Editing History of Europe (section)

====Impact of the French Revolution====
{{main|Influence of the French Revolution}}
[[Andrew Roberts, Baron Roberts of Belgravia|Andrew Roberts]], an English popular historian, finds that the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, from 1793 to 1815, caused 4 million deaths (of whom 1&nbsp;million were civilians); 1.4&nbsp;million were French.<ref>Andrew Roberts, "Why Napoleon merits the title 'the Great,'" ''BBC History Magazine''  (1 November 2014)</ref>

Outside France the Revolution had a major impact. Its ideas became widespread. Roberts argues that Napoleon was responsible for key ideas of the modern world, so that, "meritocracy, [[equality before the law]], [[Right to property|property rights]], [[Religious tolerance|religious toleration]], [[Secular education|modern secular education]], sound finances, and so on-were protected, consolidated, codified, and geographically extended by Napoleon during his 16 years of power."<ref>Roberts, "Why Napoleon merits the title 'the Great," ''BBC History Magazine''  (1 November 2014)</ref>

Furthermore, the French armies in the 1790s and 1800s directly overthrew feudal remains in much of western Europe. They liberalised [[property law]]s, ended [[Manorialism|seigneurial dues]], abolished the [[guild]] of merchants and craftsmen to facilitate [[entrepreneurship]], legalised divorce, closed the [[Ghetto|Jewish ghettos]] and [[Jewish emancipation|made Jews equal to everyone else]]. The [[Spanish Inquisition|Inquisition]] ended as did the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. The power of church courts and religious authority was sharply reduced and [[Equality before the law|equality under the law]] was proclaimed for all men.<ref>Robert R. Palmer and Joel Colton,  ''A History of the Modern World'' (New York: McGraw Hill, 1995), pp. 428–29.</ref>

France conquered Belgium and turned it into another province of France. It conquered the Netherlands, and made it a [[Sister republic|client state]]. It took control of the German areas on the left bank of the [[Rhine|Rhine River]] and set up a puppet [[Confederation of the Rhine]]. It conquered Switzerland and most of Italy, setting up a series of puppet states. The result was glory and an infusion of much needed money from the conquered lands. However the enemies of France, led by Britain, formed a [[War of the Second Coalition|Second Coalition]] in 1799 (with Britain joined by Russia, the Ottoman Empire and Austria). It scored a series of victories that rolled back French successes, and trapped the French Army in Egypt. Napoleon slipped through the British blockade in October 1799, returning to Paris, where he overthrew the government and made himself the ruler.<ref>William Doyle, ''The Oxford History of the French Revolution'' (1989) pp. 341–68</ref><ref>Steven T. Ross, ''European Diplomatic History, 1789–1815: France Against Europe'' (1969)</ref>

Napoleon conquered most of Italy in the name of the French Revolution in 1797–99. He split up Austria's holdings and set up a series of new republics, complete with new codes of law and abolition of feudal privileges. Napoleon's [[Cisalpine Republic]] was centered on Milan; Genoa became a republic; the Roman Republic was formed as well as the small [[Ligurian Republic]] around Genoa. The [[Parthenopean Republic|Neapolitan Republic]] was formed around Naples, but it lasted only five months. He later formed the [[Kingdom of Italy]], with his brother as King. In addition, France turned the Netherlands into the [[Batavian Republic]], and Switzerland into the [[Helvetic Republic]]. All these new countries were satellites of France, and had to pay large subsidies to Paris, as well as provide military support for Napoleon's wars. Their political and administrative systems were modernized, the metric system introduced, and trade barriers reduced. Jewish ghettos were abolished. Belgium and Piedmont became integral parts of France.<ref>Alexander Grab, ''Napoleon and the Transformation of Europe'' (2003) pp. 62–65, 78–79, 88–96, 115–17, 154–59</ref>

[[File:Colonial empires in 1800.svg|thumb|upright=1.1|The cumulative crises and disruptions of Napoleon's [[Peninsular War|invasion of Spain]] led to the [[Spanish American wars of independence|independence]] of most of [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spain's American colonies]] (yellow) and the [[independence of Brazil]] (green).]]

Most of the new nations were abolished and returned to prewar owners in 1814. However, Artz emphasizes the benefits the Italians gained from the French Revolution:
:For nearly two decades the Italians had excellent codes of law, a fair system of taxation, a better economic situation, and more religious and intellectual toleration than they had known for centuries.... Everywhere old physical, economic, and intellectual barriers had been thrown down and the Italians had begun to be aware of a common nationality.<ref>Frederick B. Artz, ''Reaction and Revolution: 1814–1832 '' (1934) pp. 142–43</ref>

Likewise in [[History of Switzerland|Switzerland]] the long-term impact of the French Revolution has been assessed by Martin:
:It proclaimed the equality of citizens before the law, equality of languages, freedom of thought and faith; it created a [[Swiss citizenship]], basis of our modern nationality, and the separation of powers, of which the old regime had no conception; it suppressed internal tariffs and other economic restraints; it unified weights and measures, reformed civil and penal law, authorized mixed marriages (between Catholics and Protestants), suppressed torture and improved justice; it developed education and public works.<ref>William Martin, ''Histoire de la Suisse'' (Paris, 1926), pp. 187–88, quoted in Crane Brinson, ''A Decade of Revolution: 1789–1799'' (1934) p. 235</ref>

The greatest impact came in France itself. In addition to effects similar to those in Italy and Switzerland, France saw the introduction of the principle of legal equality, and the downgrading of the once powerful and rich [[Catholic Church in France|Catholic Church]]. Power became centralized in Paris, with its strong bureaucracy and an army supplied by conscripting all young men. French politics were permanently polarized – new names were given, "left" and "right" for the supporters and opponents of the principles of the Revolution.