Napoleon's Conquests of Europe: The French Revolution

The french revolution was decisive to creating the modern nation state. The revolutionary wars transformed the conduct of warfare in europe, from kings playing chess with mercenaries to entire nations fully mobilizing on a huge scale. Napoleon had been careful to say that his imperial authority came from the sovereignty of the people. But when king louis philippe took the crown, he was king of the french whose authority was bestowed upon him by the citizens he led. And there was no putting the genie back in that particular bottle.