This analysis of the world war between Napoleon and the 6th coalition in 1813 covers operations in Europe, Spain and North America. It examines the differences between alliances and coalitions, comparing the long-term international relationships in alliances and the short-term union of coalitions.
In 2013, Germany celebrated the bicentennial of the so-called Wars of Liberation (1813-15). These wars were the culmination of the Prussian struggle against Napoleon between 1806 and 1815, which occupied a key position in German national historiography and memory. Although these conflicts have been analyzed in thousands of books and articles, much of the focus has been on the military campaigns and alliances. Karen Hagemann argues that we cannot achieve a comprehensive understanding of these wars and their importance in collective memory without recognizing how the interaction of politics, culture, and gender influenced these historical events and continue to shape later recollections of them. She thus explores the highly contested discourses and symbolic practices by which individuals and groups interpreted these wars and made political claims, beginning with the period itself and ending with the centenary in 1913.
A classic account of a momentous battle Colonel Maude's analysis of Napoleon's campaign of 1813 around Leipzig, is yet another example of this author's careful and thorough examination of the respective armies of the protagonists and the thoughts, motivations and actions of the principal participants. Each decision is deliberated upon and explained, giving valuable insights into the strategies of the French and Coalition generals-as well as those of the Emperor himself-which led to one of the most decisive defeats suffered by an army under Napoleon's command during the Napoleonic Wars. Fought on German soil, with Germans on both sides, Leipzig is considered to be the largest battle ever fought in Europe prior to the First World War, and Maude's classic examination is accepted as a primary document for its study.
(Volume 2) "The first comprehensive history of the decisive Fall Campaign of 1813, which determined control of Central Europe following Napoleon's catastrophic defeat in Russia the previous year. Using German, French, British, Russian, Austrian and Swedish sources, Michael V. Leggiere provides a panoramic history which covers the full sweep of the struggle in Germany. He shows how Prussia, the weakest of the Great Powers, led the struggle against Napoleon and his empire. By reconstructing the principal campaigns and operations in Germany, the book reveals how the defeat of Napoleon in Germany was made possible by Prussian victories. In particular, it features detailed analysis of the strategy, military operations, and battles in Germany that culminated with the epic four-day Battle of Nations at Leipzig and Napoleon's retreat to France. This study not only highlights the breakdown of Napoleon's strategy in 1813, but constitutes a fascinating study in coalition warfare, international relations, and civil-military relations."--Provided by publisher.
The wars between 1792 and 1815 saw the making of the modern world, with Britain and Russia the key powers to emerge triumphant from a long period of bitter conflict. In this innovative book, Jeremy Black focuses on the strategic contexts and strategies involved, explaining their significance both at the time and subsequently. Reinterpreting French Revolutionary and Napoleonic warfare, strategy, and their consequences, he argues that Napoleon’s failure owed much to his limitations as a strategist. Black uses this framework as a foundation to assess the nature of warfare, the character of strategy, and the eventual ascendance of Britain and Russia in this period. Rethinking the character of strategy, this is the first history to look holistically at the strategies of all the leading belligerents from a global perspective. It will be an essential read for military professionals, students, and history buffs alike.
The way an army thinks about and understands warfare has a tremendous impact on its organization, training, and operations. The central ideas of that understanding form a nation's way of warfare that influences decisions on and off the battlefield. From the disasters of the War of 1812, Winfield Scott ensured that America adopted a series of ideas formed in the crucible of the Wars of the French Revolution and epitomized by Napoleon. Reflecting American cultural changes, these French ideas dominated American warfare on the battlefields of the Mexican-American War, the American Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and World War I. America remained committed to these ideas until cultural pressures and the successes of German Blitzkrieg from 1939 - 1940 led George C. Marshall to orchestrate the adoption of a different understanding of warfare. Michael A. Bonura examines concrete battlefield tactics, army regulations, and theoretical works on war as they were presented in American army education manuals, professional journals, and the popular press, to demonstrate that as a cultural construction, warfare and ways of warfare can be transnational and influence other nations.
Europe's great powers formed two powerful coalitions against France, yet force of numbers, superior leadership and the patriotic fervour of France's citizen-soldiers not only defeated each in turn, but closed the era of small, professional armies fighting for limited political objectives. This period produced commanders whose names remain a by-word for excellence in leadership to this day, Napoleon and Nelson. From Italy to Egypt Napoleon demonstrated his strategic genius and mastery of tactics in battles including Rivoli, the Pyramids and Marengo. Nelson's spectacular sea victories at the Nile and Copenhagen were foretastes of a century of British naval supremacy.