As Crepaldi observes, the Romantics promoted emotion against the rationalism of the Enlightenment, individual freedom against academic dictates and national against global culture. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the Enlightenment was especially associated with France, which had sent its armies across Europe in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1792–1815). In response to the humiliations of the repeated French invasions, the protagonists of German romanticism sought to strengthen their cultural heritage. The result was a flowering of research and artistic work centred around Germanic cultural traditions, expressed in painting, literature, architecture, music and promotion of German language and folklore. The promotion of folk costumes similarly strengthened national identity in a visible way, especially against French-inspired fashions.