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Cisalpine Republic
Country in Northern Italy, under French control, formed by the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797. In 1801, it was reorganized into the Italian Republic.
Confederation of the Rhine
Lasting from 1806 to 1813, the Confederation of the Rhine replaced the old Holy Roman Empire and was Napoleon-controlled Germany.
Consulate
French government from 1799 to 1804, set up by Napoleon and Sieyes after their overthrow of the Directory. Napoleon was First Consul. Set up as an oligarchy, Napoleon ended up becoming the sole dictator of the regime. In 1804, he replaced the consulate with the Empire.
Continental System
Napoleon's plan to stop all shipping of British goods into Europe. Announced by the Berlin Decree of 1806, the Continental System resulted in a British blockade of all European shipping, and ended up hurting France more than Britain. By trying to spread the Continental System into Spain, Napoleon and France had to endure the constant harassment of the disastrous Peninsular War.
First Coalition
Grouping of European states against Revolutionary France that lasted from 1792 to 1797. Ended after Napoleon defeated Austria in his Italian campaign, which rocketed him to popularity in France.
Grand Duchy of Warsaw
Name Napoleon gave to the Polish state he created in 1807, and which lasted until 1815. Though technically independent, it was in reality under Napoleon's control. Czar Alexander I of Russia was seriously upset by the recreation of the Polish state, since he wanted the territory badly.
Holy Alliance
1815 agreement promoted by Czar Alexander I, by which most European powers promised to uphold Christian virtues like peace and charity. Only Britain, Turkey, and the Pope refused to join the Holy Alliance. However, few took the agreement very seriously.
Jacobins
Extreme revolutionaries, who held a very liberal equalitarian vision. The Jacobins also had a reputation for violence, since they had controlled and initiated the Terror during the French Revolution. The term Jacobin evoked both contempt and fear in post-Revolutionary France.
Napoleonic Code
Napoleon's system of laws, particularly the civil code, which he first announced in 1804. The code remains a basis of European continental law to this day. It differs from Anglo-American “Common Law” tradition practiced in most of the US in several ways; for instance, it is less concerned with protecting alleged criminals' legal rights.
Nationalism
A modern phenomena in which people feel that a person's main loyalty should be to their state (tied up in patriotism). It is actually a fairly new idea, which first appeared at the end of the 18th century in the American and French Revolutions. During the Napoleonic era, domination by France gave rise to a nationalist movement in Germany.
Neoclassical
A late 18th century and early 19th century style in painting and artwork that emphasized an idealized version of classical (Greek and Roman) art. An example is the work of the French painter David.
Romanticism
A general 19th-century intellectual rebellion against the Rationalism espoused by the French Enlightenment. This movement was particularly vibrant in Germany, which chafed under French rule and desired to rebel against French systems and influence.
Second Coalition
Anti-French alliance in place from 1798 to 1802. Austria, Russia, and Britain were in the Coalition, but Prussia did not join. After the Treaty of Luneville and the Peace of Amiens, the Second Coalition ended, and a one-year period of Europe-wide peace prevailed.
Third Coalition
1805 Coalition of the anti-Napoleonic powers. When Alexander I signed the Treaty of Tilsit and sided with Napoleon, this coalition came to a halt.
Volksgeist
German term essentially meaning the "spirit of a nation." Romantic thinkers like Herder and Fichte believed that all nations had their own unique volksgeist, which meant that the same laws and governments were did not apply to everyone in the same way. This was a reaction against the universalistic notions of the French Enlightenment.
