Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Western civ Episode five hundred and seven.
Speaker 1: France ascendant. By eighteen o six, Napoleon Bonaparte stood at
Speaker 1: the height of his power. Europe bowed before him or
Speaker 1: he had been rearranging it by his own hand into
Speaker 1: new kingdoms, new alliances, and new destinies. From Paris, the
Speaker 1: Emperor of the French presided over what he now called
Speaker 1: a quote continental system of order end quote. But around
Speaker 1: Europe the whispers were nothing short of Roman imperial domination.
Speaker 1: The French revolutions ideals of liberty and equality had now
Speaker 1: long since been transmuted into the language of empire. Napoleon
Speaker 1: saw himself as a modern day Charlemagne, destined to unify
Speaker 1: Europe under enlightened administration, guided by his genius, and if
Speaker 1: he couldn't persuade them by the bayonets of his troops.
Speaker 1: On March thirtieth, eighteen oh six, Napoleon demonstrated that his
Speaker 1: family would be the dynasty of a new Europe. He
Speaker 1: named his older brother Joseph Bonaparte, King of Naples, replacing
Speaker 1: the Bourbon rulers who had fled to Sicily. He said, quote,
Speaker 1: I desire that my brothers will learn to rule end quote,
Speaker 1: though few doubted that it was Napoleon himself who would
Speaker 1: continue to rule through them. Others of Napoleon's relatives were
Speaker 1: equally rewarded. Luis Buonaparte was placed on the throne of Holland,
Speaker 1: Caroline Bonaparte married the brilliant Marshal Jean Kim Murat, and
Speaker 1: even the Emperor's stepson, Eugene de Bahnice, was made the
Speaker 1: Viceroy of Italy. Indeed, it looked like the map of
Speaker 1: Europe was being transformed into a Bonaparte family tree. By
Speaker 1: July the twelfth, eighteen oh six, Napoleon's vision took on
Speaker 1: an even grander form with the creation of the Confederation
Speaker 1: of the Rhine, a federation of sixteen German states bound
Speaker 1: by alliance to France and recognizing Napoleon as their quote
Speaker 1: unquote protector. One by one, other states Saxony, Westphalia, Bavaria,
Speaker 1: Wittenberg all joined. This act effectively shattered the old feudal
Speaker 1: framework of Central Europe that had been existing since the
Speaker 1: fall of the Roman Empire. Just a few weeks later,
Speaker 1: on August the sixth, eighteen oh six, the Holy Roman
Speaker 1: Empire that thousand year old relic of medieval Christendom was
Speaker 1: finally informally abolished. The last Emperor, Francis the Second of Austria,
Speaker 1: laid down the ancient crown and styled himself instead the
Speaker 1: Emperor of Austria. Voltaire's old quip that the Holy Roman
Speaker 1: Empire was neither holy nor Roman nor an empire had
Speaker 1: actually finally come true. Europe had been reborn in Napoleon's
Speaker 1: image at this point, but it was clear that not
Speaker 1: everyone intended to live under it now. The Kingdom of Prussia,
Speaker 1: long proud of its military tradition, had watched France's rise
Speaker 1: with growing alarm. The victories over Austria and Russia at
Speaker 1: Austerlitz in eighteen oh five had left Napoleon's power on
Speaker 1: the continent basically unchecked. Prussian officers fumed. Their young Queen
Speaker 1: Luis of Mekenberg Streichlitz urged King Frederick Wilhelm the Third
Speaker 1: to stand up for Germany's honor, and so on September fifteenth,
Speaker 1: eighteen oh six, Prussia joined Britain and Russia in a
Speaker 1: new coalition against Napoleon. The Prussian army marched confidently westward,
Speaker 1: remembering the days of Frederic the Great, but what they
Speaker 1: met instead was a master of modern war. On October fourteenth,
Speaker 1: eighteen oh six, two great battles were fought, both on
Speaker 1: the same day, Jena and Auerstadt. These were both resounding
Speaker 1: French victories. At Jena, Napoleon personally led ninety thousand men
Speaker 1: against the main Prussian force. His troops fought with the
Speaker 1: precision and speed that had become the hallmark of his
Speaker 1: Grand army. March divided, fight united, he had said, and
Speaker 1: his core system allowed him to do just that. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: to the north at Auerstad, Marshal Luis Nicolas, Devout, commanding
Speaker 1: only twenty seven thousand men, encountered the main Prussian arms
Speaker 1: under the Duke of Brunswick, nearly twice his size. In
Speaker 1: one of the most astonishing defeats in military history, Devouts
Speaker 1: courts utterly destroyed them, The Duke was mortally wounded, and
Speaker 1: the Prussian army disintegrated in confusion. Within weeks, Napoleon's troops
Speaker 1: marched triumphantly into Berlin, Prussia. Once the military terror of
Speaker 1: Europe was shattered, but Napoleon was not satisfied with battlefield glory.
