The year 1811 was regarded as the period of greatest depression and
distress which the British empire had known for several ages. At this
time, with the exception of an uncertain footing gained in Spain, the
influence of England was unknown on the continent. Bonaparte seemed as
firmly seated on the throne of France as any of her former monarchs,
while every other civilized European kingdom either owned a monarch of
his express appointment, or was in some other way subservient to him.
By the Berlin and Milan decrees, he had shut the ports of the
continent against British goods, so that they could only be smuggled
into the usual markets. By British orders in council, which, though
intended to be retaliatory, only increased the evil, no vessel
belonging to a neutral power――such, for instance, as the United
States――was permitted to carry goods to those ports, unless they
should previously land and pay a duty in Britain. Thus the nation at
once suffered from the shortsighted despotism of the French emperor,
and from its own narrow and imperfect views of commerce; for, by
embarrassing America, it only deprived itself of one of its best and
almost sole remaining customers.
The power of Bonaparte, though sudden in its rise, might have been
permanent if managed with discretion. It was used, however, in such a
way as to produce a powerful reaction throughout Europe in favor of
those ancient institutions, which, twenty years before, had been
threatened with ruin. The exclusion of British goods――a measure which
he had dictated in resentment against England――proved the source of
great distress, oppression, and hardship throughout the continent, and
was greatly instrumental in exciting a spirit of hostility against
him. The very circumstance of a foreign power domineering over their
native princes, raised a feeling in favor of those personages, which,
being identified with the cause of national independence, acted as a
very powerful stimulant. On the other hand, a sense of the grasping
ambition of Napoleon――of his hostility to real freedom――of his
unscrupulousness in throwing away the lives of his subjects for his
own personal aggrandizement――had for some time been gaining ground in
France itself.
In 1812, when the transactions in Spain had already somewhat impaired
Napoleon’s reputation, Alexander, Emperor of Russia, ventured upon a
defiance of his decrees against British merchandise, and provoked him
to a renewal of the war. With upwards of half a million of troops,
appointed in the best manner, he set out for that remote country,
determined to reduce it into perfect subjection. An unexpected
accident defeated all his plans. The city of Moscow, after being
possessed by the French troops in September, was destroyed by
incendiaries, so that no shelter remained for them during the ensuing
winter. Napoleon was obliged to retreat; but, overtaken by the direst
inclemency of the season, his men perished by thousands in the snow.
Of his splendid army, a mere skeleton regained central Europe.
Returning almost alone to Paris, he contrived with great exertions to
reinforce his army, though there was no replacing the veterans lost in
Russia.
Early in 1813, he opened a campaign in northern Germany, where the
emperor of Russia, now joined by the king of Prussia and various minor
powers, appeared in the open field against him. After various
successes on both sides, an armistice was agreed to on the 1st of
June, and Bonaparte was offered peace on condition of restoring only
that part of his dominions which he had acquired since 1805. Inspired
with an overweening confidence in his resources and military genius,
he refused these terms, and lost all. In August, when the armistice
was at an end, his father-in-law, the emperor of Austria, joined the
allies, whose forces now numbered 500,000 men, while an army of
300,000 was the largest which Napoleon could at present bring into the
field. Henceforth he might be considered as overpowered by numbers. By
steady, though cautious movements, the allies advanced to France,
driving him reluctantly before them, and increasing their own force as
the various states became emancipated by their presence. At the close
of 1813, they rested upon the frontiers of France, while Lord
Wellington, after two successful campaigns in Spain, had advanced in
like manner to the Pyrenees.