The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of sweeping military conflicts, lasting

from 1792 until 1802, resulting from the French Revolution. Primarily fought between
the French First Republic and several European monarchies, they are traditionally divided
in two periods: the War of the First Coalition (1792-1797) and the War of the Second
Coalition (1798-1802). Initially confined to Europe, the wars gradually assumed a global
dimension as the political ambitions of the Revolution expanded. After a decade of
constant warfare and aggressive diplomacy, France had succeeded in seizing and
conquering a wide array of territories, from theItalian Peninsula and the Low Countries in
Europe to the Louisiana Territory in North America. French success in these conflicts
ensured the spread of revolutionary principles over much of Europe and the Middle East.
The wars also led to the rebirth of professional armies and the emergence of total war,
which defined all future modern conflicts.
The Revolutionary Wars began from increasing political pressure on King Louis XVI of
France to prove his loyalty to the new direction France was taking. In the spring of 1792,
France declared war on Prussia andAustria, which responded with a coordinated invasion of
the country that was eventually turned back at theBattle of Valmy in September 1792. The
victory rejuvenated the French nation and emboldened the National Convention to abolish
the monarchy. A series of victories by the new French armies abruptly ended with defeat
at Neerwinden in the spring of 1793. The remainder of the year witnessed additional
defeats for the French, and these difficult times allowed the Jacobins to rise to power and
impose the Reign of Terror as a method of attempting to unify the nation. In 1794, the
situation improved dramatically for the French, as huge victories atFleurus against the
Austrians and at the Black Mountain against the Spanish signaled the start of a new stage
in the wars. By 1795, the French had captured the Austrian Netherlands and knocked Spain
and Prussia out of the war with the Peace of Basel. By April of 1796, a hitherto unknown
general called Napoleon Bonaparte began his first campaign in Italy. In less than a year,
French armies had decimated the Habsburg forces and booted them from Italy and
Germany, winning almost every battle and capturing 150,000 prisoners. With the French
Armies marching towards Vienna, the Austrians sued for peace and agreed to the Treaty of
Campo Formio, ending the First Coalition against the Republic.
The War of the Second Coalition began with the French invasion of Egypt, headed by
Napoleon, in 1798. The Allies took the opportunity presented by the French strategic effort
in the Middle East to regain territories lost from the First Coalition. The war began well for
the Allies in Europe, where they gradually pushed the French out of Italy and
invaded Switzerlandracking up victories at Magnano, Cassano, and Novi along the way.
However, their efforts largely unraveled with the French victory at Zurich in September
1799, which causedRussia to drop out of the war. Meanwhile, Napoleon's forces annihilated
a series of Egyptian and Ottomanarmies at the battles of the Pyramids, Mount Tabor,
and Abukir. These victories and the conquest of Egypt further enhanced Napoleon's
popularity back in France; he returned in the fall of 1799 to cheering throngs in the streets.
However, the Royal Navy had managed to inflict a humiliating defeat on the French fleet at
the Battle of the Nile in 1798, further strengthening British control of the Mediterranean.

Napoleon's arrival from the Middle East led to the fall of the Directory in the Brumaire
coup, with Napoleon installing himself as Consul. Napoleon then reorganized the French
army and launched a new assault against the Austrians in Italy during the spring of 1800.
This latest effort culminated in a decisive French victory at theBattle of Marengo in June
1800, after which the Austrians withdrew from the peninsula once again. Another crushing
French triumph at Hohenlinden in Bavaria forced the Austrians to seek peace for a second
time, leading to the Treaty of Lunville in 1801. With Austria and Russia out of the war,
Britain found herself increasingly isolated and agreed to the Treaty of Amiens with
Napoleon's government in 1802, concluding the Revolutionary Wars. The lingering tensions
proved too difficult to contain, however, and the Napoleonic Warsbegan a few years later
with the formation of the Third Coalition.