Speaker 1: Britain remained the one power that refused to submit, its fleets,
Speaker 1: ruling the seas, and its gold financing every Continental coalition.
Speaker 1: Unable to invade the island after the Battle of Trafalgar,
Speaker 1: Napoleon instead turned to economic warfare. On November the twenty first,
Speaker 1: eighteen o six, from the heart of conquered Berlin, he
Speaker 1: issued the Berlin Decree, declaring that the British Isles were
Speaker 1: now in a state of blockade. No European port under
Speaker 1: French influence was legally allowed to trade with Great Britain.
Speaker 1: It was the beginning of what would become known as
Speaker 1: the Continental System. The Continental System was nothing more than
Speaker 1: an attempt to strangle Britain's commerce and then force its
Speaker 1: surrender through economic isolation. In theory, of course, it was
Speaker 1: absolutely brilliant, but in practice the Continental System was just
Speaker 1: about completely unenforceable. Smugglers thrived, British goods found their way
Speaker 1: into Europe through neutral ports, and resentments spread among merchants
Speaker 1: who suddenly found their livelihoods destroyed. But in eighteen oh
Speaker 1: six Napoleon believed he was building a new economic order,
Speaker 1: one that would make Europe self sufficient and forever free
Speaker 1: from British influence. Now winter eventually came in a nineteen
Speaker 1: oh seven, and with it the Russian army. Napoleon pursued
Speaker 1: his remaining enemies across the snowy fields of Poland. The
Speaker 1: campaign of eighteen oh seven was brutal and slow, fought
Speaker 1: through mud, ice and exhaustion. On February the eighth, eighteen
Speaker 1: oh seven, near the small East Prussian town of Elieu,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if I'm saying that right, the French
Speaker 1: and Russian armies clashed in one of the bloodiest that
Speaker 1: I've seen in most indecisive battles of all of the
Speaker 1: Napoleonic Wars. Snow fell so thickly that soldiers could barely
Speaker 1: see ten yards ahead. The dead and dying were frozen
Speaker 1: in grotesque stillness by the morning light. Marshal Adureau was
Speaker 1: nearly annihilated. Whole divisions were lost in the winter storm,
Speaker 1: yet Napoleon refused to yield. The arrival of Marshal Ni's
Speaker 1: corps late in the same day saved the French army
Speaker 1: from total disaster. This is the most terrible of my battles,
Speaker 1: Napoleon confessed afterwards. But the French proved themselves worthy to
Speaker 1: be invincible. End quote. Now. Months later, on June the fourteenth,
Speaker 1: eighteen oh seven, he redeemed what was nothing less than
Speaker 1: just a grim draw with a decisive victory at Friedland.
Speaker 1: There his forces crushed the Russians under General ben Nizzen,
Speaker 1: driving them back to the river. It was a triumph
Speaker 1: reminiscent of Austerlitz, and it forced Czar Alexander the first
Speaker 1: to the negotiating table. On June the twenty fifth, eighteen
Speaker 1: oh seven, Napoleon and Alexander met dramatically on a raft
Speaker 1: moored in the middle of the River Nimen between their
Speaker 1: two armies. Why should we be enemies, Napoleon reportedly asked
Speaker 1: the young Czar. Together, we can divide the world. The
Speaker 1: Treaty of Tiltsit ended hostilities between France and Russia and
Speaker 1: redrew the map of Europe. Once more. Prussia was humiliated,
Speaker 1: losing half of its territory. Russia accepted Napoleon's continental system,
Speaker 1: but in return, Napoleon acknowledged Russia's interests in Finland and
Speaker 1: all the way to the east. The two emperors embraced
Speaker 1: for the cameras of history, but honestly neither trusted the other.
