Talk:Napoleonic Wars

Quote from article: although he was never really accepted by the hereditary monarchs. Question? If this were so, why did the Emperor of Austria welcome the marriage of Napoleon to his daughter?

From memory, because he thought it would restrain Napoleon from his usual habit of beating up the Austrian army and occupying Vienna every year or two.

This response creates the impression that Francis I approached Napoleon with the prospect of marriage. He begrudgingly accepted Napoleon's overture because it was a term of the peace that concluded the Wagram campaign. Napoleon believed that the marriage to Marie Louise would serve as the basis for an implacable Franco-Austrian alliance. His Corsican concepts of family affected his perception more than his thorough knowledge of history. The Hapsburgs preferred marriage to the bayonet as a means of diplomacy. Marie Louise was raised with the understanding that she would be wedded purely for political expediency. What's more, Metternich made a statement to the effect that politics had made that bond, (between the two empires, as well as the matrimonial one) and could thus undo it with equal ease. The extent to which the Hapsburgs saw children, particularly women, as a tool of diplomacy, is the most important factor in accounting for Francis I's acquiescence.

Do we need to banch off a separate article on the invasion of Egypt? Quite a few articles refer to it, eg Rosetta stone, Etienne-Louis Malus. What should its title be? Napoleonic invasion of Egypt? — Tarquin 10:15 Jan 13, 2003 (UTC)

Also Battle of Alexandria in 1801, given its own entry after excision from Alexandria — I have not added it to List of battles yet because I didn't know how to classify it. Catherine 00:25 Mar 4, 2003 (UTC)

Why isn't Denmark mentioned in this article? I think they were an ally of Napoleon after the British assult on Copenhagen harbour. Moravice 10:30 May 21, 2003

neutrality of this article is disputed

NVOP Problem, "French perfidy" and other stuff about the hopefully finally defeated French army are totally nonsenses in most part of the world outside british borders. "en bref" this article is not only not neutral but even offensive for continental public, and last but not least, about the levée en masse: in reality Napoléon won almost any battle in numerical inferiority compared to the enemy. Surcouf (Talk) 20:36, 2 Nov 2004 (UCT) (moved from article to talk page by Philip Baird Shearer)

"Perfidy" is from an old French saying "Perifidious Albion", most of the Britons don't know what it means (without going to the dictionary), but assume that as Napoleon said it, it must be an insult [1] :-) So I agree the word should go.

To resolve your issues please bullet point and highlight the phrases you disagree with and suggest an alternative. eg

Currently

• The Treaty of Amiens (1802) made peace between Britain and France, marked the final collapse of the Second Coalition. The French "perfidy" led to Britain refusing to honour the treaty and the renewal of hostilities from May 18, 1803. The conflict changed over its course from a general desire to restore the French monarchy into an almost manichean struggle against Bonaparte.

Suggest it is replaced with

• The Treaty of Amiens (1802) made peace between Britain and France, marked the final collapse of the Second Coalition. When the time came for the implementation of the treaty, Britain refused to implement certain terms, such as evacuating their military presence from Malta, and the French refused to respect other terms of the treaty. Hostilities renewed on May 18, 1803. The conflict changed over its course from a general desire to restore the French monarchy into an almost manichean struggle against Bonaparte.

I am not sure what you are complaining about with levée en masse I would have thought the section "Military legacy of the wars" describes what it was and why it was such an advantage in the early part of the wars. But as you can bullet point them no doubt you can show me. But I do want to make one comment don't assume that the views of Frenchmen are the same as "most parts of the world outside British borders". In the final campaign Britain, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, Austria and a number of German States all united against Napoleon in person. These states had a lot of the "continental public" in them. Philip Baird Shearer 14:18, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

It isn't a matter of NPOV nearly so much as it is a matter of simply being a very poor article. It's dreadful! I was going to copyedit it into shape just now, but I got discouraged when I realised just how big a task it will be. I don't have all day! Tannin 14:39, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

What's with the Poles?

The Poles seem to get more attention in this article than a small nation (that didn't even exist at this time as a nation) such as itself deserves. I will edit out the straight fallacies (that Poles constituted 30% of Napoleon's army in 1812 – this would mean Poland supplied more than 200,000 troops, which is almost as many as France supplied for the invasion force). I have edited out the excessive references to Poland in the past, but they seem to come back repeatedly.