World War Zero

The first world war, World War Zero,
was the Napoleonic Wars 1803 - 1815
-that was the first time in Europe
that the same large scale war
was fought so many times, six,
across so many fields of battle. 

On one side there was the French Empire,
and it's allies, including parts of Italy 
on the other the key players were Russia
and The Austrian Empire who fought all six wars
-they brought in the rest of Europe on their side. 

The biggest of these were Prussia,
Saxony, the Swedes, and the British.
In the last war, 1813-14, Portugal, Spain,
and several more German states climbed board,
and combined in one last push to defeat France.
Included in this last war was the battle of Leipzig,
which was the biggest single battle across Europe
up to then, and for the next hundred years.

The British set themselves to defeat Napoleon at sea.
Trafalgar was where Napoleon surrendered,
before dying on the island of Elba six years later.

The social displacement and economic ruin
that happened with the six wars over twelve years
must have been huge, complex, and long lasting.

Since no simple ceremony,
no shorthand akin to Armistice Day,
by which society could remember the dead
came out of the resolution of that conflict,
those wars are not remembered. Who won,
who bargained, who lost, and what was left
for the then near future is now the content
of history books that few people read,
though it would make for a good podcast.

To find out how good such a podcast might be click here.