The
Great French War is a term sometimes used to describe the period of almost continuous conflict from April 20, 1792 to November 20, 1815 ( 23 years 7 months ), between France and various other states of Europe. Nowadays, historians commonly recognize a split between the
French Revolutionary Wars and the
Napoleonic Wars.
The conflict began when
France declared war on
Austria following a gradual increase in tensions following the
French Revolution in 1789. The wars continued through several régime changes in France (beginning with the deposition of
King Louis XVI in 1792 and continuing through
the Terror instigated by the
Jacobins under
Maximilien de Robespierre). The Jacobins were in turn overthrown and an Executive Directory set up, eventually also giving way to the rule of
Napoleon Bonaparte — first as
First Consul then as
Emperor.
The
Treaty of Amiens produced the only period of general peace during the Great French War (besides Napoleon's brief exile on Elba), and separates the earlier
French Revolutionary Wars from the later
Napoleonic Wars, although both terms are sometimes used to cover the entire period.
In total the war claimed between 4 million and 6.5 million lives (including civilian casualties) and involved between 6 and 10 million combatants. It was fought principally in
Europe, but conflict did occur in both north
Africa and South Africa as well as in
South America,
North America, the
Caribbean, the
Middle East,
India and throughout much of the
Atlantic and
Indian Oceans. Some colonial possessions changed hands permanently, with crucial implications for their later history, such as
South Africa.
The wars saw the rise and fall of French dominance over Europe, as well as the rapid decline of the
Spanish and
Portuguese Empires. The
Russian and
British Empires thus both benefited from the wars in the short term. One lasting result of the conflict was a dramatic growth in Italian and German
nationalism, which culminated in the
Unification of Italy in 1861 and
of Germany in 1871. The war proved to be the last ever fought between Britain and France, ending the
Second Hundred Years War that had seen them constantly in conflict between 1689 and 1815.
See also
