History of Europe

Napoleon's defeat! Let me explain the Battle of Trafalgar, where Admiral Nelson was active, in an easy-to-understand manner.

There are several heroes in world history.

Napoleon Bonaparte, who appeared like a lightning bolt after the French Revolution, can be said to be one of the leading heroes in world history.

And another one.

Admiral Nelson of the Royal Navy is also a hero in world history.

Strongest vs. strongest

The battle between genius and genius has begun since the clash between Hannibal and Scipio Africanus in ancient Rome.

Both males, again

This was not the first time Napoleon and Nelson had fought.

The first two males lined up in 1798 during an Egyptian expedition before Napoleon became emperor.

Napoleon, informed that he was heading to Egypt, the Royal Navy ordered Nelson to prevent Napoleon from landing. However, due to bad weather such as storms, Nelson allows Napoleon to enter Alexandria.

However, after that, Nelson on the Vanguard attacked the berthed French fleet, and after a fierce battle, the French Navy was severely defeated, leaving only three ships. The battle of the Nile, which is famous in the world.

Seven years have passed since then.

Navy State United Kingdom

Britain and Japan are historically very war-torn. The reason for this is the location conditions, which separate the sea from foreign countries, and in terms of national defense, efforts should be made to improve the naval power.

It is said that we are learning English desperately now because we originally had to learn the English language, which boasts the strongest naval power, in order to strengthen our naval power.

The French army was invincible on land, but at sea it was commanded by Britain. France's major ports, Brest and Toulon, were virtually blocked by the Royal Navy, gathering fleets at the French ally, Cadiz, Spain.

In October 1805, Admiral Villeneur of France, who was commanding the Combined Fleet of France and Spain off the coast of Cadiz, Spain, was ordered to sail to the Mediterranean Sea.

* This is to attack the Kingdom of Naples in Italy, which has formed an alliance with Austria.

Battle of Trafalgar

Admiral Nelson on the Victory, which brings together the techniques of the Royal Navy, launched an attack on the French fleet, marking the beginning of the famous Battle of Trafalgar.

Nelson Touch "The UK expects each member to fulfill their obligations"

Admiral Villeneur sensed the approach of the Royal Navy and was about to return to Cadiz, Spain. Admiral Nelson, on the other hand, rushes into the French fleet in two rows and takes a strategy of dividing.

This assault was a rather unreasonable operation and could have been hit by the French Navy's artillery.

This operation, called the later "Nelson Touch", was successful, and the Royal Navy approached the French Navy, leaving the two forces in a melee state.

In the latter half of the 18th century, the accuracy of the cannon was still not high, and it was only 10 years ago that the French army surprised the world with full-scale high-precision shooting. It was the story that was realized only with the survey of Napoleon Bonaparte, a genius of mathematics, and in this state where Napoleon was hidden, the accuracy of the bombardment had dropped significantly.

I don't know if Nelson had calculated that much, or if it was a deadly operation, but both sides continued to shoot as much artillery as possible at the enemy.

The Victory, on which Admiral Nelson rides, discovers the Busantall, on which the enemy governor rides, and attacks with grapeshots, but encounters a great counterattack by the French fleet.

After a fierce battle between the two armies, Admiral Nelson was seriously injured, while many French fleets burned, and Admiral Villeneur surrendered. Only 11 ships were able to arrive at Cadiz Port after the battle.

This effectively destroyed the French Navy, and Nelson, who won the battle, quietly died, saying, "Thank God. I have fulfilled my responsibilities."

On the French side, 18 battleships were captured, with 6,000 casualties and 7,000 prisoners of war, while on the British side, no battleship was lost, with about 1,600 casualties. It is said that it was.

As you can see from the results, the overwhelming victory of the Royal Navy closed the battle of Trafalgar.

Causes of victory and defeat in the Battle of Trafalgar

One was that the Navy's technical capabilities were different.

The British flagship Victory is the strongest and finest warship since its launch in 1765, and about 6000 trees are used to build it, which is about 12 billion in terms of current monetary value. It cost about a yen, and was a huge battleship with 104 cannons, a total length of 57m, a crew of 850, and a displacement of 2100 tons.

On the other hand, the French Navy's flagship, the Busantall, had a total length of 59 m, but had 80 cannons, 700 crew members, and a displacement of 1800 tons.

In addition, the French Navy was unwilling to fight, and it must be said that Napoleon's departure order was ill-advised.

Napoleon's way of fighting was exhausting in everything, and he was victorious but exhausted, and he tended to think of human life as a consumable.

It can be said that it went out to Moro in the Battle of Trafalgar, which led to an easy departure order.

Napoleon said he had not had the Battle of Trafalgar and had announced to the public that the fleet had suffered a major marine accident.

Napoleon was good at manipulating impressions, hiding his defeat on the Egyptian expedition and announcing a major victory, laying the groundwork for his inauguration as emperor.

Britain, on the other hand, lost Admiral Nelson, but the great victory was celebrated nationwide, with a statue of Admiral Nelson standing on Trafalgar Square.

Impact of the Battle of Trafalgar

He lost the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805, but Napoleon thoroughly defeated Austria and Russia in the Battle of Austerlitz in December of the same year.

As a result, Napoleon issued a continental blockade throughout Europe from 1806, and Britain was unable to trade with the European continent.

However, the victory of Trafalgar comes into play here.

Britain, which was unable to trade with Europe due to the continental blockade, turned its trade destination to the Americas and began to benefit from the Atlantic trade. On the other hand, the French army, which lost control of the sea completely due to the defeat of Trafalgar, could not stop it, and because it did not have the industrial power of Britain, French products could not replace British products, and as a result, Napoleon's continental blockade. The decree will end in failure.

Thinking about the Battle of Trafalgar

Admiral Nelson is too cool.

He fought for his life, won, and died.

The Battle of Trafalgar was not a battle directly commanded by Napoleon, but it can be said that Napoleon was defeated.

And it can be said that Nelson and Britain have won.

Britain remained in control of the sea after this battle, which continued until the end of World War II.

It can be said that the Battle of Trafalgar, which triggered this, was a major decisive battle in world history.