Napoleon 1799-1815
Early Years
• Born August 15,
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1769 on Corsica
Age 10 went to
Brienne military
college in France
At 15 went to École
Militaire in Paris
At 16 made an
officer in army
Military Success
• 1793 as major, led
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Republican troops
against royalists and
British in Toulon
Promoted to
brigadier general
Later jailed for being
friends with
Robespierre’s
brother
Josephine
• Met and fell in love
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with Josephine
Six years older,
husband guillotined
during revolution
Whiff of grapeshot
• 1795 royalist
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uprising in Paris
Napoleon ordered
cannons fired at
crowd & ended
protest
Promoted to major
general in charge of
all troops in France
Italian Campaign
• France attacked Italy
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to get at Austria
Napoleon took over
in 1796 (two days
after wedding to
Josephine)
Great leadership &
strategy defeated
Austrians
Egyptian Campaign
• France wanted to
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defeat Britain
Napoleon attacked
them in Egypt
Military failure
Napoleon fled Egypt
Greeted as hero in
France
First Consul
• 1799 Napoleon overthrew the corrupt
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Directory
◦ Set up three-man Consulate
 With himself as First Consul (Julius
Caesar’s Title)
1802
◦ Consul for life
1804
◦ Crowned himself emperor
Plebiscite
◦ Popular vote done by ballot
◦ Napoleon always held plebiscites
◦ Everyone always voted for his policies
Democratic despotism
◦ He had absolute power regardless of
the fact that he held plebiscites
Napoleon Rules France
• He repaired the economy – fixed tax
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collection, established a national bank,
fired corrupt officials
Lycees – started government run public
schools, rewards based on merit
Concordat – repairs the relationship with
Church, He will claim influence but no
control
Established the Napoleonic Code – A
system of laws that were uniform but
eliminated individual rights, and restored
slavery in Caribbean
Code Napoleon, 1804
a
It divides civil law into:
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Personal status.
Property.
The acquisition of
property.
a
Its purpose was to reform the
French legal code to reflect the
principles of the Fr. Revolution.
a
Create one law code for France.
The Influence of the Napoleonic Code
Wherever it was implemented [in the conquered territories],
the Code Napoleon swept away feudal property relations.
Concordat of 1801
a Napoleon wanted to heal
the divisions within the
Catholic Church that had
developed after the
confiscation of Church
property and the Civil
Constitution of the Clergy.
a But, Napoleon’s clear intent
was to use the clergy to
prop up his regime.
Concordat of 1801
a
Catholicism was declared the religion of the majority
of Frenchmen.
a
Papal acceptance of church lands lost
during the Revolution.
a
Bishops subservient to the regime.
a
Eventually, Pope Pius VII renounced
the Concordat, and Napoleon had him
brought to France and placed under
house arrest.
Emperor Napoleon
• 1804 crowned
himself Emperor of
France
Napoleon Creates an Empire
• 1804 – crowned himself Emperor
• Wanted territory in New World, couldn’t
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overcome slave armies in Haiti and sold the
Louisiana Purchase to the USA
Wanted to expand in Europe, other nations
attacked & were defeated, signed peace treaties
Austerlitz (1805) is his finest battle. He crushes
the Russians and Austrians both
Battle of Trafalgar (1805) – England’s Lord
Nelson destroyed the French fleet, Napoleon
wouldn’t be able to invade Britain
Most of continental Europe in his control by 1812
Napoleonic Europe
Napoleon’s Major Military Campaigns
1805:
France 
Sea
Power
 Britain
Trafalgar (Lord Nelson: Fr. Navy lost!)
Battle of Trafalgar
Battles of Napoleon
The Greatest Extent of Napoleon’s Empire!
Napoleon’s Costly Mistakes
A) Continental System – blockade against
Great Britain, to destroy its economy,
Britain retaliated with its own
counterblockade that was more
effective; Napoleon couldn’t enforce it
B) Peninsular War – French marched into
Spain, took over govt., Spanish
guerrilla forces attacked, French army
severely weakened (“Spanish ulcer”)
C) Napoleon’s conquests & placing his
relatives on thrones led to the rise of
nationalism in the countries he
conquered. The French were so hated
that the people identified with their
nation and rose up against the French.
D) Invasion of Russia – Meant to
punish Czar for selling grain to
England.
1812- 600,000 + French soldiers
invade Russia
Russians pull back and refuse to fight,
practice scorched-earth policy, and
burn Moscow down.
Napoleon marched back to France in
winter, lost his army to the cold.
20,000 walk out…
“Swallows fell from the sky like stones, frozen in
flight in the bitter cold…”
The Continental System
a
GOAL  to isolate Britain and promote Napoleon’s mastery
over Europe.
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Berlin Decrees (1806)
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“Order in Council” (1806)
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Britain proclaimed any ship stopping in Britain would be
seized when it entered the Continent.
Milan Decree (1807)
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British ships were not allowed in European ports.
Napoleon proclaimed any ship stopping in Britain would
be seized when it entered the Continent.
These edicts eventually led to the United States declaring
war on Britain  WAR OF 1812.
The Continental System
Napoleon’s Downfall
• Major powers attacked: England
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and Prussia
1814 – Napoleon surrendered at
Liepzig, exiled to island of Elba
New king unpopular, Napoleon
escaped Elba, returns to France a
Hero for 100 days and built a new
army in 1815
Battle of Waterloo – Napoleon
defeated by combined forces of
Russia, Prussia, Austria Sweden
and England
St. Helena – Exiled until his death
in 1821
Napoleon’s Defeat at Leipzig
(October 16-17, 1813)
“Battle of the Nations”
Memorial
Napoleon Abdicates!
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Allied forces occupied Paris on March 31, 1814.
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Napoléon abdicated on April 6 in favor of his
son, but the Allies insisted on unconditional
surrender.
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Napoléon abdicated again on April 11.
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Treaty of Fontainbleau  exiles Napoléon to
Elba with an annual income of 2,000,000
francs.
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The royalists took control and restored
Louis XVIII to the throne.
Napoleon’s Abdication
th
“The War of the 7 Coalition”
1815: France 
Napoleon’s
“100 Days”
 Britain, Russia.
Prussia, Austria,
Sweden, smaller
German states
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Napoléon escaped Elba and landed in France on
March 1, 1815  the beginning of his 100 Days.
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Marie Louise & his son were in the hands of the
Austrians.
Napoleon’s Defeat at Waterloo
(June 18, 1815)
Duke
of
Wellington
Prussian
General
Blücher
Abdication and Exile