French Revolutionary Wars
Wars between revolutionary France and successive European coalitions that overturned old-regime borders.
Historical overview
Overview adapted from a Wikipedia summary and stored locally on May 11, 2026.
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted France against Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and several other countries. The wars are divided into two periods: the War of the First Coalition (1792–1797) and the War of the Second Coalition (1798–1802). Initially confined to Europe, the fighting gradually assumed a global dimension. After a decade of constant warfare and aggressive diplomacy, France had conquered territories in the Italian peninsula, the Low Countries, and the Rhineland with its very large and powerful military which had been totally mobilized for war against most of Europe with mass conscription of the vast French population. French success in these conflicts ensured military occupation and the spread of revolutionary principles over much of Europe.
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Border context
Revolutionary and Napoleonic borders
Revolutionary France and Napoleon redraw much of Europe before the Congress of Vienna restores a new settlement.
French satellite states and annexations replace older dynastic borders. Latin American independence wars begin during Iberian crisis.