French Trafalgar, British Waterloo (1805-1831)

The End of the Napoleonic Wars; 1805-1812
The virtually complete destruction of the British Fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21 due to the fateful shot that killed Admiral Nelson forced the British to retreat, and the French were now open to invade England.

However, Napoleon, not wishing to invade and conquer the "island of shopkeepers," instead offers an olive branch, in return for trading privileges for both sides. King George III accepts, and the Peace of Copenhagen was signed.

The French then turned on the Austrians and Russian, and smashed both armies in the Battle of Austerlitz on December 2, after which Austria sued for peace, and was forced to sign the Treaty of Zurich, which made the Habsburg's renounce all claims on Italy.

By 1806, with Western Europe under the control of the French, Britain worried about American expansionism into Canada, and Austria licking her wounds from the war, Russia weakened and Prussia sitting on her hands, Napoleon decided to begin reorganizing the Empire. In February, the Italian Peninsula was unified for the first time since the end of the Roman Empire into the Kingdom of Italy, under the rule of the Joseph Napoleon, who assumed the title of "Premier Regent," so as to not anger the locals. In March the Kingdom of Holland, made up of current day European lands and it's South-East Asian territories, minus the island of Sumatra, which was "given" to the French Empire, was formed.

However, when Napoleon made his move to form the Confederation of the Rhine, in June of 1806, Prussia declared war, and moved in to capture Munich, Leipzig and Hanover.

At the Battle of Augsburg, on July 17, the French were able to stop, and rout, the forces under King Fredrick William III. This rout continued straight to Berlin, where Prussia was forced to accept the creation of the Confederation, and lost land to the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. After this defeat, Fredrick William was forced by the reformers Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein and Karl August von Hardenberg to become a constitutional monarchy, and agree to form a Riechstag.

Now, with only Russia left, Napoleon planned to send a massive force to knock out Czar Alexander I, but Marshal Michel Ney, the emperors most trusted general, convinced Napoleon that, due to the size of Russia and its massive population, it would difficult, if not impossible, to conquer the nation. Napoleon agreed, and decided instead to try to negotiate with Russia, and therefore, the Treaty of Cracow was signed, ending the war between Russia and the French Empire in 1807.

Dominance of France on the Continent
With her enemies completely destroyed, Napoleon went to strengthen the Empire, with industrialization and mercantile expansion, and the expansion of colonies overseas. The emperor's primary goal was to make France as strong or stronger than Britain, who, since not invaded by Napoleon, was still strong enough to fight the Empire, if not having the politcal will power at this time.

First, Napolean created the First Imperial Plan in 1808, where, over the next six years, money would be provided to starting industries and buisness' to grow; roads, harbors and schools were to be constructed, and a fleet of powerful ships were to be constructed. The massive Grand Army was slowly disbanded, so that their would be jobs for the returning soilders, who, if they couldn't find jobs in their home towns, where sponsored by the Empire till the could. (This would be considered the advent of French Socialism.)

The other parts of the French Empire, such as Italy and the Confederation of the Rhine are supported by the French in the First Imperial plan as well. A young, aspiring steal maker, Friedrich Krupp, is helped by the French to establish his foundery in Essen, in 1810, who he primarly serves.

Russia, with some influence of the French Revolution, and the fear of later Russian invasions, undertook sweaping reforms, liberating the serfs (1809), expanding the navy (1810) and building factories and industries through the "Alexander Program", approved and supported by the Czar. However, although succeding in expanding industrial capacity, and reliving the major dependence on the land, Russian nobles still considered the millions of impoverished workers who were no longer bound to them, their inferiors, and tension between the rich and the poor grows.

The British, though not invaded, were very war weary, and calls to disband the army and lay up parts of the navy resounded through the Kingdom. William Pitt the Younger, the British Prime Minister, agreed in 1808, but almost immediatly the jobless rate increased, as at the same time, machines began to be used in the factories, replacing many more men. Poverty increased and the country was thrown into political termoil.

Austria, in contrast, expands its economy and is able to recover from the losses quickly, and many new factories in Bohemia, Austria and Hungary inspired a rapid growth in the economy. Francis II, the Habsburg Emporer, grants more freedom to his people, and in general, the entire country prospers.

In Prussia, the Reforms of 1807 are finnaly pushed through, and the first Riechstag is elected in 1808, dominated by younger, liberal members. Some minor reforms, such as a limited work week and public education are put through, but demands for greater reforms are blocked by the conservative bloc. Prussia constructs her first fleet in the Baltic after the expansion of Russia's navy, with help from layed off British naval enginners from Portsmouth.

American Expansionism
In 1808, the United States elected James Madison of the Democratic-Republican party as President, and he immediatly set into motion to expand the nation westward. Since the Lousiania Purcahse in 1803, many American families had moved west and were settling in the area. However, Indians quickly retaliated, ambushing several towns and killing dozens. In 1810, settlers, scared of the attacks, asked Washington D.C. for assistance. Madison agreed to support a militia to fight the Indians, but the attacks only increased.

The British in Canada, seeing an attempt to prevent American expansion, sent supplies and weapons to the Indians, who gladlly used them. However, in a raid in 1811, American Miltiamen stumbled across a convoy of Indians carrying British weapons. Congress, dominated by the War Hawks, were furious, and demanded that President Madison do something about it. Madison hoped to resolve the dispute by diplomacy, and although various notes between the President and the Governor of Canada resulted in the end of the weapons trade, the War Hawks cried for war.

In June of 1812, as news of the attacks and masacures of the settlers in the Lousiana Territory flooded east, Congress demanded the President allow war to punish the British by taking over Canada. Madison tried to delay as much as possible, but, on July 14, 1812, President James Madison stood in front of Congress and announced that the state milita's were being called up, and that a state of war existed between the United States and The British Empire.

The First America's War; 1812-1816
American forces were assembled to march on York (PD Toronto) by August. As men marched into York, the Governor and the milita evacuated and retreated to Montreal. As soon as England found out, an army of 25,000 vetrens of the Napoleanic Wars were asembeled and were sent to Canada.

Meanwhile, American forces suffered greatly during the winter. Harsh weather and insufficient supplies lead to the death of many of the occuping soilders. Canadian militia's, made up of American Loyalists who immigrated after the Revolutionary War, French-Canadian settlers who feared losing their lands to American settlers and Native warriors fighting from Britian, all helped raid and attack the American outposts.

When the spring of 1813 arrived, American forces attacked Fort Dearborn (Detroit PD) and Montreal. Fort Dearborn fell to the Americans, but ate the Battle of Sherbroke, British vetrens that just arrived off the boats destroyed an unorganized American force, comprised mostly of untrained milita from New York and Pennsylvania. Soon, British forces were advancing through up-state New York, and their was panic in New York City and Philidalphia.

The British implimented a blockade of major harbors in the North-east, such as Boston and Maine. Although some isolated victories by single ships boosted American morale, the entire national economy was crashing.

President Madison, who was re-ellected in the glow after the occupation of York, was now severly critized for the way he was handiling the war. Madison sacked his Secratary of War and placed Andrew Jackson in charge.

Jackson quickly held back the British from Albany, and was soon able to slowly push them back. The war was rebranded as a crusade to free the Canadian's from the tyranny of British oppression. Support grows, but opposition from the Eastern merchants, whoses livley hoods had been crushed by the British blockade, still rises.