French Revolutionary Wars (Napoleon Dies in Egypt)

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French Revolutionary Wars
Valmy Battle painting.jpg
The Battle of Valmy (20 September 1792)
Date 20 April 1792 – 25 March 1802
(9 years, 11 months, and 5 days)
Location Europe, Egypt, Middle East, Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Indian Subcontinent
Result First Coalition (French victory):

Second Coalition (French victory)

Territorial
changes
See: [article here]
Belligerents
Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1400-1806).svg Holy Roman Empire

Flag of the Kingdom of Prussia (1750-1801).svg Prussia (1792–1795)
Flag of Great Britain (1707–1800).svg Great Britain (1793–1800)

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom (1800–1802)
Flag of Russia (1696–1917).svg Russia (1799)
Royal Standard of the King of France.svg French Royalists
Flag of Spain (1785–1873, 1875–1931).svg Spain (1793–95)
Flag of Portugal (1750).svg Portugal
Flag of the Kingdom of Sardinia.svg Sardinia
Flag of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1816).svg Naples
Flag of the Ottoman Empire.svg Ottoman Empire
Flag of the United States (1795–1818).svg United States (1798–1800)

Flag of France (1790–1794).svg Kingdom of France (until 1792)
Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg French Republic (from 1792)

Flag of Spain (1785–1873, 1875–1931).svg Spain (from 1796)

Commanders and leaders
Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1400-1806).svg Francis II
Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1400-1806).svg Archduke Charles
Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1400-1806).svg Baillet de Latour
Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1400-1806).svg Count of Clerfayt
Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1400-1806).svg Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1400-1806).svg József Alvinczi
Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1400-1806).svg Dagobert von Wurmser
Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1400-1806).svg Michael von Melas
Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1400-1806).svg Pál Kray
Flag of the Kingdom of Prussia (1750-1801).svg Frederick William II
Flag of the Kingdom of Prussia (1750-1801).svg Duke of Brunswick
Flag of the Kingdom of Prussia (1750-1801).svg Prince of Hohenlohe
Flag of France (1790–1794).svg Louis XVI Skull and crossbones.svg
Flag of France (1790–1794).svg Jacques Pierre Brissot Skull and crossbones.svg
Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg Maximilien Robespierre Skull and crossbones.svg
Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg Paul Barras (1795–99)
Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès
Flag of France (1790–1794).svg Charles-F. Dumouriez
Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg François Christophe Kellermann
Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg François Étienne Kellermann
Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg Napoleon Bonaparte
Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg Charles Pichegru
Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg Comte de Custine Skull and crossbones.svg
Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg Lazare Hoche
Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg André Masséna

The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted the French Republic against Great Britain, Austria and several other monarchies. They are divided in two periods: the War of the First Coalition (1792–97) and the War of the Second Coalition (1798–1802). Initially confined to Europe, the fighting gradually assumed a global dimension. After a decade of constant warfare and aggressive diplomacy, France had conquered a wide array of territories, from the Italian Peninsula and the Low Countries in Europe. French success in these conflicts ensured the spread of revolutionary principles over much of Europe.

As early as 1791, the other monarchies of Europe looked with outrage at the revolution and its upheavals; and they considered whether they should intervene, either in support of King Louis XVI, to prevent the spread of revolution, or to take advantage of the chaos in France. Anticipating an attack, France declared war on Prussia and Austria in the spring of 1792 and they responded with a coordinated invasion that was eventually turned back at the Battle of Valmy in September. This victory emboldened the National Convention to abolish the monarchy. A series of victories by the new French armies abruptly ended with defeat at Neerwinden in the spring of 1793. The French suffered additional defeats in the remainder of the year and these difficult times allowed the Jacobins to rise to power and impose the Reign of Terror to unify the nation.

In 1794, the situation improved dramatically for the French as huge victories at Fleurus against the Austrians and at the Black Mountain against the Spanish signaled the start of a new stage in the wars. By 1795, the French had captured the Austrian Netherlands and knocked Spain and Prussia out of the war with the Peace of Basel. A hitherto unknown general named Napoleon Bonaparte began his first campaign in Italy in April 1796. In less than a year, French armies under Bonaparte decimated the Habsburg forces and evicted them from the Italian peninsula, winning almost every battle and capturing 150,000 prisoners. With French forces marching towards Vienna, the Austrians sued for peace and agreed to the Treaty of Campo Formio, ending the First Coalition against the Republic.

The War of the Second Coalition began in 1798 with the French invasion of Egypt, headed by General Bonaparte. The Allies took the opportunity presented by the French effort in the Middle East to regain territories lost from the First Coalition. The war began well for the Allies in Europe, where they gradually pushed the French out of Italy and invaded Switzerland—racking up victories at Magnano, Cassano and Novi along the way. However, their efforts largely unraveled with the French victory at Zurich in September 1799, which caused Russia to drop out of the war. Meanwhile, Bonaparte's forces annihilated a series of Egyptian and Ottoman armies at the battles of the Pyramids, Mount Tabor and Abukir. These victories and the conquest of Egypt further enhanced Napoleon's popularity back in France. However, the famed general would eventually succumb to the plague that was spreading in his army. The Royal Navy had won the Battle of the Nile in 1798, further strengthening British control of the Mediterranean.