ABSTRACT
For Britons the term ‘the Great War’ signifies one conflict only, namely the First World War of 1914–18. In 1914, however, the term was synonymous with the struggle against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France of 1792–1815. Though the Britain of 1815 was on the surface little changed from that of 1803, in fact the dissolution of the Old Order was beginning to gather pace. Throughout the 1790s Britain had made much use of foreign troops, employing a wide variety of Swiss and emigre regiments that, whatever their nominal designation, were in fact composed of stragglers and deserters from virtually every state in Europe. In so far as actual fighting was concerned, then, the brunt of Britain’s war was born either by foreigners or by a despised and more or less isolated minority. In naval terms, Britain began the Napoleonic Wars with a considerable strategic advantage.
