The peaked cap originated in late 18th or early 19th-century Northern Europe, usually worn by working-class men. In the later years of the Napoleonic Wars, it began to appear in the senior ranks of the Russian and Prussian armies, being popular because of its comfort and light weight, as opposed to the cumbersome bicorns and shakos that were standard duty issue. During the Biedermeier period (1815–48), they became universal dress for German and Austrian civilian males of all classes, and for the entire 19th century, they were popular with the working classes all over Northern Europe, although in Britain the flat cap was preferred by civilians towards the end of the century.