Napoleonic Wars Research Articles

Colonial Exiles: The Tambora Volcanic Explosion, Environmental History, and Swiss Immigration to Nova Friburgo, Brazil, 1815–1821

The 1815 eruption of the Indonesian volcano Mount Tambora triggered a subsistence crisis in Europe, especially in Switzerland. This article retraces the founding of Nova Friburgo, a colony in the mountains near Rio de Janeiro composed of several hundred Swiss families, mostly from the rural canton of Fribourg. This study shows how the unusual central European settler migration to the Brazilian tropics was facilitated by a new class of entrepreneurial go-betweens, acting as dynamic mediators between the effects that the climatic catastrophe caused by Tambora had on Swiss agriculture and politics and the development requirements for building new settlements in a metamorphosing South American continent. By positioning Brazil in the broader environmental history of Tambora, as well as the fallout from the Napoleonic Wars, this article sheds light on how the study of climatic teleconnections requires multiple scales of analysis to understand better how the different politics and scopes of action, and sets of unlikely processes, move into play. These teleconnections were, in fact, socially mediated with eventually wide-reaching social and racial transformations that became foundational prototypes for Brazilian land colonization throughout the nineteenth and into the twentieth century.

British Military Music and the Legacy of the Napoleonic Wars

Abstract Historians have increasingly stressed the impact of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars on Britain and Ireland. Less attention, however, has been paid to the legacies of martial mobilization after 1815. Drawing on hitherto unused press and archival sources, this article assesses the implications of wartime military expansion for the music profession, and musical culture more generally, in the decades after Waterloo. It demonstrates that men and boys who honed their instrumental skills in uniform embarked on a variety of civilian musical careers, becoming instructors, wind performers, composers, and even opera singers. The article traces the post-war circulation of regimental instruments and reveals that a multitude of militia and volunteer bands remained active long after demobilization. The wartime proliferation of military bands, moreover, encouraged the subsequent spread of quasi-martial wind ensembles in wider society. Finally, the article proves that brass bands were first introduced to Britain and Ireland in a regimental guise. The influence of the military on musical culture after 1815, in short, was palpable and often profound, and manifested itself in numerous ways and settings.

From fiscal-military state to laissez-faire science: liberal government and the nineteenth-century market of scientific activity

AbstractIn nineteenth-century Britain, the role of the state in the cultivation of scientific activity was controversial. After the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, successive governments rolled back the apparatus of the ‘fiscal-military state’, characterized by high taxation and government spending. What followed was a moment of self-avowedly laissez-faire, liberal governance in which contemporaries placed great emphasis on the value of minimal government intervention in market activity. This not only concerned the nation’s social and economic life, but its scientific culture. Leading political and scientific figures frequently promoted science as something best advanced if left to individuals. Yet by the 1900s, the British state was increasingly engaged in financing and organizing large-scale scientific research. The twentieth century would see governments around the world expand their scientific and technological investment, epitomized by the American concept of ‘Big Science’. This article analyses the relationship between the British government and scientific activity during the nineteenth century and argues that, far from a simple matter of minimal intervention, the state was always highly active in the market of science.

Beatrice Unbound: Adaptations of Shelley’s The Cenci

This essay considers three twentieth-century re-imaginings of Shelley’s The Cenci : Artaud’s play Les Cenci , Bernold Goldschmidt’s opera Beatrice Cenci , with a libretto by Martin Esslin, and both the play and opera versions of Beatrice Chancy by George Elliot Clarke with music by James Rolfe. Shelley and his adaptors in thinking through the figure of Beatrice take up what Shelley sees as the struggle of “oppressor to the oppressed.” Shelley writing during the reactionary restoration after the Napoleonic Wars, Artaud writing between the World Wars, Goldschmidt composing as a refugee from the Nazis, and Clarke seeking to illuminate the practice of slavery within Canada, all explore both oppression’s devastating impact and the possibility of a resistance to tyranny. Artaud’s version, which places Count Cenci as father at its center, altered the reception of Shelley’s play, influencing later adaptations and even the way we read Shelley’s play itself. In the end, that Shelley offers the most radical and ultimately feminist vision of a way beyond the patriarchal society that ensnares all these various Beatrices.

