When we think about the Napoleonic Wars, we probably know enough to think “Napoleon” and “Waterloo,” but how many of us know that the Napoleonic conflict was also fought in America, Africa, the Ottoman Empire, Oman, Iran, India, the Philippines, and on the high seas of the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In the ground-breaking and highly acclaimed work, The Napoleonic Wars-A Global History, by Alexander Mikaberidze, the author addresses the immediate and lasting global impact of the Napoleonic Wars.
Our core book and this SDG will examine the Napoleonic wars and their consequences from a military, diplomatic, economic, trade and political vantage point, both in Europe and globally, and along the way will introduce us to many fascinating characters and to a somewhat new take on Napoleon himself. We will study connections among events in Europe and around the globe in new and exciting ways. As the author says, “In his efforts to achieve French hegemony, Napoleon indirectly became the architect of independent South America, reshaped the Middle East, strengthened British imperial ambitions, and contributed to the rise of American power.” Just by way of example, the author explains how Napoleon’s efforts to suppress a slave revolt in Haiti led to the Louisiana Purchase; his efforts to threaten the British in India led to the invasion of Egypt; and the British desire to pre-empt Napoleon led them to Oman. The global scope of Mikaberidze's work promises a fascinating and enlightening SDG.
One reviewer commented: “This is a 900-page book that cross-fertilises Napoleonic history with world history, and it’s fantastic. The perfect antidote to lockdown boredom.”
(The topics below refer to chapter titles, sometimes abbreviated for brevity.)
1.Prelude and The 18th Century Order
2. The War of the First Coalition, 1792-1797 and the Making of the La Grande Nation, 1797-1802
3. The Second Coalition War and the origins of the “Great Game;” The Rites of Peace, 1801-1802
4. The Road to War, 1802-1803, and The Rupture, 1803
5. France and Britain at War, 1803-1804; The Emperor’s Conquest, 1805-1807
6. Europe and the Continental System and The Struggle for Portugal and Spain,1807-1812,
7. The Grand Empire, 1807-1812 and The Emperor’s Last Triumph
8. The Northern Question, 1807-1811
9. The Ottomans and the Napoleonic War
10. The Qajar Connection: Iran and the European Powers, 1804-1814 and Britain’s Expeditionary Warfare, 1805-1810
11. Britain’s Eastern Empire 1800-1815, and Struggle for the America’s 1808-1815
12. The Turning Point, 1812, and Fall of the French Empire
13. The War and Peace, 1814-1815