1809

1809 falls within the period of the Napoleonic Wars. In Europe, the Fifth Coalition formed against Napoleonic France, and the year featured two major battles near Vienna. The Battle of Aspern-Essling on May 21–22 saw Austrian forces briefly check Napoleon, while the Battle of Wagra m on July 5–6 ended in a French victory. The conflict concluded with the Treaty of Schönbrunn in October 1809, which compelled Austria to concede territory and pay indemnities, reinforcing French influence in Central Europe and reshaping the German-speaking lands within Napoleon’s sphere.

Across the Atlantic, the United States managed ongoing tensions with Britain and France through trade policy. The Non-Intercourse Act of 1809 replaced the Embargo Act of 1807, aimed at pressuring belligerents by restricting trade while preserving some commercial allowances with other nations. In the Iberian Peninsula, the Peninsular War continued as British and allied forces resisted French domination, contributing to the wider strain on Napoleonic authority.

Notable births in 1809 include Charles Darwin, the English naturalist, and Abraham Lincoln, who would become the 16th President of the United States, both born on February 12, 1809. The year also saw the death of Thomas Paine, the British-American political writer, on June 8, 1809.

Other contemporaneous developments encompassed ongoing scientific and cultural activity across regions, and the broader political and military shifts ensuing from Napoleonic hegemony, which would influence European and global affairs in the following decades.