Travelling in Romantic Bildungsroman Narratives

The early nineteenth-century bildungsroman is often understood as a coming-of-age story of the protagonist, which implies that temporality is more constitutive for its composition than spatiality. In contrast, my paper focuses on the motif of travelling in German and British bildungsroman narratives. Opposed to the previous allegorical understanding of the Romantic bildungsroman, I suggest that the methods of the spatial humanities open up a new perspective on bildungsroman narratives by showing how their travel itineraries were used in the construction of Europe before and after the Napoleonic Wars. The itineraries annotated from the corpus suggest that the classic Grand Tour to Italy remain important, especially in German Romanticism, whereas northern regions are also popular in British texts. A few narratives emphasise the region of Greece in defining the European frontier in relation to the Ottoman Empire, while Russia and Poland are not popular settings for bildungsroman narratives.

The ‘Prince Royal of Denmark’s Yacht’: A career in royal, naval and whaling service, 1785–1837

Following the French Revolutionary, American and Napoleonic wars between 1793 and 1815, many smaller British warships were sold to merchant ship owners directly or to shipyards for breaking or resale. Identifying changes from naval to commercial employment is not always straightforward and the availability or accuracy of a vessel’s history not always assured. One yacht built at Deptford in 1785 with Danish royal connections and then a British naval career presents such questions. Sold out of naval service in 1818, ostensibly for breaking, it is argued that the former yacht was not broken up but rebuilt and resold to become a whaleship from 1820 to about 1837. The vessel provides an unusual case study of a transition from royal to naval service and then into mercantile employment.

War captivity as a contact zone: The case of British prisoners of war on parole in Napoleonic France

AbstractThe existing scholarship on Napoleonic captivity tends to focus on French prisoners of war held in Britain at the time. This article seeks to help redress this gap by drawing upon a range of English and French sources to investigate how British captives on parole experienced displacement in Napoleonic France during up to eleven years of their lives, between 1803 and 1814. The multifaceted relations that prisoners developed with residents and fellow captives offer important nuances for our understanding of Franco‐British relations during the period. They also provide an insight into how war captivity formed a ‘contact zone’ amidst the conflict. Through this case study, the article highlights that the notion of ‘contact zone’ can provide a helpful framework to further conceptualise histories of prisoner of war experience, even beyond the Napoleonic Wars.

Schistosomiasis in the Military-A Narrative Review.

Schistosomiasis is a parasitosis caused by trematodes of the genus Schistosoma. Humans are infected when coming into contact with freshwater containing the parasites' infective stages, which are amplified through freshwater-dwelling snails acting as intermediate hosts. Schistosomiasis has posed significant problems for troops exposed to freshwater in endemic regions ever since the Napoleonic wars. Schistosomiasis has substantial differences in clinical presentation, depending on the type of parasite, intensity of infection and reinfection, clinical form, and disease stage. It can remain undiagnosed for long periods of time, with well-known long-term morbidity and mortality risks. The diagnosis of schistosomiasis depends on its stage and relays on several tests, all with limitations in sensitivity and specificity. The diagnostic gold standard is the detection of eggs in urine, feces, or tissue biopsies, but this can raise problems in patients such as military personnel, in which the worm burden is usually low. Praziquantel is the drug of choice for schistosomiasis. Currently, there is no available commercial vaccine against any Schistosoma parasite. Avoiding freshwater exposure is the best prevention. Herein, we review the clinical presentation, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of schistosomiasis in the military. This information may decrease the impact of schistosomiasis on this particular professional group.

Egertől Rióig, Riótól Pozsonyig?

Although Hungary was never part of the Iberosfera, thanks to the Habsburg dynasty, there existed a special historical relationship between them during centuries. It is a matter of honor to research and explore this connection between Hungary and the Lusophony. As we can see, there was a direct connection between the Napoleonic Wars, the pro Habsburg attitude of the Hungarian nation, and the independence of Brazil through the person of Archduchess Leopoldina, Royal Princess of Hungary and Empress consort of Brazil, who played a key role in the process. On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the independence of Brazil, we should commemorate with dignity the Archduchess Leopol dina, the common hero of the Brazilian and Hungarian nations.

A korai brazil-amerikai kapcsolatok

The United States of America was the first country to recognize the independence of Brazil, when, on May 26, 1824, James Monroe, the President of the US, received José Silvestre Rebello as a chargé d’affaires sent by the Emperor of Brazil to the United States. In reciprocity, on March 9, 1825, President Monroe appointed Condy Raguet to a similar position in Brazil, who presented his credentials to Emperor Pedro I on October 29, 1825. American traders developed business relations with the Portuguese colony already at the end of the eighteenth century, and the economic ties remained important through out the nineteenth century. However, the purpose of this article is to analyze the antecedents and circumstances of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The paper focuses mainly on the early period, the era of the Napoleonic Wars, the presidency of James Madison (1809–1817) and James Monroe (1817-1825), and the activity of John Quincy Adams, who was the secretary of state of the United States from 1817 to 1825 and its president from 1825 to 1829. The paper relies on official documents and the Memoirs of John Quincy Adams as its most important primary sources.

