International Journal in Management & Social Science
Year : 2014, Volume : 2, Issue : 2
First page : ( 121) Last page : ( 129)
Online ISSN : 2321-1784.

Russia and the Napoleonic wars: A historical reflection

Adeyeri James Olusegun

Deptt. Of History & International Studies, Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria

Online published on 7 June, 2014.

Abstract

Russia's status as a major European power was already established by the dawn of the 19^th century. The foreign policy of France (another big European power) under Napoleon Bonaparte who ruled between 1799 and 1815 was dominated by warfare. In the Napoleonic wars, Napoleon at different times had to take on Russia, Britain, Austria and Prussia who had formed coalitions against her. Russia's refusal to join the Continental System, an economic warfare mechanism initiated by Napoleon in 1806 to weaken British power by destroying her trade, led to Napoleon's attack against Russia in 1812. Due to a combination of military resilience and diplomatic cum strategic savvy on the part of Russia, Napoleon eventually lost the war, recording one of the costliest retreats in military history. Russia proceeded to play a pivotal role in the post-Napoleonic wars diplomatic and international cooperation arrangements hatched by the great powers after the fall of Napoleon. This paper is an evaluation of Russia's role in European politics and diplomacy between 1803 and 1815 with particular respect to the Napoleonic wars of that period, and the post-war international diplomacy initiatives of the great powers. The paper concludes that the outcome of the Russian war of 1812 in favour of Russia coupled with her active participation in the Vienna congress of 1815 and subsequent conferences of that era strengthened Russia's sense of its own greatness as a modern state and great power, and also set the stage for her epochal roles in European international relations during subsequent decades.

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Keywords

Russia, Napoleonic Wars, Great powers, European Diplomacy.

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