Speaker 1: For the moment Napoleon's mastery of Europe seemed defeat, with
Speaker 1: only Britain remaining defiant, but this would be for a
Speaker 1: moment at the most. Now, the Continental system did require
Speaker 1: every European port to close its doors to British trade,
Speaker 1: but one defiant country still refused, Portugal. The Portuguese royal
Speaker 1: family had centuries old tides to Great Britain and relied
Speaker 1: heavily on British trade, and so to deal with them,
Speaker 1: Napoleon turned to diplomacy cloaked in secrecy. On the twenty
Speaker 1: seventh of October eighteen oh seven, he signed the Treaty
Speaker 1: of Fontainebleau with Spain, agreeing to a plan to invade
Speaker 1: in partition Poland. Spain would take the southern provinces, France
Speaker 1: would take the north, and the Portuguese monarchy would be
Speaker 1: driven overseas. But this agreement opened the door to something
Speaker 1: Napoleon couldn't foresee and couldn't control, the unraveling of his
Speaker 1: empire from within. Now. While all this was going on,
Speaker 1: while Napoleon reorganized Europe's governments, he also turned his mind
Speaker 1: to education and science. On March seventeenth, eighteen oh eight,
Speaker 1: he founded the Imperial University, a centralized institution to oversee
Speaker 1: all higher learning in France. He wrote, it is not
Speaker 1: enough to conquer, we must educate. The emperor saw himself
Speaker 1: not just as a general, but as an architect of civilization.
Speaker 1: Yet while all the universities were being founded that same spring,
Speaker 1: his empire started to show signs of crack. The French
Speaker 1: army had entered Spain ostensibly to enforce the Treaty of Fontainebleau,
Speaker 1: but soon occupied the country outright. Napoleon's marshals began to
Speaker 1: treat Spanish towns as conquered territory, and the Spanish court
Speaker 1: fell into chaos. Napoleon bullied, as one contemporary put it,
Speaker 1: the Spanish royal family into abdicating. He then placed his
Speaker 1: brother Joseph Bonaparte, already the King of Naples, on the
Speaker 1: throne of Spain, but this time the people refused to
Speaker 1: accept a Bonaparte as their king. On May the second,
Speaker 1: eighteen o eight, the citizens of Madrid rose up in
Speaker 1: spontaneous revolt against the French occupiers. Armed with knives, stones,
Speaker 1: and just simple fury, they attacked the French patrols wherever
Speaker 1: they found them in the streets, the Dos de Mayo uprising,
Speaker 1: as it became known, was very short, but it was furious. Women, priests,
Speaker 1: and even some children had joined in the rebellion. It
Speaker 1: was a sign of things to come, and in response,
Speaker 1: Napoleon's troops responded with ruthless violence. On the following day,
Speaker 1: May the third, hundreds of Spanish civilians were executed in reprisal,
Speaker 1: whether or not they had participated in the revolt. The
Speaker 1: Spanish painter Goya later immortalized this horror in his masterpiece
Speaker 1: The Third of May eighteen oh eight, a stark vision
Speaker 1: of men facing the rifles of faceless soldiers lit by
Speaker 1: a single candle of mercy that simply never came. But
Speaker 1: this didn't end the revolt. In fact, it spread like
Speaker 1: wildfire across the Iberian Peninsula. Entire provinces rose against French occupation.
Speaker 1: Peasants ambushed convoys, priests, blessed insurgents, and local militias took
Speaker 1: up arms in defense of their homeland. In July eighteen
Speaker 1: oh eight, as Napoleon formally crowned Joseph Bonaparte, king of Spain,
Speaker 1: the resistance had already turned into a full scale war.
Speaker 1: Five French armies advanced into Spain and Portugal to enforce
Speaker 1: the Emperor's will. But they found themselves not fighting regular
Speaker 1: soldiers on a pitched battlefield, they found themselves fighting an
Speaker 1: entire people. From July sixteenth to July the nineteenth, at
Speaker 1: the Battle of Bailin, the impossible happened. A French army
Speaker 1: under General DuPont surrendered to Spanish forces commanded by General Castillanos.
Speaker 1: It was the first major defeat of a Napoleonic army
Speaker 1: in open battle. The new shocked Europe. Across the continent.
