Britain and the Defeat of France in the Napoleonic Wars This paper will discuss the role of Great Britain in the Napoleonic Wars, focusing upon the role of Britain in France's ultimate defeat and the strategy used by Britain in fighting France. Specifically, the discussion will center around the strategy of using sea power and multinational coalitions to fight Napoleon, rather than directly confronting the bulk of his ground forces in campaigns on the continent. The discussion will also analyze how the Peninsular Campaign fit into this strategy and what effects it had upon France.
All of the European ruling classes reacted negatively to the French Revolution in the late 1780s; they viewed it as a dangerous precedent for the classes in their own countries who were essentially excluded from the function of governing. Many in England also viewed the events in France with distaste, especially after the experience of the American Revolution a few years earlier. There were strong elements in England which were sympathetic to the Revolution, especially among businessmen who wanted to reshape Parliament in order to increase their representation and decrease the established influence of the Church of England. The Revolution also inspired the Irish, who sought any available opportunity to weaken the British (Palmer & Colton, 1984, p. 367).
The British government had another reason for reacting negatively to the Revolution. By the end of the 18th Century, Britain was the premier commercial power of the world and had an interest in maintaining the status quo throughout Europe, especially when political changes threatened its commercial interests. For example, the British became nervous when political events led to instability in the Netherlands and pointed to Russian and Austrian expansion in the Balkans (Ross, 1969, pp. 31 32). In January of 1793 England entered into war with the French Republic for the first time when the French...