French Revolutionary Wars

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French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802) Series of campaigns in which the popular armies of revolutionary France fought combinations of their European enemies. Fear and hatred of the French Revolution fuelled the hostility of Austria in particular. The French declared war on Austria and Prussia in 1792, and their success at Valmy and Jemappes provoked other states, including Britain, the Netherlands and Spain, to form the First Coalition (1793). It was no more successful against France's conscript army and soon fell apart with Austria making peace at Campo-Formio. Britain remained at war, and Nelson won significant naval victories, but a Second Coalition was again unsuccessful on land in 1799–1800, Napoleon winning a notable victory at Marengo. Britain made peace at Amiens in 1802, but it marked only an interval before the Napoleonic Wars.

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