The Coalitions against France
John H. Gill
The various alliances, formed to oppose Revolutionary and Napoleonic France are generally known as “coalitions” and often referred to as “the Allies” in this book. It is impossible to track all of the diplomatic shifts or to list all of the major engagements over this period of more than two decades, but the chart below provides a simplified outline to assist the reader. The “Peninsula War” in Iberia (1808–1814) and the Russian campaign (1812) are not generally included among the listings of “coalitions.” Note that Napoleon also had coalitions and allies of his own; even if many of his partners were forced into alliance with France (as Prussia forced Saxony into an alliance in 1806) or were more vassals than true allies, the French emperor still had to contend with alliance politics of a sort.
| First Coalition | Second Coalition | Third Coalition | Fourth Coalition | Fifth Coalition | Sixth Coalition | Seventh Coalition | |
| Active Period | 1792–1797 | 1798–1802 | 1803–1805 | 1806–1807 | 1809 | 1813–1814 | 1815 |
| Members | Holy Roman Empire (incl. Austria)Great BritainPrussia (to 1795)Spain (to 1795)Dutch Republic (to 1795)PortugalSardinia (to 1796)NaplesFrench royalists | Holy Roman Empire (incl. Austria)Great BritainRussia (to 1799)PortugalTuscanyOttoman EmpireNaples MaltaFrench royalists | Holy Roman Empire (incl. Austria)Great BritainRussiaNaples/SicilySweden | PrussiaRussiaGreat BritainSaxony (to Dec 1806)SwedenSicily | AustriaGreat BritainSpainNaples Sicily | RussiaPrussiaAustriaGreat BritainSwedenSpainPortugalSicilySardinia German states (from October 1813)Netherlands (1814)Naples (1814) | Great BritainPrussiaAustriaRussiaSwedenSpainPortugalSicilySardinia German states NetherlandsTuscanySwitzerland |
| KeyNeutrals | N/A | Prussia | Prussia | Austria | Prussia | N/A | N/A |
| SelectBattles | General Bonaparte’s First Italian Campaign | EgyptMarengoHohenlinden | UlmTrafalgarAusterlitz | Jena/AuerstedtEylauFriedland | Abensberg/EggmühlAspern/EsslingWagram | LützenBautzenLeipzigParis | Waterloo |