the mercenary battalions of
despotism. In the closing month of the year 1800, Pitt's "Second
Coalition" had been shattered by the defeat of the Allies at
Hohenlinden. The Peace of Amiens which shortly ensued (March,
1802, to May, 1803) was but a delusion. England greeted it with
joy and hope, but soon discovered its unreality. From the renewal
of hostilities, in May, 1803, until the final triumph of the
allies, in 1815, the war resolved itself into a struggle between
Napoleon and England. This young Corsican lieutenant had raised
himself by sheer force of genius and unscrupulous ambition to
absolute power. His scheme for the subjugation of Europe beat
down every obstacle except the steady and unbending opposition of
England. Pitt, who had withdrawn from the government because of
the stupid King's refusal to honor his Minister's pledges of
equal rights to the Irish Catholics, was recalled by the
universal voice ot the nation to organize the resistance.
Napoleon had assembled immense armaments upon the Channel coast
of France for a descent on England, and had created a vast
flotilla to transport the force to Kent. Great Britain trembled
with excited apprehension. Three hundred thousand volunteers
offered their services to the government. But, as often in the
past, Britain's best defense was her wooden walls, and the
sagacity, seamanship, and valor of her sailors, who out-
manoeuvered the combined fleets of France and Spain, crushed
their power at Trafalgar (October, 1805), and secured the Channel
against the invader. Pitt's gold had called into existence a
third coalition (England, Russia. Austria, and Sweden), only to
see Napoleon hurl it to the ground on the field of Austerlitz
(December, 1805). England's isolation seemed as complete as the
Emperor's victory. Russia, Austria, and Prussia made humiliating
peace with the victor, who carved his conquests into new states
and kingdoms. Pitt, who, at the news of Austerlitz, had pointed
to the map of Europe with the words "Roll up that map, there will
be no use for it these ten years," survived the calamity scarcely
a month.
Unable to meet, as yet, the English troops in battle on the land
as he had met and defeated those of the Continent, and unequal to
England on the seas, Napoleon devised a more insidious plan of
campaign. Believing that a "nation of shop-keepers" might be
attacked through its trade, he issued from the Prussian capital,
in 1806, the famous Berlin Decree, which was the first note of
that "Continental System," which was intended to close the ports
of Europe to British goods. The British government met this
boycott by its "Orders in Council," which placed a blockade upon
French ports, and authorized the capture of neutral vessels
endeavoring to trade with them. This inconclusive commercial
warfare lasted several years, but was far from being successful
in its object of ruining England. Indeed, it is said that the
most stringent enforcement of the "Decrees" and "Orders" did not
prevent the Napoleonic armies from wearing uniforms of English
cloth and carrying English steel in their scabbards.
England first began to make head against the French conqueror
when that far-sighted minister George Canning sent Sir Arthur
Wellesley to Portugal to take command of the British forces in
the Peninsula. Wellesley had recently returned from India, where
he had achieved a brilliant reputation for thoroughness of
organization, precision of manoeuver, and unvarying success,
qualities which at that time were lamentably rare among British
generals. In Portugal first, and later in Spain, the sterling
qualities of the new commander steadily gained ground for
England, driving out the French marshals, and carrying this
Peninsular War to a triumphant conclusion by the invasion of
France (1814). Created Duke of Wellington for his successes in
the Peninsula, Wellesley held command of the allied forces on the
Belgian frontier when, on the 18th of June, 1815, they met and
routed the French at Waterloo. That day made Napoleon an exile,
and "the Iron Duke" the idol of the English lands in which he
continued to be the most conspicuous personage for nearly half a
century.