Editing Napoleonic Wars (section)

==Political effects==
The Napoleonic Wars brought radical changes to Europe, but the [[reactionary]] forces returned and [[Bourbon Restoration in France|restored the Bourbon house]] to the French throne. Napoleon had succeeded in bringing most of Western Europe under one rule. In most European countries, subjugation in the French Empire brought with it many liberal features of the French Revolution including democracy, [[due process]] in courts, abolition of [[serfdom]], reduction of the power of the Catholic Church, and demand for constitutional limits on monarchs. The increasing voice of the [[Middle class|middle classes]] with rising commerce and industry meant that restored European monarchs found it difficult to restore pre-revolutionary [[absolute monarch|absolutism]] and had to retain many of the reforms enacted during Napoleon's rule. Institutional legacies remain to this day in the form of [[Civil Law (legal system)|civil law]], with clearly defined [[code of law|codes of law]]—an enduring legacy of the [[Napoleonic Code]].

[[File:Europe 1815 map en.png|thumb|upright=1.4|The national boundaries within Europe set by the Congress of Vienna, 1815]]

France's constant warfare with the combined forces of different combinations of, and eventually all, of the other major powers of Europe for over two decades finally took its toll. By the end of the Napoleonic Wars, France no longer held the role of the dominant [[historical powers|power]] in Continental Europe, as it had since the times of [[Louis XIV]], as the [[Congress of Vienna]] produced a "[[Balance of power (international relations)|balance of power]]" by resizing the main powers so they could balance each other and remain at peace. In this regard, [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] was restored in its former borders, and also received large chunks of [[Grand Duchy of Warsaw|Poland]] and [[Kingdom of Saxony|Saxony]]. Greatly enlarged, Prussia became a permanent [[Great Power]]. In order to drag Prussia's attention towards the west and France, the Congress also gave the [[Prussian Rhineland|Rhineland]] and [[Prussian Westphalia|Westphalia]] to Prussia. These industrial regions transformed agrarian Prussia into an industrial leader in the nineteenth century.<ref name="auto3" /> Britain emerged as the most important economic power, and its [[Royal Navy]] held unquestioned naval superiority across the globe well into the 20th century.<ref name="The Royal Navy" />

After the Napoleonic period, nationalism, a relatively new movement, became increasingly significant. This shaped much of the course of future European history. Its growth spelled the beginning of some states and the end of others, as the map of Europe changed dramatically in the hundred years following the [[Napoleonic Era]]. Rule by [[Fief|fiefdoms]] and [[aristocracy]] was widely replaced by national ideologies based on shared origins and culture. Bonaparte's reign over Europe sowed the seeds for the founding of the nation-states of [[Unification of Germany|Germany]] and [[Italian unification|Italy]] by starting the process of consolidating city-states, kingdoms and [[Principality|principalities]]. At the end of the war, Denmark was forced to cede Norway to Sweden mainly as a compensation for the loss of [[Grand Duchy of Finland|Finland]] which the other coalition members agreed to, but because Norway had signed its [[Constitution of Norway|own constitution]] on 17 May 1814 [[Sweden]] initiated the [[Swedish–Norwegian War (1814)]]. The war was a short one taking place between 26 July – 14 August 1814 and was a Swedish victory that put [[Norway]] into a [[Union between Sweden and Norway|personal union with Sweden]]. The union was peacefully dissolved in 1905. The [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]] created as a [[buffer state]] against France dissolved rapidly with the [[Belgian Revolution|independence of Belgium]] in 1830.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gingras |first1=Yves |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yqyJ5mYmxSUC&q=The+united+kingdom+of+the+netherlands+buffer+state&pg=PA69 |title=Les Transformations des Universités du Xiiie Au Xxie Siècle |last2=Roy |first2=Lyse |year=2006 |isbn=978-2-7605-1914-5 |access-date=2 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715013939/https://books.google.com/books?id=yqyJ5mYmxSUC&q=The+united+kingdom+of+the+netherlands+buffer+state&pg=PA69 |archive-date=15 July 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Jura de la Independencia en la Plaza de Armas de Santiago.jpg|thumb|Chile, one of several [[Spanish Empire|Spanish territories in South America]], issued a [[Chilean Declaration of Independence|Declaration of independence]] in 1818]]
The Napoleonic wars also played a key role in the independence of the Latin American colonies from Spain and Portugal. The conflict weakened the authority and military power of Spain, especially after the [[Battle of Trafalgar]]. There were many uprisings in [[Spanish America]], leading to the [[Spanish American wars of independence|wars of independence]]. In [[Portuguese America]], Brazil experienced greater autonomy as it now [[Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil|served as seat of the Portuguese Empire]] and ascended politically to the [[United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves|status of Kingdom]]. These events also contributed to the [[Liberal Revolution of 1820|Portuguese Liberal Revolution]] in 1820 and the [[Independence of Brazil]] in 1822.{{sfn|Keen|Haynes|2012|loc=chpt. 8}}

The century of relative transatlantic peace, after the Congress of Vienna, enabled the "greatest intercontinental migration in human history"{{sfn|Keeling|1999|p=39}} beginning with "a big spurt of immigration after the release of the dam erected by the Napoleonic Wars."<ref>{{cite book|last=Scott|first=Franklin D.|title=The Peopling of America: Perspectives of Immigration|year=1984|page=24}} {{cite book|last=Hansen|first=Marcus|title=The Atlantic Migration|year=1940|pages=79–106|postscript=,}} termed this a "new beginning" for American immigration. For further background context, see {{Cite web |title=North Atlantic, 1815–19 |url=http://www.business-of-migration.com/migration-processes/other-time-periods/north-atlantic-1815-19/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627182355/http://www.business-of-migration.com/migration-processes/other-time-periods/north-atlantic-1815-19/ |archive-date=27 June 2015 |access-date=3 June 2015 |publisher=Migration as a travel business}}</ref> Immigration inflows relative to the US population rose to record levels (peaking at 1.6 per cent in 1850–51){{sfn|Keeling|2007|pages=267–268}}{{page range too broad|date=May 2021}} as 30&nbsp;million Europeans relocated to the United States between 1815 and 1914.{{sfn|Jones|1992|pp=78–79|ps=: Jones referred to this migration as "one of the wonders of the age."}}

Another concept emerged from the Congress of Vienna—that of a unified Europe. After his defeat, Napoleon deplored the fact that his dream of a free and peaceful "European association" remained unaccomplished. Such a European association would share the same principles of government, system of measurement, currency and [[Civil Code]]. One-and-a-half centuries later, and after two world wars several of these ideals re-emerged in the form of the [[European Union]].