Speaker 1: Whispers spread that Napoleon could actually be beaten, that his
Speaker 1: soldiers were not invincible, and that nations, maybe if they
Speaker 1: stood together, could throw off the French yoke. By the
Speaker 1: end of eighteen oh eight, Napoleon's empire was vast, that's true,
Speaker 1: its armies seemingly unstoppable, its laws and institutions quickly spreading
Speaker 1: from the Pyrenees all the way to the border with Russia.
Speaker 1: But beneath that surface, it was clear that cracks were forming.
Speaker 1: The Peninsular War, as we'll get into next time, would
Speaker 1: drain France's strength for years to come. The alliance with
Speaker 1: Russia is going to crumble into mistrust, and the continental
Speaker 1: system will bankrupt allies much faster than it will hurt
Speaker 1: Great Britain. The Emperor's grand design to unify Europe would
Speaker 1: begin to unravel under the weight of a variety of contradictions.
Speaker 1: Napoleon's star in fact burned bright, but by eighteen oh
Speaker 1: eight it was clear that its descent had already begun.
Speaker 1: By the beginning of eighteen oh nine, Napoleon looked virtually unbeatable.
Speaker 1: His empire stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Vistula River,
Speaker 1: from the sands of southern Italy all the way to
Speaker 1: the shores of the North Sea. Old dynasties that had
Speaker 1: ruled Europe for centuries bowed before him. New kings, a
Speaker 1: lot of them bonapartes, took their seats on thrones made
Speaker 1: out of the remains of ancient regimes. But even at
Speaker 1: this moment of what looked like total supremacy, there were
Speaker 1: clear that there were cracks in the foundation of this empire.
Speaker 1: Between eighteen o nine and eighteen eleven, Napoleon would experience,
Speaker 1: in very rapid succession triumphs so dazzling that they seemed
Speaker 1: to confirm his invincibility and reversals that were simultaneously seemingly
Speaker 1: so small, so subtle, and so unmistakable, that the arc
Speaker 1: of his power would quietly begin to descend. And this
Speaker 1: is at the last part of this episode, the story
Speaker 1: of those years, the last great expansion, the slow tightening
Speaker 1: of the continental system, and the rising resistance movement of Europe.
Speaker 1: So we get to begin by talking about Austria. Austria
Speaker 1: had been humiliated in eighteen oh five at the Battle
Speaker 1: of Austerlitz. It was dismantled effectively in eighteen oh six
Speaker 1: and now completely overshadowed. But Emperor Francis and his advisors
Speaker 1: weren't ready to simply disappear. By early eighteen oh nine,
Speaker 1: they thought that they saw something a moment of French weakness.
Speaker 1: Napoleon was bogged down in Spain, his armies were dispersed
Speaker 1: across Europe, and nationalism, still in its infancy, stirred both
Speaker 1: inside and outside the Empire. And so in the autumn
Speaker 1: of eighteen oh eight, Austrian diplomats began making the rounds
Speaker 1: around Europe to test the waters for the idea of
Speaker 1: a resistance movement, and on April tenth, eighteen o nine,
Speaker 1: Austria decided to make a move. Archduke Charles led one
Speaker 1: of the most professional armies on the continent across the
Speaker 1: Inn River. Vienna once again was preparing for war, but Napoleon,
Speaker 1: ever also the rapid strategist, sprang into motion. Within weeks
Speaker 1: he was on the German frontier, gathering the Grand Army
Speaker 1: like a general, rearranging lightning poltse. He struck the Austrians
Speaker 1: at a place called Ekmux on April the twenty second.
Speaker 1: The battle itself was chaotic, marked by swirling cavalry charges
Speaker 1: and defensive squares holding like stone pillars as the storm
Speaker 1: raged around them, but the French once again won decisively,
Speaker 1: pushing Charles back towards Bohemia. By the eleventh of May,
Speaker 1: Napoleon was back in Vienna for the second time in
Speaker 1: four years. Charles had not been beaten. He had actually
Speaker 1: regrouped his army north of the Danube, daring Napoleon to cross,
Speaker 1: and Napoleon accepted the dare and asper essing battle fought
Speaker 1: between May the twenty first and made the twenty second.
