2. Napoleon does not share. In 1800 a plebiscite was taken to support Napoleon’s constitution. Napoleon made many changes such as lycees, concordat, and the Napoleonic code. In 1804 Napoleon decided to make himself emperor and the French people supported that. One December 2, 1804 in Notre Dame Napoleon was crowned as emperor of France.
3. France is not enough! Napoleon decided being the emperor of France was not enough for him. He wanted to have an empire. What makes an empire? Napoleon decided to focus his empire in Europe and he sold the Louisiana Territory France had in North America to the United States (we know this as the Louisiana purchase). Napoleon then turned his vision onto Europe.
4. Napoleon wants more! At this point Napoleon has already annexed Austrian Netherlands and parts of Italy and set up a puppet government in Switzerland, now he wanted more. Britain convinced Russia, Austria, and Sweden to join them in a coalition against France. This was known as the Third Coalition. Napoleon however, was a brilliant general and easily defeated the opposing armies.
5. Battle of Trafalgar In his war against the Third Coalition Napoleon only lost one major battle. The naval defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar was more significant than all the victories Napoleon had on land thus far. Napoleon was strong at warfare on land, but not very good at sea. This defeat showed Napoleon that he would have to come up with another way to get at his long time enemy, Britain, because he was not very successful at sea.
9. More! From 1807 – 1812 Napoleon had a strong empire. Prussia, Russia and Austria were loosely under his control. Britain, Ottoman Empire, Portugal and Sweden were the only countries not under some degree of control. The French Empire was huge, but unstable, and Napoleon continued to push for more power. Especially now that he had divorced Josephine and married Marie Louise of Austria who gave birth to a son, Napoleon II.
10. Mistake Une. In November 1806 Napoleon ordered a blockade to keep mainland Europe from communicating with England. Napoleon referred to this as the Continental System because it was supposed to keep the continent of Europe free from depending on the outside world. It was also meant to destroy Britain. This was unsuccessful because Napoleon’s empire was huge and it was difficult to keep an eye on every port, so much smuggling occurred. Also, Britain decided to blockade the mainland back. Britain’s navy was stronger than Napoleon’s so they were better able to enforce this new rule. The British navy stopped all neutral ships headed toward the continent and taxed them. This caused the war of 1812 between Britain and America.
11. Mistake Deux. Portugal refused to take part in the continental system. Napoleon was not pleased with this so he sent troops through Spain to attack Portugal. Spanish towns didn’t like this so they rioted in protest. Napoleon was even less pleased now, so he deposed the Spanish king and put his brother Joseph in charge of Spain. The Spanish people had been very loyal to their monarch and were angry about this. They also feared the Napoleon would weaken the Catholic Church as had happened in France. 1808 – 1813 Spanish guerillas attacked the French armies stationed there. This caused Napoleon to have to send extra troops and resulted in the death of 300,000 men. This was known as the Peninsular War.
12. Mistake Trois. In 1812 the Russian Tsar refused to stop trading with Britain. In June, Napoleon led his armies into Russia. Many of the men in the army were not French and had been drafted from other areas of the empire and felt no loyalty for Napoleon. When Napoleon’s army finally arrived in Russia Alexander refused to fight them. He ordered his troops to pull back and he used a scorched earth policy. In September the two armies finally met. When Napoleon and his troops entered Moscow they found that Alexander had set fire to the entire city and it was ruined. Napoleon stayed there for weeks thinking Alexander would return to make peace but he never did. Finally in October Napoleon had no choice but to make his starving troops turn back. On the way back they encountered the Russian winter. The soldiers were in no way prepared and were annihilated by it. Napoleon was left with only 10,000 soldiers.
13.
14. That’s the way the empire crumbles. Despite his losses in Russia Napoleon did manage to raise another army, but these soldiers were inexperienced. In 1813 he faced his enemies in the city of Leipzig. In battle the weakness showed. By January 1814 armies of Austrians, Russians and Prussians were pushing their way towards Paris. Napoleon wanted to fight, but his generals refused. Napoleon was defeated. He was 45 years old.
15. Elba Napoleon was exiled with a small pension to an island called Elba. With Napoleon gone Louis XVIII brother of Louis XVI returned to be king of France. People were very suspicious of him and thought he would try to undo what they accomplished during the French Revolution. When Napoleon heard that the French king was in trouble he saw his chance. He escaped from Elba and returned to the French mainland. Once there he rallied supporters to join his army and marched to Paris. Louis XVIII fled.
16. Europe Responds Once the European allies heard of his return they gathered up their armies to put Napoleon back in his place. The battle of Waterloo took place in Belgium on June 15, 1815. The British army held there own all day and were joined the next day by the Prussians. After two days Napoleon and his troops were exhausted and retreated. The battle of Waterloo ended Napoleon’s attempt to regain power. His attempt was know as the Hundred Days. To make sure Napoleon was gone for good this time they sent him to the far off island of St. Helena. He lived there on his own for six years before he died in 1821. He died of a stomach ailment or cancer, but there is a conspiracy theory that he was poisoned.