Humanist Anecdotes in Hard Times: F. C. Weiskopf and Lenka Reinerová

This article examines humanist anecdotes about the turbulent times of the mid-twentieth century by F. C. Weiskopf and Lenka Reinerová. It provides a comparative reading of Weiskopf’s Elend und Größe unserer Tage. Anekdoten 1933–1947 (1950) and Reinerová’s “Tragischer Irrtum und richtige Diagnose” (published in Mandelduft, 1998). The anecdotal form of these texts harks back to the popular Enlightenment (Volksaufklärung) anecdotes of Heinrich von Kleist and Johann Peter Hebel, published in 1810–1811 during the Napoleonic Wars. The anecdote as a literary form is particularly well suited to the representation of wartime and political repression. While Weiskopf’s anecdotes explore cruelty and heroism under the Nazi dictatorship, Reinerová’s autobiographical text juxtaposes crisis points in her own life—her time as a political prisoner in France in 1939 and in Czechoslovakia in 1952–1953; her return to Prague as her family’s sole survivor; and her periodic cancer treatment from 1948 onwards. Reinerová describes how the kindness of ordinary people, and her own optimism and resilience, helped her through the worst times. Her lived experience gives her authority as a storyteller in Walter Benjamin’s sense. Both authors contrast human extremes—the good and the bad—yet both remain optimistic about the human capacity for good.

The Development of the Firepower of the Russian Army in the first half of the 19th century in Comparison with Enemies as a Factor of Russia's Victories and Defeats in the Napoleonic and Crimean Wars

The Development of the Firepower of the Russian Army in the first half of the 19th century in Comparison with Enemies as a Factor of Russia's Victories and Defeats in the Napoleonic and Crimean Wars

Napoleonic Wars and the Unification of Germany

The origins of German nationalism can be traced back to the late 18th century, influenced by a myriad of factors including political, cultural, social, and economic transformations. The Napoleonic Wars ignited the German people's spirit of resistance, uniting them against foreign adversaries. During the anti-French struggle, a shared sense of national identity gradually emerged among the German populace, fostering the belief that only through national unity could external aggression be repelled. The Napoleonic Wars also spurred the economic integration of Germany and propelled the development of German capitalism. Additionally, German nationalist thinkers during the Napoleonic era called for unity against foreign enemies, leading to the early formation of nationalist thought. These factors collectively advanced the formation and development of German national consciousness. This process was not only a response to external pressures but also a result of internal social transformations and intellectual progress, laying the foundation for the unification of Germany in the late 19th century.

The concept of “popular royalism” in the latest historiography of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Era: pro and contra

In recent years, the concept of “popular royalism” has gained popularity in the historiography of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. The author of the article analyses the main tenets and criticisms of this concept based on the writings of the three main theorists, Paul Choplin, Álvaro Paris, and Andoni Artola. The term “popular royalism” appeared as a result of an incomplete discussion about the essence of counter-revolution in European countries in the late 18th – early 19th centuries. According to the authors of the concept, royalist and counter-revolutionary movements were not retrograde in nature and met the actual demands of different layers of society in the situation of civil war. The counter-revolution gave rise to an alternative way of politicization of the masses and contributed to the emergence of new models of their political participation. The royalists monopolised old sources of political legitimacy and adapted familiar discourses and images to new challenges. Drawing on the idea of legitimacy, they put forward a wide range of demands that were not only conservative but also innovative. Nevertheless, specific regional casess, especially from Italian history, show that the cross-class alliances led by the royalists were temporary and unsustainable. These alliances contributed to the Restoration, but only with foreign military intervention. Yet, since the national historiographical traditions are still very stable, the proposed new concept of popular royalist movements requires substantial clarifications, taking into account the specifics of the historical development of different countries and regions.