Speaker 1: In the year eighteen o nine, the Emperor finally faced
Speaker 1: his first ever major defeat. French soldiers clung to the
Speaker 1: villages of Aspern and Essling, while the Danube swollen devoured
Speaker 1: the bridges that Napoleon had desperately needed. Charles's artillery, on
Speaker 1: the other hand, thundered across the river banks. Marshall Lane's
Speaker 1: Napoleon's close friend, was mortally wounded. In the end, a
Speaker 1: combination of bad timing in bad weather doomed the French
Speaker 1: Army to its first ever tactical defeat for the first
Speaker 1: time in his career. Napoleon had his power checked, and
Speaker 1: he had been bloodied. But Napoleon did what he always did.
Speaker 1: He returned. And so on July the fifth and sixth
Speaker 1: that Wogram, these exact two armies collided again, this time
Speaker 1: on a vast open plane, something ideally suited for Napoleonic
Speaker 1: tactics and for the exact kind of situation that the
Speaker 1: Grand Army and his Corps divisions were designed to fight on.
Speaker 1: The heat shimmered. It was a hot July above the
Speaker 1: wheat fields, and the itillery fire crashed so continuously that
Speaker 1: afterwards veterans would write back that the earth itself buzzed.
Speaker 1: Napoleon unleashed a massive central assault late on the second Day,
Speaker 1: which buckled the Austrian line and forced the Austrian army
Speaker 1: into a retreat. It hadn't been a glorious victory, was
Speaker 1: an austerlitz. It was a tactical victory, and the losses
Speaker 1: on both sides were massive, but it was enough. It
Speaker 1: forced the Austrians back to the table and they sued
Speaker 1: for peace. The Treaty of Schoen, brought signed in October
Speaker 1: of eighteen oh nine, punished Vienna harshly. Its territories were taken,
Speaker 1: its armies reduced, and of course its pride had been broken.
Speaker 1: Yet in those punitive terms of the treaty, this is
Speaker 1: a lesson that we're going to learn a lot. In
Speaker 1: the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, resentment was built in and
Speaker 1: years later that resentment would return with terrible force. Now
Speaker 1: there were other things going on, because in eighteen ten,
Speaker 1: Napoleon was forty years old and he had no legitimate heir.
Speaker 1: His marriage to his wife, Josephine the Empress, once a
Speaker 1: love story of revolutionary France, had now become unfortunately a
Speaker 1: politically inconvenient bond. France needed a dynasty, and Napoleon needed
Speaker 1: a son, and so on, A winter evening, he gathered
Speaker 1: his family and announced what many suspected, he was going
Speaker 1: to divorce his wife, Josephine. The official ceremony was stoic
Speaker 1: Josephine reading a statement of consent through tears. Napoleon rigid
Speaker 1: and impassive, but the emotional rupture was unmistakable. The letters
Speaker 1: from the period, actually written in Napoleon's own hand, show
Speaker 1: a man who is torn between affection for a wife
Speaker 1: that he clearly loved and his ambition. It was the
Speaker 1: latter that would win out, But the question was, then,
Speaker 1: with a divorce done, what to do with the opening.
Speaker 1: So he sought a marriage that would weld his empire
Speaker 1: into European legitimacy, and he found it in the Habsburg dynasty,
Speaker 1: the very family that he had repeatedly and recently defeated.
Speaker 1: After only minor hesitation from Emperor Francis, Austria agreed to
Speaker 1: give him his young daughter, the Archduchess Marie Luis, who
Speaker 1: was just eighteen years old. The wedding in April of
Speaker 1: eighteen ten marked what many see as this simpbolic apex
Speaker 1: of Napoleon's power. The former artillery officer from Corsica had
Speaker 1: now married into one of the oldest royal houses in Europe.
Speaker 1: Paris celebrated in fountains of light, and diplomats whispered about
Speaker 1: quote a new Carolingian Empire end quote. But not everybody agreed. Frankly,
Speaker 1: for a lot of Europeans, this marriage was chilling at best.
Speaker 1: It was a signal that Napoleon wanted to enmesh Europe,
Speaker 1: not just in French administration, but in the French bloodline itself,
Speaker 1: and this was an era where that still very much mattered,
Speaker 1: and it didn't take long for the marriage to bear fruit.
Speaker 1: On March the twentieth, eighteen eleven, in the Tuileries Palace,
Speaker 1: a child Napoleon the second, the King of Rome, was born.
Speaker 1: Canons fired exactly one hundred and one times. Crowds packed
Speaker 1: the boulevards. The Emperor, holding his infant son, looked out
Speaker 1: upon his adoring throngs, believing that his dynasty was in
Speaker 1: fact secure, and politically that's true. The Empire had never
Speaker 1: been larger. The Confederation of the Rhine stretched across Germany.
