r
frontier to the Rhine and established dependencies across the Rhone and
the Alps, Russia during the same period had annexed the bulk of Poland,
and the two great German powers had enlarged themselves both to the east
and the west. The Empire had practically ceased to be; but its ruin had
given fresh extension and compactness to the states which had profited
by it. The cessions of Prussia had been small beside her gains. The
losses of Austria had been more than counterbalanced in Italy by her
acquisition of Venice, and far more than counterbalanced by
secularizations and annexations within Germany itself.

[Illustration: EUROPE after the PEACE OF LUNEVILLE, 1801]

[Sidenote: France and Britain.]

Although therefore the old Europe and its balance of power had passed
away, the new Europe which had taken its place presented a balance of
power which might be regarded as even more effective; and the peace of
Luneville was in reality the recognition on both sides of a European
settlement on the basis of such a balance. But in the mind of Buonaparte
it was far more than this. It was the first step in an entire reversal
of the policy which Revolutionary France had pursued in her dealings
with the world. It was a return to the older policy of the French
monarchy. Under the guidance of the revolutionists France had striven
for supremacy among the states of Europe. But for such a supremacy the
First Consul cared comparatively little. What he cared for was what
Choiseul and the statesmen who followed him cared for, the supremacy of
the world. And he saw that with every year of war on the Continent such
a supremacy grew more distant than ever. The very victories of France
indeed were playing into the hands of England. Amidst all the triumphs
of the revolutionary war the growth of the British Empire had been
steady and ceaseless. She was more than ever mistress of the sea. The
mastery of Holland by the French had only ended in the removal of one of
the obstacles to such a mastery by the ruin of the Dutch navy, and the
transfer of the rich Dutch colonies to the British crown. The winning of
Egypt had but spurred her to crush the only Mussulman power that could
avert her rule over southern India. But her growth was more than a
merely territorial growth. She was turning her command of the seas to a
practical account. Not only was she monopolizing the carrying trade of
the European nations, but the sudden uprush of her industries was