Do not move! Spinal immobilization or spinal motor restriction: the long-lasting debate from the Napoleonic Wars to 2024 SIMEU policy statement

Do not move! Spinal immobilization or spinal motor restriction: the long-lasting debate from the Napoleonic Wars to 2024 SIMEU policy statement

Science and imperialism: Setting the maritime sovereignty at the periphery of the French Empire through the survey of the Adriatic Sea (1806–1809)

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Adriatic was still insufficiently explored sea. The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), which in 1806 resulted in a territorial expansion of the French Empire to the eastern Adriatic (formerly part of the Austrian Empire), highlighted the issues of territorial sovereignty both on land and at sea, triggering the first hydrographic survey of the Adriatic. Napoleon Bonaparte, whose military operations were conducted precisely at sea, hired Charles François Beautemps-Beaupré, his best hydrographer, to conduct a hydrographic survey of the eastern coasts of the Adriatic. Conducted in the period 1806–1809, the survey resulted in the first modern hydrographic charts of the Adriatic that were accompanied by a hydrographic report, containing an analysis of its currents, winds, tides, and geomagnetism. Beautemps-Beaupré’s campaign was the first scientifically based survey of the Adriatic whose charts and the attached report represented a shift towards an all-encompassing convention of maritime cartography. It enhanced both the sovereignty over the newly acquired sea and the insight into the maritime theatre of the Napoleonic Wars, thus confirming a strong union between political power and science. The aim of the article is to show why the French survey was a turning-point in geographical knowledge on Adriatic and how French imperialism affected the knowledge on martime geography of the Adriatic Sea.

Through the Lens of Sea Power and Maritime Strategy: Alfred T. Mahan and Julian S. Corbett on the Napoleonic Wars

Through the Lens of Sea Power and Maritime Strategy: Alfred T. Mahan and Julian S. Corbett on the Napoleonic Wars

The Intellectual Class and the Rise of German Cultural Nationalism

German cultural nationalism emerged in the context of the invasion of French culture. This cultural nationalism was different from the nationalism represented by Britain and France, which focused on the expression of nationalism from the cultural level, and made use of cultural connection and unity to achieve the establishment of a nation state. In the 17th and 18th centuries, French culture invaded Germany in all aspects, and the aristocrat and the middle classes of the German states were proud of speaking French, while German was neglected as a national language. Against the background of the political and economic unification of the German region, a group of Deutsch intellectuals began to actively propagate and promote the German culture and language, hoping to establish a unified German national identity from the cultural identity to complete the unification of the country, and to make the German state regain its historical glory. The subsequent historical development proved that German cultural nationalism became the foundation stone of German unification. After the Napoleonic Wars, German cultural nationalism was further transformed into German political democracy, and Prussia finally completed the unification. How did German cultural nationalism emerge from all this, and what was the role of the German intellectual class in it? By studying this period of history, this paper is able to further understand the intricate international context and international situation in Western Europe at that time. At the same time, it draws on the positive factors of German cultural development.

Swedish consuls in Galicia: the economic function of consuls in turbulent times (1793–1806)

ABSTRACT This article is about the creation of a Swedish network of consuls in Galicia during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Contrary to previous findings that show consuls with weak positions vis-à-vis the host authorities or the merchant community could do little to aid merchants and ships, the paper demonstrates that consuls could provide economic functions despite having no jurisdiction or official recognition from the receiving state. In contrast to those who view self-interest as something that hindered consuls from executing economic functions, the paper demonstrates a synergy between self-interest and public goods. The paper also shows a growth in Swedish trade with Galicia, but it is unclear if the network members facilitated this development. Lastly, the article argues that the creation of the Swedish consular service, contrary to previous research, cannot be seen as driven by the Swedish central authorities with a mercantilistic agenda in mind. Instead, the process was rather dynamic and involved various actors and agendas.

The Union Army's Surgical Handbook and the Positive Story of Civil War Surgery.

Western armies have relied on surgical field manuals to help physicians deal with unfamiliar combat medical conditions from the Napoleonic wars to the present day, but there has been little discussion of whether these handbooks have been used or improved outcomes. Recent research shows that the Union Army's American Civil War (1861-1865) surgical case fatality rates improved as the war progressed, much like the US Army's experience in later wars, and were generally superior to comparable European results. These positive Civil War outcomes have been attributed to field experience, adoption of best practices, and enhanced communication, without consideration of New York surgeon Stephen Smith's widely-used Hand-Book of Surgical Operations. The Army of the Potomac added Smith's pocket-sized Hand-Book to its supply table in 1862. Northern medical journals applauded it, and Smith's contemporaries documented its wide use. Smith's handbook explained and demonstrated surgical techniques that were adopted as the war progressed, such as the use of general anesthesia and limb-sparing resection (debridement) of gunshot wounds. It offered pithy, well-documented advice from recognized experts along with numerous illustrations, which allowed untrained physicians to visualize anatomical relationships and see contemporary best practices in a way that no other wartime publication provided, making it an exemplar of a mass-media surgical improvement change agent.