Speaker 1: Italy was firmly under French control, The Dutch Kingdom was
Speaker 1: effectively annexed. Much of Portugal had been resurrected in the
Speaker 1: Duchy of Warsaw. Even Spain, though engulfed in rebellion, remained
Speaker 1: legally under French occupation. And yet beneath the glittering surface,
Speaker 1: there was something darker going on the continental system. Napoleon's
Speaker 1: economic war against Great Britain was strangling European trade. Smugglers
Speaker 1: had become folk heroes. Cities like Hamburg, once central to
Speaker 1: European markets, withered. Even Napoleon's allies grew resentful of French
Speaker 1: economic interference. And then there was Spain and Portugal. There
Speaker 1: the Peninsular War dragged into its third, fourth and fifth year.
Speaker 1: Guerrilla fighters kept ambushing French patrols. British troops under the
Speaker 1: Duke of Wellington strengthened a foothold in the north. The
Speaker 1: French marshals complained, newspapers mocked the Emperor's Spanish ulcer, and
Speaker 1: the war consumed tens of thousands of men, and Russia
Speaker 1: too was restless. Zara Alexander the First had grown weary
Speaker 1: of the continental system, and he was suspicious of French
Speaker 1: intentions to expand into Poland. Diplomats recorded coldness between the
Speaker 1: two emperors. A quote unquote icy courtesy that foreshadowed the
Speaker 1: war to come. Napoleon lean meanwhile, believed that time itself
Speaker 1: was working against him. He saw around him only conspiracies
Speaker 1: and hesitation, and so he began quietly and methodically to
Speaker 1: do what he viewed as a necessary correction to his strategies,
Speaker 1: a campaign that would fore Russia back into obedience. No
Speaker 1: one knew it yet, but the path from the cradle
Speaker 1: of the newborn air would lead directly to the snows
Speaker 1: of eighteen twelve. Now, during eighteen eleven, Napoleon also reorganized
Speaker 1: his empire with relentless energy. Taxation was expanded, censorship intensified,
Speaker 1: military conscription dug deeper into the youth of Europe. French
Speaker 1: administrators kept working on the French imperial machinery until it
Speaker 1: was perfect and way too big. Everywhere. The Emperor wanted control, control, control,
Speaker 1: and the Catholic Church felt this, perhaps most sharply, when
Speaker 1: Pious the seventh refused to recognize Napoleon's territorial reorganizations in Italy.
Speaker 1: The Emperor simply had him arrested and moved to France.
Speaker 1: This hadn't happened, of course, since the Babylonian captivity of
Speaker 1: the Late Middle Ages. Napoleon simply expected that the world
Speaker 1: would adapt to his will, and for a time it did.
Speaker 1: But reactions were starting to shift. Nobles in Vienna were
Speaker 1: again talking about rebellion, Russian officers were growing concerned that
Speaker 1: France was right on its doorstep, and British newspapers were
Speaker 1: starting to predict the Empire's eventual collapse. Even in Paris,
Speaker 1: there were some whispers that the emperor's reach was starting
Speaker 1: to outgrow his grasp. Between eighteen oh nine and eighteen eleven,
Speaker 1: Napoleon truly reached the peak of his authority. He had
Speaker 1: married into the oldest monarchy in Europe, he crushed Austria again,
Speaker 1: and he welcomed the birth of a son who seemed
Speaker 1: to promise a century of Bonaparte rule. But these were
Speaker 1: also the years from within which the Empire began to
Speaker 1: hollow out. The war in Spain stretched like a wound
Speaker 1: that couldn't close, The continental system alienated even in France's
Speaker 1: closest allies. Russia started to drift away, and Napoleon's own
Speaker 1: governing style grew harder, more brittle, and more dependent on
Speaker 1: fear than loyalty, And we will return to this story,
Speaker 1: but not next time. Next time we have to jump
Speaker 1: back across the pond catch up with the United States,
Speaker 1: because the United States is actually going to join briefly,
Speaker 1: these Napoleonic Wars, and we have to set the stage
Speaker 1: for that so quickly. We've got to jump back, talk
Speaker 1: about Thomas Jefferson, and bring ourselves back up to speed.