The brink of the French Revolution saw the fall of Louis XVI, and with his kingship lost, the path was clear for the rise of a powerful and influential military commander; Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon became the emperor of France, and it was a reign that would last for nearly ten years. During this time, he conquered multiple European countries and states. The end of his reign was preceded by a series of battles, failed policies and insightful thinking, that would conclusively leave Europe transformed.
Napoleon was a following the Franco-Spanish Naval defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar. Napoleon I sought another way to fight the United Kingdom of Great Britain. His proposition was that of the Continental System, a foreign policy that would forbid his allies from trading with the British. He hoped this would cause economic troubles for the British. The policy proved to be to be successful and have a significant negative effect on British Trade. However, it also resulted in many other countries succumbing to the negative effects of the policy. The unexpected drawback from the policy was when Russia reopened trade with the British. Russia's disobedience of the continental system was Napoleon's driving force behind the decision to invade Russia. .
As Napoleon conquered Europe, his policies and traditions were followed by animosity. The development of Nationalism was the reaction of the resentment caused by Napoleon's conquests. The centralized site of nationalism was founded in the German states, where, nationalism rebelled not only against French rule but also translated into intellectual thinking. The intellectual thinking was called romanticism. Romanticism denounced all aspects of French traditions, with this intellectual thinking, many people started to believe Germany should acquire it's own particular identity. Implications of romanticism in Germany was the cornerstone towards Germany thinking of themselves as a nation separate from France.