NAPOLEON
THE GRAND MASTER OF EUROPE
Rise of Napoleon
• Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1769 on Corsica
(Italian island annexed by France)
• Brilliant military leader who achieved numerous early
successes and rose quickly through the ranks
• Used his status as a national hero to seize power
– 1799 coup d’etat led by General Napoleon brought an
end to the Directory
• The French craved the order and stability that
Napoleon promised and were willing to give up
some freedoms for peace, prosperity, and glory
– The pope comes to crown Napoleon as emperor
• Napoleon puts the crown on his own head – he
took authority for himself
• “I am the Revolution”
Domestic Policies
• Wants to end the hostility from the Revolution
• Codification of the laws – prior to the Revolution France
had 300 different legal systems
– Known as the Napoleonic Code or Civil Code
– Made laws uniform across the nation
– Limits some individual rights, such as freedom of the
press, and only applied to male citizens
Napoleon’s Empire
• Wants to rule Europe
– Sells the Louisiana Territory to the U.S. to get money
to fight his wars
• the Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars that were an
extension of the ones fought between France and other
nations during the Revolution
• 1807 – 1812 Napoleon is the master of Europe
• Grand Empire
– French Empire
• Enlarged France, territories added on to France
– Dependent States
• Nations that Napoleon conquers, puts these kingdoms
under the rule of his relatives
• Spain, Holland, Kingdom of Italy, Swiss Republic,
Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and Union of German states
– Allied States
• Defeats these nations in battle and forces them to ally
with him against Britain
• Prussia, Austria, Russia, Denmark, and Norway
The only nations free of his control are Great Britain,
Sweden, Portugal, and the Ottoman Empire
Why Napoleon’s Empire Collapses
• Great Britain’s survival
– Geography, sea power of Britain
• Napoleon tries to invade Britain, but his fleet his
defeated by the British led by Admiral Nelson at
the Battle of Trafalgar
• This battle saves the British from invasion
– Napoleon then institutes the Continental system –
wants to stop British goods from reaching Europe
• Britain depends on overseas trade and if the
economy of Britain is weakened, then it would
destroy their ability to wage war
• Prohibits French or Allied ships from trading with
Britain
–The British respond by requiring ships from
neutral nations to stop in British ports and not
trade with France – leads to the war of 1812
between the British and the U.S.
• Fails due to smugglers and Britain’s numerous
colonies
• Nationalism = a sense of identity and unity as a people
– Spread principles of revolution and also nationalism
to people conquered by the French
– France showed people what nationalism was and
what a nation in arms could do
• Invasion of Russia
– Russia refuses to remain in the continental system, so
Napoleon invades
– June 1812 Napoleon enters Russia with a Grand Army
of over 600,000 men – needs a quick win
• Problems – new recruits and many of the army’s
supplies were lost or spoiled
– Russian troops retreat hundreds of miles
• The peasants also move east and burn their own
villages, fields, and countryside – called scorched
earth tactic
– Napoleon finally reaches Moscow and finds it mostly
deserted and in flames – lacked supplies and food
– “Great Retreat” across Russia in horrible winter
conditions
• Starvation and freezing temperatures kill
thousands and only 40,000 make it out in Jan. 1813
Downfall
• First defeat and exile
– Napoleon’s army is weakened, so Britain, Austria,
Russia, and Prussia ally against France
• Defeat Napoleon’s new army and in March of
1814 they capture Paris
– Napoleon surrenders and gives up his throne
• Gets to keep the title of emperor
• The brother of the beheaded Louis XVI is made
the new king of France
– Napoleon is exiled to the island of Elba off the coast
of Italy and is allowed 400 guards
• Napoleon’s Return – The Hundred Days
– Napoleon escapes and starts making his way back to
Paris in early 1815
• Troops sent to capture him join him instead
• The new king Louis XVIII flees
• Napoleon arrives in Paris to cheering crowds
– He raises a new army and starts to reconquer Europe
and his enemies gather once again
• This is known as the Hundred Days
• Battle of Waterloo – June 18, 1815
– Final confrontation of Napoleon’s troops against
British troops led by the Duke of Wellington
– Napoleon is decisively defeated
• Betrayals, hemorrhoids
• Huge numbers of casualties on both sides
– Napoleon flees to a port, but is soon captured
• The second exile
– This time the Napoleon is exiled to St. Helena, a
volcanic island in the South Atlantic that is 1,200
miles from the nearest mainland
– Napoleon dies there six years later