The Rise and Fall of
Napoleon Bonaparte
Background

Born in Corsica in
1769
Won scholarship to
French military
school in 1779
 An excellent
student

A Hero of the Revolution

1795- Napoleon helped stop of mob of
“royalists”
Coup d `etat
A coup is a sudden
overthrow of a
government
 Usually done by
a small group
 Napoleon seized
power from the
Directory on Nov.
9, 1799

Napoleon becomes Emperor
Napoleon’s Empire (1810)
controlled much of
Europe by 1810
 Also controlled
Spain, Warsaw, and
German kingdoms
indirectly
 Russia and Prussia
were controlled via
alliances

Napoleon’s Three Mistakes
 #1
The Continental System
 Economic
war against Britain
 Goal- make mainland Europe “self
sufficient”
 Blockade ineffective
 Britain
responds w/ a blockade of
neutral ships
 End result- France became weaker