A summary of Britain & the French Wars, . Taken from classroom notes, lectures, "The British experience of warfare, c" & the official Edexcel AS/A-Level History textbook.
Britain & the French Wars, 1793-1815
Relative strengths
• France had a population twice the size of Britain
• Britain second most urbanized country in Europe, after the Netherlands & had
a more modern economy, due to its industrial revolution
• Colonies abroad helped agriculture as well
• By managing national debt & selling government stocks, Britain was able to
finance a war far greater than France
• Income tax & funding coalitions with Austria, Prussia & Russia helped
strengthen Britain’s position
• Britain was able to fund the Royal Navy to protect its maritime trade &
colonies
On land & sea
The supremacy of the Royal Navy
• Supported overseas campaigns, blockaded French ports & protected overseas
trade
• Prevented an invasion of Britain, after numerous attempts had failed (1796-
97)
• Outnumbered French Navy & deployed ships all over the world
Land campaigns
• Army grew from 40,00 to 250,00
‣ Still smaller than French army
• Government wary of fighting in central Europe but fought campaigns abroad
• Napoleon led a campaign with 1,000,000 men in the Peninsular War against a
British-Portuguese Army of 100,000 & still lost due to complacency
• Napoleon defeated at Waterloo due to a larger coalition of countries in 1815
The home front
• British industry grew in coal, iron & textiles & trade embargos from the
French were not successful
• Income tax funded the war & those unemployed joined the army
• Britain’s agrarian revolution in the 1700s was sufcient to prevent mass
staravation or food riots
HOW FAR DID THE ROLE OF THE CIVILAIN POPULATION IN THE
WAR EFFORT CHANGE DURING THE YEARS 1790-1918?
Wellington’s character
• Known for his attention to detail & for picking battle location that gave him
advantage
• Believed Army should be supplied by Navy rather than ruining local
population
• Very disciplined & spotted laziness among ofcers
• Soldiers trusted him & believed he had made the army better
Prelude to the Peninsular War
• Napoleon began a new campaign in Europe in 1805
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